Menstruation - Culture and Menstruation

Culture and Menstruation

Main article: Culture and menstruation See also: Menstrual taboo

Many religions have menstruation-related traditions. These may be bans on certain actions during menstruation (such as sexual intercourse in some movements of Judaism and Islam), or rituals to be performed at the end of each menses (such as the mikvah in Judaism and the ghusl in Islam). Some traditional societies sequester females in residences called "menstrual huts" that are reserved for that exclusive purpose.

In Hinduism, it is also frowned upon to go to a temple and do pooja (i.e., prayer) or do pooja at religious events if you are a woman who is menstruating. Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, is associated with menstruation; the literal translation of her name is "flow – woman". Metaformic Theory, as proposed by cultural theorist Judy Grahn and others, places menstruation as a central organizing idea in the creation of culture and the formation of humans' earliest rituals.

Read more about this topic:  Menstruation

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