Menstruation in Virgins
Modern society has grown to believe that puberty in young girls, watching as they develop in to women is something beautiful. Though a confusing time, it is also important and special, and even menstruation is seen as a unique rite of passage. This wasn’t always true. In ancient Greece, it simply signaled the time when a girl could physically begin to reproduce, which also meant marriage and management of her own household. Traditionally, the justification for puberty and menstruation came spiritually, the gods deciding that this was the time for such a transition. Beginning in the 4th century B.C., a small group, including Hippocrates, began to form theories that all behavior, including those associated with menstruation, could be explained physiologically—any erratic activity or withdrawn moods was simply called “hysteria.” What the Hippocratics failed to appreciate, though, was the cultural significance of the period through which these girls were going, and the great stress that it created for them. The hysteria that occurred during puberty was due just as much to cultural and psychological factors as physiological factors.
According to Hippocrates, menstruation began the same in all women--the blood collected in the womb in order to flow out. When a girl was no longer a virgin, and her “egress” opened, then she could menstruate safely with a clear pathway from the womb. If the girl’s virginity was still intact, as was common at the time of their first periods, and the egress was not open, then the blood could not flow as freely and instead gathered around the heart and lungs. When “these [were] filled with blood, the heart [became] sluggish, and then, becau...
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...n their own they sound ludicrous as sole explanations for this change and “insanity” in both females and males. The public knowledge that we all have now was not so true in Greece 2500 years ago. Those that aligned with Hippocrates believed in the physical body, the women themselves behaved culturally and spiritually, and Galen put himself out on a limb to adhere to psychological beliefs--beliefs that would not be rediscovered again until the twentieth century (Galen, Diotima, 352). Perhaps we should be thankful that the modern world does not adhere to just one discipline in order to explain the phenomena occurring in our own bodies—girls experiencing puberty are not hysterical, the gods are not punishing them, and they are not merely encountering “mental uneasiness.” They are menstruating, and growing, and developing—events that have become something beautiful.
There are biological differences when it comes to men and women, reproductive organs, hormones, and menstrual cycle. Men and women have different coping processes, women tend to be more emotion focused, they seek social support, have relaxing techniques, and they tend to distract themselves. Men on the other hand go through denial; they consume alcohol, and or turn to smoking and or drug abuse. In Hoffmann’s essay she found that boys by the time they are in elementary school they lose a large amount of their emotions. Boys are more unlikely to complain to teachers or parents of the pain that they are experiencing. Girls are more likely to keep their emotions and are more likely to be sensitive when they are younger. I do believe what Hoffmann has to say in her essay. Looking at the younger children in my family I can see a difference between the boys and the girls. The girls are always the first ones to come up and complain about toys being stolen from them or getting hurt. Many of the boys will fall down and jump right up and continue
The labeling perspective comes into play with Michelle's claim because African American men have been labeled to be the race that's attached to deviant acts. Because black men are attached to the deviant act of drugs, the criminal justice system created laws which make it where there is a mandatory minimum of time that has to be served for the smallest amount of drugs. Once he serves time in a correctional fac...
Turner’s syndrome is a genetic conditions that affects the female’s sex chromosome. In (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001417/) Turner’s syndrome occurs when cells are missing all or part of an X chromosome. It’s common of the female patient to only have one X chromosome. Although, some individuals may have two X chromosomes but one is defective. It is thought that an estimated 1 out of 2000-2500 females suffer from this genetic condition worldwide but it’s usually females with this condition don’t survive their birth. Due to this abnormality, the genes that is defective “affect the growth and sexual development of the female” (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/turner/). However other disabilities and delays do occur even though these traits can vary case by case.
Jordanova, Ludmilla. Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the 18th and 20th Centuries. London: Harrester Wheatsheaf, 1989.
Michelle Alexander asserts that mass incarceration in contemporary American society is the result of targeting African Americans in the “War on Drugs” and serves to maintain a racial caste system similar to the system that existed during pre-Civil War slavery and has been propelled by what Michael Cohen calls “Jim Crow political logic” of Southern
Karin Martin (1998) discusses how our bodies are gendered at young ages in her exploration of how bodily differences are constructed in preschool. Martin’s research (1998) shows the differences between the two genders that we make, even at such young ages. Our bodies are gendered in social institutions and these differences create a context for social relations in which differences confirm inequalities of power (Martin, 1998). As we get older our bodies continue to be gendered, with reference to body hair; women are taught to remove their body hair to be feminine. Christina Hope (1982) argues that this misogynistic idea, comes from the societies ideals about the different sexes. She says that American society depicts men and women as polar opposites, and therefore women removing their body hair keeps them feminine as it is a masculine trait to have body hair (Hope, 1982). Hope (1982) also explains that American cultural has the tendency to group women with non-adults, and men with adults. She argues that a woman naturally grows body hair during or after puberty, and the removal of it may be “feminine” but it is also “childlike” (Hope 1982). Women’s hair removal products are often advertised with terms like “baby soft”, reinforcing this idea that a feminine woman is much like a child. These idea’s are all a part of the western world’s culture,
Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece itself because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. These three goddesses represent three different types of women in Greek society. Sarah Pomeroy, author of Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, believed that “the goddesses are archetypal images of human females, as envisioned by males” (8). Pomeroy understands the significance in the differences between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and what those differences meant for the women of Greece who were required to follow three important rules. The first rule was for the women to live a life of domesticity and motherhood. This was very important to the men in the society. The women were the only ones able to bear children. Also, if they were forced to stay in the house, men could keep a greater control on their wives, and not have to worry about them having affairs. The second important trait was virginity until marriage. Its importance to the Greek culture lied in the fear of a woman’s power. The men of the society felt it best that a woman remained a virgin until she was married; however this same attribute was not required of a man. Their belief can be explained by this quote written by P. Walcot in the article “Greek Attitudes Towards Women: The Mythological Evidence”: “The Greeks believed women...
Birth is an amazing ability. It is a uniquely female power. The Theogony provides a portrait of the struggle between the sexes for control of the womb. Men attempt to gain access to birth by monitoring and grasping control over what leaves the womb, through sexual force, and by destroying the powerful mother-child bonds. Nonetheless, women retain autonomy. Sheer force of will, as Hera’s birth illustrates, deceit, and strong mother-child bonds preserve female power of procreation. Through birth women influence and control the course of human (or deities) destiny. Through their wombs women gain powerful agency.
Introduction The topic of gender differences must understandably be approached with caution in our modern world. Emotionally charged and fraught with ideas about political correctness, gender can be a difficult subject to address, particularly when discussed in correlation to behavior and social behavior. Throughout history, many people have strove to understand what makes men and women different. Until the modern era, this topic was generally left up to religious leaders and philosophers to discuss. However, with the acquisition of more specialized medical knowledge of human physiology and the advent of anthropology, we now know a great deal more about gender differences than at any other point in history.
Mary Pipher goes on to say that the problem faced by girls is a ‘problem without a name’ and that the girls of today deserve a different kind of society in which all their gifts can be developed and appreciated. (Pipher,M). It’s clear that cultures and individual personalities intersect through the period of adolescence. Adolescence is a time in a young girl’s life that shapes them into the woman they become. I think it begins earlier than teen years because even the clothing that is being sold for younger girls says sexuality. Bras for girls just beginning in every store are now padded with matching bikini underwear, Barbie dolls are glamour up in such away that these girls believ...
In ancient Greek society women lived hard lives on account of men's patriarch built communities. Women were treated as property. Until about a girl’s teens she was "owned" by her father or lived with her family. Once the girl got married she was possessed by her husband along with all her belongings. An ancient Greece teenage girl would marry about a 30-year-old man that she probably never met before. Many men perceived women as being not being human but creatures that were created to produce children, please men, and to fulfill their household duties. A bride would not even be considered a member of the family until she produced her first child. In addition to having a child, which is a hard and painful task for a teenage girl in ancient civilization to do, the husband gets to decide if he wants the baby. A baby would be left outside to die if the husband was not satisfied with it; usually this would happen because the child was unhealthy, different looking, or a girl.
Ida Emilie Brantelid, Helena Nilver, and Siw Alehagen, professors of Division of Nursing Science, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences at the Linkoping University respectfully, reported that “this can be interpreted as a social norm indicating that menstruation is something that all women should have, but the social context prohibits them from letting anyone else become aware of it” (2014, p. 607). It is believed that society has created an unspoken, but clear message, that tells women that they should keep their “problem” hidden from everyone. It could be seen throughout advertisements for sanitary products; such as tampons and pads. “Ads for menstrual products have contributed to the communication taboo by emphasizing secrecy, avoidance of embarrassment, and freshness” (Johnston & Chrisler, 2013, p. 11). By degrading this inevitable biological process, people harm women’s self-esteem, and may cause them to feel the need to be extra careful when publically handling sanitary products. They exchange them with other females under tables so people will not know. It is not right that women have to hide such a natural processes that they have to live with for many years. “Over almost 40 years, menstruation is a part of female life” (Brantelid, Nilvér, & Alehagen, 2014, p. 601). It is time for people all around the world accept
As more people began to access the Internet through smart phones and tablets rather than laptops and computers, it is not a surprise that they would also want to transform the American education system by bringing tablets into classrooms. In fact, a few schools around the country have already replaced textbooks with tablets and have seen improvements in students’ standardized test scores. Using tablets instead of textbooks is not only convenient and helpful, but it can also reduce the amount of paper wastes in school. However, it is not a good idea to completely transform textbooks with tablets with the current technology, for it can not only be damaging to the environment and costly to set up, but also might not be effective in improving K-12 education in the long run.
Technology properly used in the classroom has many advantages to a student’s learning. Technology can help students become more involved in their own learning process, which is not seen in the traditional classroom. It allows them to master basic skills at their own rate rather than being left behind. Teachers and students alike can connect to real life situations by using technology in the classroom; this can also help to prepare students for real world situations. Technology can be used to motivate students as well as to offer more challenging opportunities. It can also be used as a visualization tool to keep students interested in the subject that is being taught. When technology is used effectively, students have the opportunity to develop skills that they may not get without the use of technology (Cleaver, 2011). Assessing and monitoring students is easier on the teacher because of the ability to use technology in the classroom. When technology is used correctly it offers limitless resources to a classroom atmosphere.