A Woman's Curse by Small - Article Example

A woman confined to a menstrual house or even secluded due to the menstrual situation is acknowledged as a fertile woman who though not is presently pregnant, but would upon conceiving might give birth to a girl. The advantages and Disadvantages The information, according to the writer could be used by men in their paternity assessment tests, not in the present circumstances but also in the future. A woman going through such a situation could be certain that she could become pregnant, though presently not pregnant, but healthy enough to become pregnant.

Writing through the Beverly Strassmann empirical research work, having lived for over two years among the Dogon of Mali in West Africa, being part of their culture, and the menstruating women were being confined to menstrual huts that are behind the compound of the village. Urine samples collected by the researcher showed that the women did not visit the huts throughout the pregnancy or during the period when there is an absence of menstruation. This means that the menstrual taboos of the Dogon traditional culture were useful in providing men with the genuine signals of female reproductive status.

An implication of Strassman’s work might be reflected that modern lifestyles and the proliferation in the use of contraceptives might be in conflict with a woman’s naturally evolving biological developments. To support this proposition, she noted that the Dogon women menstruate 10 times while western women counterparts menstruate at least 400 times and even more.