A Dialogue on Menstrual Taboo
Abstract
Today in the 21st century, we may boast of gender equality and women empowerment but the truth is somewhat implausible. Today women may have excelled in many spheres of life but, somewhere, she is still struggling to get out of her veil. In the name of tradition a women is always told to follow the rules what the society has set for her. A look at major religions of the world shows that, without exception, they have placed restrictions on menstruating women. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism have all made statements about menstruation and its negative effect, leading to prohibitions about attending places of worship, cooking, physical intimacy and sometimes requiring women to live separately at this time. Present paper is a compilation of the information available on the menstrual taboo and various practices regarding it. For this extensive search was done on internet along with personal observations. The present study is carried out in order to provoke the need for increased research on the psychosocial aspects of menstruation by exploring the attitudes of society toward this monthly event.
