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1. A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism

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Blood Magic
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1 A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism Thomas Buckley Alma Gottlieb The topic of menstruation has long been a staple of anthropol-ogy, for this apparently ordinary biological event has been subject to extraordinary symbolic elaboration in a wide variety of cultures. The symbolic potency so often attributed to menstrual blood and the exotic-seeming stringency of rules for the conduct of menstruating women have placed menstru-ation in the foreground of anthropological studies of "taboo" and, more recently, of symbolic "pollution." Menstrual taboos have been seen by turn as evidence of primitive irra-tionality and of the supposed universal dominance of men over women in society. The widespread occurrence of menstrual taboos and their cross-cultural similarities has spurred a search for their universal origins, once identified with the very wellsprings of social organization (Durkheim 1897:50) and, more recently, of religious thought (Douglas 1966:6). Yet for all of the significance attributed to menstrual sym-bolism by anthropologists and others, and for all of the fasci-nation with which its origins and functions have been pur-sued, little has been firmly established. While menstruation itself has at least a degree of biological regularity, its symbolic voicings and valences are strikingly variable, both cross-cul-turally and within single cultures. It is perplexing, then, that the study of menstrual symbolism has been limited by a paucity of detail regarding such variations, by imbalances in ethnographic reporting, and by overly reductionistic theoreti-cal frameworks.
© 2020 University of California Press, Berkeley

1 A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism Thomas Buckley Alma Gottlieb The topic of menstruation has long been a staple of anthropol-ogy, for this apparently ordinary biological event has been subject to extraordinary symbolic elaboration in a wide variety of cultures. The symbolic potency so often attributed to menstrual blood and the exotic-seeming stringency of rules for the conduct of menstruating women have placed menstru-ation in the foreground of anthropological studies of "taboo" and, more recently, of symbolic "pollution." Menstrual taboos have been seen by turn as evidence of primitive irra-tionality and of the supposed universal dominance of men over women in society. The widespread occurrence of menstrual taboos and their cross-cultural similarities has spurred a search for their universal origins, once identified with the very wellsprings of social organization (Durkheim 1897:50) and, more recently, of religious thought (Douglas 1966:6). Yet for all of the significance attributed to menstrual sym-bolism by anthropologists and others, and for all of the fasci-nation with which its origins and functions have been pur-sued, little has been firmly established. While menstruation itself has at least a degree of biological regularity, its symbolic voicings and valences are strikingly variable, both cross-cul-turally and within single cultures. It is perplexing, then, that the study of menstrual symbolism has been limited by a paucity of detail regarding such variations, by imbalances in ethnographic reporting, and by overly reductionistic theoreti-cal frameworks.
© 2020 University of California Press, Berkeley

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Acknowledgments IX
  4. Editors' Note XI
  5. PART I. INTRODUCTION
  6. 1. A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism 3
  7. PART II. MENSTRUAL IMAGES, MEANINGS, AND VALUES
  8. 2. Menstrual Cosmology among the Beng of Ivory Coast 51
  9. 3. Mortal Flow: Menstruation in Turkish Village Society 75
  10. 4. Menstruation among the Rungus of Borneo: An Unmarked Category 94
  11. PART III. THE SOCIOLOGY OF MENSTRUAL MEANINGS
  12. 5. Menstrual Politics: Women and Pigs in Rural Portugal 113
  13. 6. Menstrual Symbolism in South Wales 137
  14. 7. Premenstrual Syndrome: Discipline, Work, and Anger in Late Industrial Societies 161
  15. PART IV. EXPLORATORY DIRECTIONS: MENSES, CULTURE, AND TIME
  16. 8. Menstruation and the Power of Yurok Women 183
  17. 9. Heavenly Bodies: Menses, Moon, and Rituals of License among the Temne of Sierra Leone 210
  18. 10. Menstrual Synchrony and the Australian Ranbow Snake 232
  19. Notes 257
  20. References 281
  21. Contributors 315
  22. Index 319
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https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520340565-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Acknowledgments IX
  4. Editors' Note XI
  5. PART I. INTRODUCTION
  6. 1. A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism 3
  7. PART II. MENSTRUAL IMAGES, MEANINGS, AND VALUES
  8. 2. Menstrual Cosmology among the Beng of Ivory Coast 51
  9. 3. Mortal Flow: Menstruation in Turkish Village Society 75
  10. 4. Menstruation among the Rungus of Borneo: An Unmarked Category 94
  11. PART III. THE SOCIOLOGY OF MENSTRUAL MEANINGS
  12. 5. Menstrual Politics: Women and Pigs in Rural Portugal 113
  13. 6. Menstrual Symbolism in South Wales 137
  14. 7. Premenstrual Syndrome: Discipline, Work, and Anger in Late Industrial Societies 161
  15. PART IV. EXPLORATORY DIRECTIONS: MENSES, CULTURE, AND TIME
  16. 8. Menstruation and the Power of Yurok Women 183
  17. 9. Heavenly Bodies: Menses, Moon, and Rituals of License among the Temne of Sierra Leone 210
  18. 10. Menstrual Synchrony and the Australian Ranbow Snake 232
  19. Notes 257
  20. References 281
  21. Contributors 315
  22. Index 319
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