Menstrual taboos and social rigidity

Cross-Cultural Approaches • HRAF Press • New Haven • Published In • Pages: 95-110 •
By Young, Frank W., Bacdayan, Albert A.

Abstract

This study first reviews two explanations of menstrual taboos: taboos as an aspect of social rigidity and a psychogenic interpretation of menstrual taboos. The authors chiefly advocate a sociogenic explanation of menstrual taboos.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
OtherOther Researchers
Ethnographic Reports

Hypotheses (5)

HypothesisSupported
"If menstrual taboos amount to a form of institutionalized discrimination against women, then we should expect to find them in subcommunities where males are dominant and tightly organized" (100)Supported
"Rigidity and male dominance are associated [with menstrual taboos] to about the same degree, as would be expected" (103)Supported
"Stephens reports that the postpartum taboo tends to be bimodally distributed. On the contrary, degree of elaboration of menstrual taboos is associated with increasing length of the postpartum taboo" (104)Supported
"Stephens' main predictor [of menstrual taboo], the composite score of anxiety, did hold up [replicate]" (105)Supported
"There is no change . . . when the effect of social rigidity is partialled out of the association between composite anxiety and menstrual taboo elaboration or when castration anxiety is partialled out of the association of rigidity or male dominance with menstrual taboos" (106)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: mas  Amelia Piazza