Becoming a Women

Topic: Rite of Passage

Sources:

"Cultural ANTHRO" Richard Robbins

"Apology. U by Kotex"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRf35wCmzWw

"Period Piece"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pe1enOm9T8

Relation: 

From culture to culture there are various ‘rites of passage’ that “mark a person’s passage from one identity to another” (Robbins, 139). I was trying to think of rites of passage that I had gone through in my life. One I immediately thought of was that of ‘becoming a woman.’ It was the summer before eighth grade, and I was getting ready for a soccer game when I realized I had had my first period, I wasn’t excited. I remember sheepishly telling my Mom, and she got so excited and started clapping and singing ‘you’re a young lady now!’ I was still not excited, as I had soccer game to play, now with a huge wad of cotton in my shorts. That weekend a few family friends came to visit and my Mom was telling them how excited she was. My friend, a few years younger than me, asked to talk with me about it, and as I explained what it was like, she looked up to me as though I was so grown up. At the end of the weekend as her family left, her Mom came up to me and said to me “welcome to womanhood.” I didn’t really understand what the big fuss was about.

Discussion:

In many cultures the transition from being a girl to becoming a woman is a big deal. While in our culture it is something that is frustrating, feared, and even disgusting. I knew many girls that didn’t even know they were going to get a period, and when they did, they thought they were dying. It is often something we are taught to be very concerned about, and something that will inhibit our daily activities. As women we are bombarded with advertising about tampons or pads that will make our period “more comfortable” and to avoid “being embarrassed” by our own body functions. 

Menstruation is also often expressed in negative terms such as, “disintegration or shedding. According to one college textbook, “When fertilization fails to occur, the endometrium is shed, and a new cycle starts. This is why it used to be taught that ‘menstruation is the uterus crying for lack of a baby.’” (Robbins, 169) It is also negatively referred by women themselves as ‘on the rag,’ and is rarely ever referred to just as a ‘period’ or ‘menstruation’ and if it is, it often throws people off and makes them uncomfortable. Why is this? Often a woman’s reproductive system is also described as a sort of machine, with the main function of making babies, and if it is unable to do so, it ‘fails.’ Do these terms and attitudes help the continuation of sexism towards women?

Some young ladies experience positivity towards getting their period, as I did, but many aren’t so lucky, and instead feel scared or embarrassed. Many of these attitudes towards menstruation are taught to us since we were young, or weren't taught to us at all, yet were influenced by our surroundings. I don’t feel that there are really any rites of passage for this sort of thing in our culture, even though this is a very important part of a woman’s life. I do feel though that some advertisements are trying to make light on the subject, and make it more funny, rather than serious and something to be worried about.