Reflective Tag:

Throughout this series of artifacts the multiple effects of genders and cultures has been explored on many levels such as the health and gender gap and the role of genders in society.  In this artifact, the topic of menstruation will be explored.  What it is, how it works, and how different cultures around the world view it are among the main concerns to be discussed.   The Topic of menstruation is sometimes considered a thing not to be discussed, but that will certainly not be the case here.  It is important to talk about the topic and to understand it for more reasons than just its cultural implications.  Understanding it can seriously help with health factors.

MENSTRUATION

First of all, it is assumed that everyone reading has heard of menstruation and does not need an explanation of what it is, but for those who do not know, it is essentially the cycle in which the uterus sheds its lining and bleeding results from this.  This menstrual cycle occurs when a pregnancy does not.  Now… cultures around the world react vastly different from one another towards the idea of the period and what it means.  Some countries treat it with a level of respect, for others it’s just a thing, and for some they completely shun or reject it as the women being dirty.  The level of knowledge within these cultural bounds about the menstrual cycle varies just as wildly as the levels of opinions held about the cycle.  Obviously, the levels of knowledge about the subject have an effect on the type of reaction that it receives too.

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The United States’ reaction to the period as an entity is as varied as the many types of people that reside within its boarders.  There are some people that think of the period as a burden and do not like it at all.  This is a majority of the people in the US.  There are others who see the period as a sort of natural thing that just has to occur and they let it go about its business without criticizing it too heavily.  A lot of people in the United States know a fair amount about the period as it is not extremely taboo these days, but it is still considered to be a gross topic by many because there is bodily excretion that results from the process.  It is becoming less of a taboo topic in the US every year and is more acknowledged for what it is.  In other cultures such as that of the Jewish Orthodox’s, the menstrual cycle has a very high level of tradition behind it and there are ceremonies that take place within the household between a couple to make sure that the woman and man do not engage in intercourse during this time and that the woman is assisted by the male with household tasks at certain times.  This cultural view point I find to be the most interesting.  It is a semi modern and traditional viewpoint held on the subject that is quite unique in that there is a combination of sexual caution as well as respect for the cycle.  At the End of the cycle the woman goes to a bath to cleanse herself and then returns home to her husband.  I am not sure as to whether I would classify the views as either repressive or empowering as there are aspects of both in the ritual.

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(http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/10/denomination3.jpg)

There are many cultures that think of menstruation as a very dirty and unnatural thing such as a few of those present in Africa.  A large portion of this is tradition combined with a large lack of education on the the topic.  During a woman’s cycle in this time in  these types of cultures she is shunned from the village where she is from and made to stay alone until she is clean to prevent ‘bad luck’  and uncleanliness from spreading.  There is much ignorance on the part of men and women of these cultures on the subject of the cycle as well as how it works, but there are many efforts now being made to spread education and awareness about it.  Hopefully this will improve health and cease old cultural practices of shunning women during this time.

 

Works Cited:

Class work/Notes

Class Materials