Menstrual taboo
Menstrual taboo is a widespread social taboo about menstruation. It involves menstruation being perceived as unclean and embarrassing. The menstrual stigma extends to the mention of menstruation both in public (in the media and advertising) and in private (amongst friends, in the household, and with men).
Studies have shown nearly all girls believe that girls should not talk about menstruation with boys, and more than one-third of the girls did not believe that it was appropriate to discuss menstruation with their fathers.[1]
Different cultures view menstruation differently.
Taboo
In most societies, the basis of conduct norms and communication about menstruation is the belief that menstruation must remain hidden.[2] Menstruation must be concealed verbally as well as physically, and communication rules and restrictions permeate and define the concealment and activity taboos. A substantial majority of U.S. adults and adolescents believe that it is socially unacceptable to discuss menstruation, especially in mixed company. Many believe that it is unacceptable to discuss menstruation even within the family [3].
In advertising
One common way that even sanitary-product advertising avoids mentioning menstruation is by pouring a blue liquid on the sanitary item to demonstrate its absorptiveness.[1] This shows the stigma surrounding the blood associated with menstruation. The invention of the tampon in may have been inspired by the taboo, as tampons are more "discreet." Further evidence of the taboo is the creation of a variety of euphemisms for menstruation, including "Aunt Flo", "on the rag" (vulgar), "my friend", or even "the curse." [2]
In culture
Movies and television also reflect the taboo nature of menstruation. Typically menstruation as a topic is avoided, except for scenes involving menarche or "first period." For example, as Elizabeth Arveda Kissling explains in her article, "On the Rag on Screen: Menarche in Film and Television," the early 1990s movie, My Girl contains a scene where the main character, Vada, experiences her first period. 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.[4] This shows that desire of society not to see or hear of the unpleasantness of menstruation in their movies. Also in one of the few films where menstruation is shown on screen (in Carrie) it seems to re-inforce the taboo of menstruation being somehow wrong by having Carrie's first period become the starting point for her telekinisis which then leads to murder.
Uta Pippig's 1996 Boston Marathon victory
In 1996, during the running of the 100th Boston Marathon, Uta Pippig, the first woman to cross the finish line, had visible menstrual blood and severe menstrual cramps.
commentators on radio and TV were, uncharacteristically, tongue-tied. ... "Physical problems and diarrhea," said some commentators. Others stopped at the phrase "physical problems", ... or "stomach pain"
Eileen McNamara's Boston Globe article that said she "bled all the way from Hopkinton to Boston" was subject to mass criticism.
In Religion
The Bible, in the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus, verses nineteen through thirty, describe how a menstruating woman is to be regarded as ritually unclean. The taboo is so great that not only the woman herself suffers uncleanness, but even "anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening" (New International Version). Some scholars believe that the Christian teachings of this Taboo has fueled the prohibition of women as priests in the Catholic Church. They cite that church law has maintained this prohibition due to "ritual uncleanness."[6]
Other religions such as Hinduism also view menstruation in a negative light. [7] In the Hindu faith, women are prohibited from participating in normal life while menstruating. She must be "purified" before she is allowed to return to her family. In South India, women who are menstruating are not allowed in the household for a period of 3 nights.
On the other side of the issue, some cultures continue to view menstruation, especially first menstruation or menarche, as a positive aspect of a girl's life. In South India, girls who experience their menstrual period for the first time are given presents and celebrations to mark this special occasion.[8]
Menstrual suppression
With the recent FDA approval of menstrual suppression medications, researchers have begun to shift their focus to the attitudes of women toward their periods. One study in particular found that of the women they surveyed, 59% of them reported an interest in not menstruating every month. Of these women, 1/3 said they were interested in not menstruating at all anymore.[9]
Activism
Overcoming this menstrual taboo is a point of contention amongst feminists. The primary argument behind this movement is that if menstruation is normal, there is no reason why the topic should be avoided: "After a while it becomes psychologically disorienting for women to look out at a world where their reality doesn't exist."[10]
External links
- Menstruation and religion
- Menstruation and religion, the symbolism of menstruation
- Meaning of menstruation and PMS in women's lives
- ARHP Menstruation Resource Center
References
- ^ Williams, L. R. (1983). "Beliefs and Attitudes of Young Girls Regarding Menstruation." In Menarche, ed. Sharon Golub. Lexington, MA: Lexington.
- ^ Laws, S. (1990). Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London: Macmillan.
- ^ Research & Forecasts, Inc. (1981). The Tampax Report: Summary of Survey Results on a Study of Attitudes towards Menstruation. New York: Research and Forecasts.
- ^ Arveda Kissling, Elizabeth (January 2006), "On the rag on screen: menarche in film and television", Sex Roles
- ^ Cahn, Susan. Women and Sports in the United States. pg 300.
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- ^ Raphael, Melissa (November 22, 2007). ""Menstruation"". Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ Supriya, Sharon (2007-11-23). "Celebrate Womanhood". OneIndia. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
- ^ L.C. Andrist; et al. (2004), "Women's and providers' attitudes toward menstrual suppression with extended use of oral contraceptives", Contraception, 70: 359–363, doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2004.06.008
{{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|last=(help) - ^ Houppert, Karen (1999). The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-27366-9.