Menstruation created the world, eh?
Written: Jan 23 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Interesting theories on the birth of culture and the human mind
Cons: Like any theories of such things, impossible to prove or disprove
The Bottom Line: An interesting and original argument about the beginnings of human consciousness and culture. Worth a look if you're into off-the-beaten-track ideas.
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| Roov's Full Review: Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created ... |
It's probably just me, but somehow as soon as I saw that this book's subtitle was 'How Menstruation Created the World' I pretty much had to read it. I mean, if menstruation did create the world, I'd like to know about it, and even if it didn't, I'd be interested to hear someone's argument that it did.
So I seized the book without further ado, and now, having read it, I am prepared to pass along to you, my beloved reader, the insights gained. Or, if not that, than at least a vague general idea of what the book's about.
All right then.
The author's main contention, as one might suspect from her title, is that menstruation figured hugely in the creation, if not of the actual physical world, of early humanity's conception of the world, and even of the development of human consciousness.
She suggests that in the earliest predawn of conscious awareness, one of the first things the essentially animal minds of the early humans perceived was the cyclic nature of female menstruation, and that further connecting this regular physical event with the roughly parallel cycles of the waxing and waning moon may have been what first awakened the mind to a recognition of time as a distinct concept, provoking understanding of the past and the predictable future as well as of the ever-present now.
She further argues that as the smell of blood may have drawn predators and therefore been a danger to a woman and her group, so menstruation itself came to be viewed as dangerous and powerful, and the menstruating woman as possessed of great power that needed to be carefully controlled, and thus that the earliest human rituals were menstrual rites designed to harness this power and keep it from going awry.
Thus, the earliest examples of human culture were formed around the sacredness and power of menstruation and of blood, and menstruation was key in shaping civilization and the world as we perceive it.
One can of course buy this kind of thing or not buy it. I'm not sure I entirely buy it, but it is interesting to think about.
The author (who is a poet as well as a research writer) backs up her theories with analysis of the oldest myths in the human record, reading ideas of menstrual blood and ritual into the stories of divergent cultures including those of North and South America, Africa and Asia. She also uses references to modern day traditions which she suggests reflect ancient menstrual rite, and includes passages with anecdotes from her own life. These provide interesting personal notes that make more or less convincing links to her larger theory and help ground the book for the reader, which I thought was a nice touch.
I found some of her readings of myth, like some of her personal anecdotes, less convincing than others. Some of her interpretations did seem a little far-fetched (and there will no doubt be those who find her entire book far-fetched), but I did not find this to be much more of a problem than with most books of theory along these lines. There's really no way to know WHAT was at the base of the dawn of the human mind, and this seems in many ways as good a guess as any other.
I say 'it seems' because I don't want to suggest that I'm an expert. I haven't personally made much study of early human history, so I don't know how her theory stacks up scientifically with the best information we have at the moment. It seems to me, however, to be well researched, with plenty of references to specific locations and practices whose existence is not in doubt, although her interpretation of them may be.
She covers a lot of time and ground in the course of the book, working her way up from earliest prehistory to the formation of agriculture (which she of course argues resulted from menstrual rites) and the development of civilization (formed around the temples that arose from sacred menstrual huts where rituals were held). She addresses origin myths of the world, the development of ancient religions and their growth into modern ones, and the theorized shift from peaceful, goddess-worshipping cultures to warlike, male-dominated ones. ('Theorized,' as there is considerable debate as to whether these peaceful female-centered cultures ever actually existed to any notable extent.)
She suggests that pretty much everything we do, from decorating our clothes and bodies to cooking food to wearing shoes, can be traced back to some ancient understanding of the ordeals that were necessary to keep menstrual power from destroying everything. She also includes interesting thoughts on human sacrifice and the 'metaforms' (one thing symbolically representing another) that allowed cultures to substitute less bloody rituals, and some ideas on why certain things have been feared and/or venerated throughout history, like snakes and conch shells.
The underlying point of the book, I think, is to argue that women have a lot more to do with the fact that humans are human than they're currently given credit for. Any argument with such an obvious agenda I find automatically more suspicious than one that can claim to be motivated by mere scientific curiosity, but on the whole I think this book does a good job with its arguments, does not stretch the bounds of credibility too far, and certainly raises some interesting points. For this reason, it's well worth reading, and I enjoyed it.
I suppose I would not recommend it to anyone too sensitive to read a whole book about menstruation, or anyone with no interest in books of anthropological/feminist theory. For anyone interested in theories about the development of consciousness and gender roles and what not, I would recommend it as an interesting read. It's nicely written and easy to follow, without too much reference to obscure branches of knowledge, and while it may not convince you that menstruation is the foundation of all civilization, it may make you think a bit.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Roov
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Location: Metro Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Reviews written: 118
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