Cultural Myths and Practice Followed During Menstruation in Chengalpattu District- an Observational Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52783/jns.v14.1672Keywords:
Menstruation, Awareness, Cultural Rituals, Cultural Myths, Metropolitan City, Urban Population.Abstract
Background: The process of menstruation is still maintained under the door of secrecy in many regions of India, during the days of menstruation the women are restricted from their daily activities. such as not entering the puja room, not entering the kitchen, they should not offer prayers and touch holy books, they also believe that, since menstruating women are impure and un hygienic they are not allowed to prepare food.
Aim & Objective: In Asian continent women during menarche days are contemplated as impure because of taboos and cultural belief. This study will chart out the pyramidal concept of knowledge, hygiene and taboos being followed by the current generation women in urban zone. This study also looks forward in creating awareness about the myths which is eradicated, but still being followed unknowingly in many parts of India.
Methodology: It is a Cross-sectional study conducted in Chengalpattu district with a sample size of 549. The women attained menarche reside in mariamalai nagar were recruited, on parallel the women with any gynecological condition were excluded out of the study. The participants ’demographic data and menstruation history were collected, then a structured questionnaire was used to analyze the knowledge, taboos and level of hygiene. The collected data were statistically analyzed.
Outcome Measure: Structured questionnaire.
Results& Conclusion: The consequences of menstrual myths significantly reduce women quality of life, limits their productivity inputs to the society at some extent women go unnoticed. This study also request government of tamil nadu to initiate medical campaign in rural areas in finding out the cultural myths which are still followed in many parts of Tamil Nadu which binds the women under a shelter in inhibiting them from growing in their career and creating awareness among them , so that people’s perception can be changed and women can play a exceptional role in taking care of family in creating a myth free and harmonious tamil nadu.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Chawla J, Matrika. 1992 The mythic origin of the menstrual taboo in the rig veda 1992.
kumar srivastara k 2011 cultural and social practice regarding menstruation amongadolescence girls. Soc work public health 2011:26:594-
Ten VT 2007 Menstrual hygiene A neglected condition for the achievement of several millennium development goals,
5.SOS2014 children village social taboos damage the health of girls and women
Luz Am, Berni NI, Selli L. L Rev Bras Enferm2007 “Myths and taboos of motherhood: focusing on the health-disease process” (1):42-8; PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
SOS Childrens’ 2012 Village. Social taboos damage the health of girls and women.. Available
Bhartiya A.2013 Menstruation, religion and society. Int J Soc Sci Hum.;3(6):523–7.
Hennegan J, Shannon AK, Rubli J, Schwab KJ, Melendez-Torres GJ.2019N Women'sand girls' experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis. PLoS Med.;16(5):e1002803.
Amatya P, Ghimire S, Callahan KE, Baral BK, Poudel KC.2018 Practice and livedexperience of menstrual exiles (Chhaupadi) among adolescent girls in farwesternNepal. PLoS One. ;13(12):e0208260.
Sommer M, Sahin M. 2013 Overcoming the taboo: advancing the global agendafor menstrual hygiene management for schoolgirls. Am J Public Health.;103(9):1556–9.
Acharya A, Yadav K, Baridalyne N.2006 Reproductive tract infections/ sexuallytransmitted infections in rural Haryana: experiences from the family health
awareness campaign. Indian J Community Med. ;31(4):274–6.
Das P, Baker KK, Dutta A, Swain T, Sahoo S, Das BS, et al. 2015Menstrual hygienepractices, WASH access and the risk of urogenital infection in women fromOdisha. India PLoS One. 2015;10(6):e0130777.
Mukherjee, A., Lama, M., Khakurel, U. et al. Perception and practices of menstruation restrictions among urban adolescent girls and women in Nepal: a cross-sectional survey. Reprod Health 17, 81 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-020-00935-6
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
