Sex,fertility and menstruation among the Beng of the Ivory Coast: a symbolic analysis

An attempt is made in this discussion to relocate the topic of menstruation in a new framework, one not directly defined by gender and not restricted to the view that menstrual blood and menstrual pollution are by definition viewed negatively. The Beng (Ivory Coast) notions of menstruation are explored as they relate to wider concepts of pollution and fertility. The analysis demonstrates how menstrual pollution among the Beng forms part of another type of pollution--the spatio symbolic pollution of human fertility when it is removed from its proper place--and how, rather than debasing women, menstruation serves to have added value to a major aspect of women's labor--that of cooking. There are 3 rules which Beng observe concerning menstruation: no initiated, married, or previously married woman who is menstruating may set foot in the forest for any reason other than to defecate; a menstruating woman may not touch a corpse; and a man may not eat food cooked by his wife during the days she is menstruating, nor may a Master of the Earth eat food cooked by any menstruating woman. At first, these taboos appear to be another case of the pollution of women through menstruation and another instance of women's oppression. When explored, the Master of Earth explained that menstrual blood is considered as special because it carries in it a living being and that menstrual blood is like the flower which must emerge before the fruit--the baby--can be born. No answer was provided to the question of pollution. There seemed to be no other rules specifying what activities a woman should or should not pursue during menstruation. She is not isolated from the flux of social life, and sexual activiity during menstruation, though not commonly done, is not taboo. The fact that it is only working in the forest, and not other activities, that is prohibited to menstruating women reveals that menstruation is not regarded as dangerous to men or as polluting in general. Rather, menstrual blood is seen as a symbol of human fertility, and for this reason is not allowed to touch the forest/fields, which are viewed as a form of Earth fertility. Forest/field fertility and village fertility must be conceptually kept apart, according to the Beng view of the world. Similarly, Beng husbands may not eat food cooked by their menstruating wives for a related reason. Menstruating women who cook are handling crops produced in the forest/fields, and their husbands, with whom they produce (village) children, must therefore avoid contact with such food, lest the 2 realms of village and forest fertility be mixed. Food cooked by menstruating women is agreed by all Beng to be the most delicious of all Beng food, thus giving positive value to an activity of menstruating women.