Purity and Pollution in the Construction of the Female: Rites of Menarche and Menstruation

Historically, cultures all over the world ascribe menstruation an auspicious quality that is simultaneously worshipped and feared. The menstruating woman is a pure and holy being whose touch is somehow polluting. Menstrual taboos prevail, even in cultures that celebrate the onset of menarche. Taking the case of Assamese Hindu society, this paper tries to explore this juxtaposition through Victor Turner’s ideas of the liminal being and Mary Douglas’ conception of purity and pollution. Menstrual taboos thrive in Assamese culture, even as they celebrate tuloni biya (small wedding) when a girl reaches menarche, and worship the goddess Kamkhya’s menstrual cycle. The argument is made that menstrual rites actively construct the idea of the female. Gender is constructed through this cyclical ritual to remind women of their biological destiny as child bearers and nurturers. The taboos become a way to punish the woman for ‘wasting’ her egg that month by not fertilizing it. The contradiction of purity and pollution arises from and perpetuates this idea of a powerful sexual female that must be tamed and controlled. The woman is thus reminded of her role to continue her husband’s bloodline in the heteropatriarchal structure, affecting her self-perception. The conclusion explores how even as celebrations like tuloni biya decline, taboos continue to exist, perhaps affirming the idea of control as the primary motive of menstrual rituals. Menstrual rites become a tool in the hands of a heteropatriarchal structure to ensure women perform their duty of kinship production.