Culture and menstruation
[5] According to anthropologists Thomas Buckley and Alma Gottlieb, cross-cultural study shows that while taboos about menstruation are nearly universal, and while many of these involve notions of uncleanliness (ritual impurity), numerous menstrual traditions "bespeak quite different, even opposite, purposes and meanings.
She describes the communal bashali (large menstrual house) as the village's 'most holy place', respected by men, and serving as women's all-female organizing centre for establishing and maintaining gender solidarity and power.
One of the most thoroughgoing analyses of primitive mythology ever undertaken was that of the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, who concluded that, taken together, the indigenous myths of North and South America expressed men's worry that, unless women's periods were carefully monitored and synchronised, the universe might descend into chaos.
[14] In Aboriginal Australia, the supernatural being known as the 'Rainbow Snake' has been interpreted as, among other things, an indigenous way of conceptualising the ideal of synchronised tidal, lunar, menstrual and seasonal periodicities whose overall harmony (it is believed) confers spiritual power and fertility.
[29] An example of this is Indian Artist Lyla FreeChild who internalised this belief and harvested her menstrual blood to paint an image inspired by a dream where she saw herself as the powerful, bleeding goddess Lajja Gauri.
The humoral model was a continuity during the early modern period, despite the fact that new medical theories began to arise in the second half of the eighteenth century, because these new ideas which used different treatments involving new chemicals were not as trusted since they were not properly established.
Aphrodisiacs were a common remedy given to women with menstrual problems, since they were believed to have internal heating effects, stimulating menstruation by redressing the constitutional balance of a womb that was too cold.
[37] Pope Dionysius of Alexandria held with regard to menstruating women that "not even they themselves, being faithful and pious, would dare when in this state either to approach the Holy Table or to touch the body and blood of Christ.
[9] Still, within many modern contemporary Muslim communities, menstruating women are barred from fasting during Ramadhan, entering a mosque, praying and making the full pilgrimage to Mecca, despite the fact that the textual basis of these injunctions in the Quran is widely debated.
[54]Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas abolished all forms of ritual impurity of people and things and stressed the importance of cleanliness and spiritual purity.
[9] For instance the Christian women of the Lahore sweeper community face specific challenges around menstruation because of their gender, position as a minority in a Muslim country, their occupation with dirt, and lack of toilets in public spaces where they work.
In some traditions in central and north India, girls and women face restrictive taboos relative to menstruation, such as being denied entry to the kitchen or eating meals separately from their families.
[83][84] Defying such protests, two women activists belonging to the previously barred age group associated with the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) finally entered the temple through the rear gate, on the early hours of 2 January 2019, with the help of police and local administration.
[90] In essence, the continuity of this practice demonstrates the need to consider the multiple voices and perspectives aimed at seeking effective ways to address the restrictions, and dangers, of some menstrual taboos.
[113][114] In June 2016 the presence of red blood in a UK Bodyform commercial was greeted with approval in social media for its attempt to challenge the stereotypical menstruation ad, by showing women who struggle despite bleeding from cuts, blows and bruises they receive while playing various sports.
Advertisements for menstrual products use allegories such as flowers and hearts, light colors such as blue rather than red, hence euphemistically communicating secrecy and view of menstruation as a curse to be hidden.
[122] Several South Asian artists including Anish Kapoor, Rah Naqvi and Lyla FreeChild have been working in different mediums such as acrylics, embroidery and menstrual blood.
I will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak, when your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women ... are objectified, pornified, and treated [as] less than human".
The explanation given to her by a female role model of what is happening to her is done off-camera and the subject is never mentioned again, save when Vada pushes Thomas across the porch telling him, "Don't come back for five to seven days.
"[128][129] In an article for Vulture examining the history of menstruation depictions on screen, critic Tina Charisma wrote, "Periods have traditionally been used as symbols in storytelling, usually to signal a character’s coming of age and often accompanied by disgust, fear, or shame.
When Carrie returns home, announcing that she is a woman and inquiring why she was never told about periods, her fanatically religious mother yells at her and locks her into a closet, fearing that menstruation will bring men and the sin of sex.
[135] As said by Lindsay Wolf of Scary Mommy, since society has "been conditioned…to basically pretend that periods don't exist, putting them in the spotlight like [the film] did forces us to confront that 1) they happen, and 2) we need to get over it and stop treating girls like dainty little prizes who secretly have them.
The film sparked controversy amongst critics who thought the topic of menstruation was inappropriate to reference in a children's movie,[137] while others disagreed and emphasized the importance of normalizing a process that is a part of growing up for girls.
In contrast, female authors such as Shashi Deshpande, Doris Lessing, Petinah Gappah and Bapsi Sidwa are shown to be more sympathetic in their portrayal of menstruation in their fiction, highlighting cultural, religious and socioeconomic constraints.
[140] Anthropologists Lock and Nguyen (2010) have noted that the heavy medicalization of the reproductive life-stages of women in the West mimic power structures that are deemed, in other cultural practices, to function as a form of "social control".
[150] Other menstrual activists include Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, who published My Little Red Book; filmmaker and academic Giovanna Chesler, who created the documentary Period: The End of Menstruation; and artist Ingrid Berthon-Moine, who exhibited a video and series of photographs at the Venice Biennale.
Starting by donating menstrual products to female frontline health workers in Wuhan in February 2021,[151] the movement features the wider discussion sparked by the hashtag "package-free sanitary pads" on social media platform Weibo in September 2021 and reveals the unspeakable pain of period poverty to the public.
[157] In India and Pakistan, grass roots activism is taking place with young people coming together to break the stigma around menstruation using art workshops, murals and street theatre.
[191] In recent years, activists around the world have turned their attention to lowering or abolishing the higher taxes placed on menstrual products, because some states and countries consider them "luxury items".
Users have also complained of a lack of representation of other women's health issues in menstruation apps such as irregular cycles or menopause where predictive algorithms or features may be less precise or absent all together.
