Menstruation: Lore and Experience of Four Generations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v21i2.150Keywords:
menstruation, menarche, experience, pollution, menstruation etiquetteAbstract
This paper aims at questioning that how do women from different generations experience menstruation and share their lore with other women and, convey their experience of menstruation to other women. Having based on the interviews conducted with four members of a family, i.e. with great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and daughter, the paper focuses on the symbolic meaning and lore of menstruation, the material objects and, some practices of menstruation as expressions of menstruation experience. Conveying experience and sharing lore is restricted only between two generations, between mother and daughter, but living in a male dominated culture makes all experiences similar. At the same time, their experience and lore differs because of some factors such as education, urbanization and modernization. The menstruation etiquette is based on the understanding that the male body is the normal body and menstruating body shows a kind of anomaly. Thus, with some differences, all family members share the understanding of the menstruation etiquette that requires concealment of and silence on menstruation.
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