Menstruation is viewed differently in different cultures and societies. Menarche, the first occurrence of menstruation, is celebrated by some cultures and shamed by others. The Swiss Army, keen on menstruation or not, have found tactful uses for tampons. Tampons can be used for bandages, water filters, fire tinder’s, survival straws, cordage, and survival fishing bobbers (Manly Skills 2017). Menstruation and its tools are very important for some soldiers survival when deployed. It is a requirement for every female to have at least two tampons in the lower left pocket at all times! You never know when a tampon could save your life!
Menarche and menstruation can also be accustomed to certain cultural rituals in some regions of Africa. The Malawi’s culture views menarche as a chance to cleanse and purify the women. After a woman’s first period she has three days to have sex to “purify” or “cleanse” herself. Some families even hire “hyena’s”, which are men that are hired to have sex with these newly menstruating females. One man was taken to jail because he had sex with over 100 women and was HIV positive! Using a condom is prohibited during this “ritual”, so he had the potential to spread this disease to all of the women that he had sex with (Jacewicz 2016).
The Jewish Orthodox religion views menstruation as “dirty” and “unholy”. Women are supposed to refrain from touching and sleeping with their husbands for two weeks after their menstruation cycle has started. On the last day of menstruation, women are supposed to get “purified” by taking a bath that goes up to their jaws. After this purification process is complete they can go back to their husbands and do as they please! If a woman breaks the rules of this practice, then it is considered to be sinning against God. If she sins against God, then she and her household will face God’s judgement against them! This practice seems to be strictly enforced throughout Jewish communities.
In Nepal menstruation is viewed with a negative connotation. During menstruation, women are banished from their villages and households and are forced to live in a hut for the week! This practice originated from Hindu mythology that if a woman did not obey this practice then the gods would punish her and her family! Villagers believe that women are “unclean” and can transmit many diseases while they are menstruating. This practice was abolished by India’s Supreme Court in 2005, but some regions still practice this. Making women live in a hut is not safe at all; in fact many women have died in these huts. They either die from carbon monoxide poisoning from the fires lit to keep them warm and cook food, or they get killed by predators (Preiss 2016).
For the most part the United States has a repressive attitude towards menstruation. Alisha Coleman , an employee of the Bobby Dodd Institute in Fort Benning, got fired for “leaking menstrual blood at work” (Chandler 2017). She filed a lawsuit for discrimination; the district court dismissed her case. The judge pointed out that if a man soiled himself due to incontinence problems then he would be treated more fairly because he was a male. Menstruation is a topic that no one wants to talk about publicly because social stigma’s tell us not to! I grew up in a household that taught me to keep these things to myself, like many others in my town. Personally, I don’t find it embarrassing to talk about but I was taught that it was “unlady-like” to talk about those things, especially in public! Honestly, it is a fact of life and it should be talked about. There is little to no awareness of discrimination and abuse towards women. People need to know these things! I had no idea that in other cultures and religions that women were so harshly discriminated against! It is very sad, and I believe that things should change!
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/08/17/490121285/a-swimmers-period-comment-breaks-taboos-in-sports-and-in-china