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Restriction and Renewal, Pollution and Power, Constraint and Community: The Paradoxes of Religious Women’s Experiences of Menstruation

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Abstract

Across cultures and historical time, menstruation has tended to be perceived as mysterious, dangerous and potentially contaminating. Most world religions place prohibitions on and prescribe codified purity rituals for menstruating women. We surveyed 340 religious and non-religious women from the Rocky Mountain West region of the United States regarding their attitudes and experiences of menstruation. We found that prescriptive religious women rated their periods as more bothersome, embarrassing, shameful, and endorsed more prohibitions, prescriptions and seclusion during menses compared to non-religious women. However, perhaps because their religions openly acknowledge menstruation, and their practice of rituals spotlights menstruation as a special time, religious women also identified a positive aspect of their menstrual cycles not shared by their non-religious counterparts. This was a heightened sense of community with other women. Further, women in committed relationships had more positive experiences of menstruation than single women, and this was especially true for women in prescriptive religions, despite a greater onus placed on them to observe menstrual rituals. This study complicates our understanding of how the practice of codified religious prohibitions and prescriptions around menstruation impacts women’s experience.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Social Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Nicki C. Dunnavant

  2. Department of Psychology, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache la Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, USA

    Tomi-Ann Roberts

Authors
  1. Nicki C. Dunnavant
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  2. Tomi-Ann Roberts
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomi-Ann Roberts.

Appendix

Appendix

Secrecy/Shame:

  1. 1.

    When women have their period, they should do things to hide the fact that they are menstruating (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

  2. 2.

    I find menstrual blood disgusting. (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

  3. 3.

    It is important to keep the period a secret. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  4. 4.

    A woman should feel ashamed if she “leaks” menstrual blood on her clothes. (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

  5. 5.

    It is important that nobody knows when a woman is having her period. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  6. 6.

    I would prefer not to talk openly about menstruation. (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

  7. 7.

    Women must hide anything that shows that we are having our periods. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  8. 8.

    It is important to buy sanitary pads without being seen. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

Prohibitions:

  1. 1.

    Women must avoid swimming while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  2. 2.

    Women must avoid eating certain foods while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  3. 3.

    Women must avoid eating or drinking cold things when we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  4. 4.

    Women must avoid smoking while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  5. 5.

    Women must avoid carrying heavy things when we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  6. 6.

    Women must avoid exercising while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  7. 7.

    Women should avoid touching their genital region when menstruating. (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

Community:

  1. 1.

    I feel comforted when another woman in my community is menstruating at the same time as me. (Original item)

  2. 2.

    Menstruation provides a way from me to keep in touch with my community. (Original item)

  3. 3.

    Menstruation allows women to be more aware of our identities within a particular community. (Original item)

  4. 4.

    Menstruation ties me to other women in my community. (Original item)

  5. 5.

    My menstrual cycle is a monthly opportunity to connect more strongly with my community. (Original item)

Bothersome:

  1. 1.

    Menstruation is something women just have to put up with. (MAQ Bothersome subscale)

  2. 2.

    Men have a real advantage in not having the monthly interruption of a menstrual period. (MAQ Bothersome subscale)

  3. 3.

    It would be great if someday menstrual periods could be over with in a few minutes. (MAQ Bothersome subscale)

  4. 4.

    The only thing menstruation is good for is to let women know they are not pregnant. (MAQ Bothersome subscale)

  5. 5.

    In some ways women enjoy their menstrual periods. (MAQ Bothersome subscale reversed)

Prescriptions:

  1. 1.

    Women must take showers with hot water while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  2. 2.

    Women must drink tea while we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  3. 3.

    Women must eat or drink hot things when we are having our periods. (BATM Proscriptions and Prescriptions subscale)

  4. 4.

    Women must stay away from men while we are having our periods. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  5. 5.

    Women must blush when we see an advertisement about sanitary pads when we are with a man. (BATM Secrecy subscale

Seclusion:

  1. 1.

    We women should avoid talking about our periods when there are men present. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  2. 2.

    I avoid touching others while I am menstruating. (Original item)

  3. 3.

    I avoid being touched while I am menstruating. (Original item)

  4. 4.

    I avoid sexual encounters while menstruating. (Original item)

Embarrassment:

  1. 1.

    Women should be embarrassed when they have to purchase menstrual products. (MSE Disgust/Shame subscale)

  2. 2.

    It is embarrassing when a man finds out that a woman is having her period. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

  3. 3.

    I am embarrassed when I have to engage in rituals surrounding my menstruation. (Original item)

  4. 4.

    It is uncomfortable for us to talk about our periods. (BATM Secrecy subscale)

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Dunnavant, N.C., Roberts, TA. Restriction and Renewal, Pollution and Power, Constraint and Community: The Paradoxes of Religious Women’s Experiences of Menstruation. Sex Roles 68, 121–131 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0132-8

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