A menstrual taboo is any social taboo concerned with
menstruation. In some societies it involves menstruation being perceived as
unclean or embarrassing, extending even to the mention of menstruation both in
public (in the media and advertising) and in private (amongst the friends, in
the household, and with men). Many traditional religions consider menstruation
ritually unclean.
Different cultures view menstruation differently. Studies in
the early 1980s showed that nearly all girls in the USA believed that girls
should not talk about menstruation with boys, and more than one-third of girls
did not believe that it was appropriate to discuss menstruation with their
fathers. The basis of many conduct norms and communication about menstruation
in western industrial societies is the belief that menstruation should remain
hidden.
In other societies certain menstrual taboos may be practised
without the connotation of uncleanness. According to the anthropologists
Buckley and Gottlieb cross-cultural study shows that, while taboos about
menstruation are nearly universal, a wide range of distinct rules for conduct
during menstruation "bespeak quite different, even opposite, purposes and
meanings" with meanings that are "ambiguous and often
multivalent".
Religious views
Judaism
In the Torah (Leviticus 15:19-30), a menstruating woman is
considered ritually unclean - "anyone who touches her will be unclean
until evening" (New International Version). Touching her, touching an object
she had sat or lain on, or having intercourse with her also makes a person
ritually unclean. The extent to which these rules are observed in modern
Judaism varies depending on the degree of conservatism/orthodoxy.
Christianity
Christians throughout history have disagreed about whether
menstruation makes a woman unclean. In spite of the restrictions in Leviticus,
Jesus allowed himself to be touched by a hemorrhaging woman and cured her (Mark
5:25-24). Some church fathers defended the exclusion of women from ministry
based on a notion of uncleanness. Others held that purity laws should be
discarded as part of the Old Covenant. There has never been any official
teaching that menstruation makes women unclean in any major Christian
denomination.
Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í 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. Menstruating women
are encouraged to pray and are not required to fast; they have the (voluntary)
alternative of reciting a verse instead.
Islam
In Islam, a woman is not allowed to offer prayer or to
perform other religious activities such as fasting or circumambulating the
Kaaba. This is in accordance with the law of the uncleanliness of any blood.
Sexual intercourse with her husband is strictly prohibited during menstrual
periods. However, she can perform all other acts of social life as normal.
According to authentic traditions, Muhammad encouraged menstruating women to be
present at festive religious services for the two Eid holidays, although they
were excused from praying.
Hinduism
In the Hindu faith, women are prohibited from participating
in normal life while menstruating. A woman must be "purified" before
she is allowed to return to her family, and this has been considered a negative
view of menstruation.
This follows a description in the Puranas about Indra's
'Brahmahatya' (act of killing of the Brahmin demon Vritra) and the mitigation
of the sin. Part of this sin was taken by women, and is considered to be active
during the menstrual period; therefore menstruating women are forbidden from
performing any rituals. Contact with menstruating woman is also forbidden (with
the exception of small children).
However in some respects Indians view menstruation,
especially the first menstruation or menarche, as a positive aspect of a girl's
life. In South India and also in the Assamese community, girls who experience
their menstrual period for the first time are given presents and celebrations
to mark this special occasion, though women who are menstruating are not
allowed in the household for a period of three nights. This certainly does not
mean that they are driven away from the house during the cycle of their
menstruation: according to Indian architecture, in a house with four blocks,
'dakkini', the south block, is for women and during the menstrual cycle women
would confine themselves within this block, and would not even enter the
kitchen or go to the north and east sides of the house, nor would they go near
a temple.
There is an exception to this in Kashmiri Hindu culture. The
Kashmiri Pandits do not consider women as impure during the menstrual cycle;
instead, they are given special care during this time as the body of the woman
becomes weak due to blood loss.
Chhaupadi is the name of the menstrual related ostracism,
now banned that occurs in Nepal.
Sikhism
In Sikhism, woman is given equal status to man and is
regarded as pure as man is. The Gurus teach that one cannot be pure by washing
his body but purity of mind is the real pureness. They are not called pure, who
sit down after merely washing their bodies. Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism,
condemned the practice of treating women as impure while menstruating.
In Sikhism, the menstrual cycle is not considered a
pollutant. Certainly, it can have a physical and physiological effect on the
woman. Nonetheless, this is not considered a hindrance to her wanting to pray
or accomplish her religious duties fully. The Guru makes it very clear that the
menstrual cycle is a God-given process. The blood of a woman is required for the
creation of any human being. The requirement of the mother's blood is
fundamental for life. Thus, the menstrual cycle is certainly an essential and
God-given biological process. In other faiths blood is considered a pollutant.
However, the Guru rejects such ideas. Those who are impure from within are the
truly impure ones.
Meditating on God's name is of importance. Whether one's
clothes are blood-stained or not (including clothes stained from menstrual
blood) is not of spiritual importance. Thus, there are no restrictions placed
on a woman during her menstruation. She is free to visit a gurdwara, take part
in prayers and do Seva. In The Feminine Principle in the Sikh: Vision of the
Transcendent, Nikky Guninder Kaur-Singh writes: "The denigration of the
female body 'expressed in many cultural and religious taboos surrounding
menstruation and childbirth' is absent in the Sikh worldview. ...Guru Nanak
openly chides those who attribute pollution to women because of
menstruation."
Article Credit : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_taboo#Religious_views
Article Credit : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_taboo#Religious_views
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