How Patriarchy Created Menstrual Shame - and how Goddess Traditions Can Help

Why do so many women feel shame about their period? Why do men recoil at the thought of monthly bleeding? Why is menstruation such a taboo topic of discussion, so much so, that moms can’t even talk with their daughters about it?

We can point to several factors that cause period shame, including social messaging, our upbringing, and lack of education. But the foundation upon which all of these factors were built, and the source of our cultural negativity toward menstruation, is in large part patriarchal religion.

In this article, we provide a super-simplified explanation of how patriarchy created menstrual shame and how goddess traditions can help.

Our Father’s Religion

“Patriarchy” means ruled by men. Patriarchal religions are male-focused and often monotheistic (i.e. they worship a male God.) In these societies, men hold primary power and are the leaders of church and family. Women are viewed as inferior to men with their main value to bear children. Patriarchal religions include Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.

Religious holy texts, including the Bible, Koran, and Torah, present rules and ideas for their followers to abide by. In verses that demean the feminine body and devalue women in general, menstrual blood is denounced as dirty and menstruating women are untouchable and to be banned from entering temples or participating in religious rituals.

“When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.” Leviticus 15:19–20 (New International Version)

“A woman is impure for three days during her period, but after bathing on the fourth day she becomes pure again.” (Manusmriti 5.66–5.69, paraphrased).

"They ask you about menstruation. Say: 'It is harmful; you shall avoid sexual intercourse with the women during menstruation; do not approach them until they are rid of it . . . . God loves the repenters, and He loves those who are clean'" Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah (2:222) 

In the two thousand years since the holy texts emerged, some of these fundamentalist beliefs have relaxed, but the suggestion that menstruation is “dirty” has perpetuated from generation to generation, and mostly in whispers, since even talking about it is taboo. So forbidden, in fact, is woman’s blood that some mothers felt (and still feel) too ashamed to teach their daughters about menstruation at all.  

While humans have become more sophisticated, this ancient messaging has been ingrained in our visceral beliefs and continues even today. 

No wonder we harbor shame.

But it wasn’t always this way.

Pre-patriarchal, Feminine Religions

Prior to the rise of patriarchal religions, many cultures around the globe were nature-focused and goddess worshipping. Archaeological findings of figurines, paintings, and relief sculptures of the female form, dating from 30,000 B.C.E. to 7,000 B.C.E., suggest the reverence for an overarching female Divine presence, such as a Mother Goddess, was global.

Red ochre pigment found in cave paintings, on prehistoric artifacts and in burial sites indicate an honoring of blood; perhaps the blood of Goddess, or possibly woman’s mysterious, monthly bleeding or the blood from birthing - the most inexplicable miracle of human existence.

Evidence indicates these goddess-focused societies were egalitarian, meaning women and men operated equally. Some cultures were matriarchal or matrilineal, in which women held significant social or economic power.

Around 5,000 years ago (3,000 B.C.E.), as Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations developed, the belief in sacred forces who controlled nature and all of life began to take shape in human and animal form. They were worshipped as goddesses and gods. Greek civilization arose about 1,000 years later (around 2,000 B.C.E.) with its own creation story of cosmic forces that governed the workings of the world.

In these and other polytheistic cultures (believing in many deities), goddesses and gods were thought to control the natural forces of the environment, such as the seasons, weather, day and night, or human nature and functions, such as love, beauty, fertility, and creativity.

Egyptian goddess Isis, for example, ruled over motherhood, protection, and magic. Mesopotamian goddess Inanna's sacred forces encompassed sexual passion, political power, procreation and justice. Greek goddess Artemis' domains were female independence, the wilderness, wild animals and childbirth.

Civilizations continued to emerge around the globe, and with them their own pantheons of goddesses and gods, each honored for their divine essences.

Goddess and God worship prevailed as did their presence in each civilizations' psyche and culture. Great temples were built for them, their cosmic attributes were illustrated in their art; widespread festivals celebrated them.

Women worshipped their goddesses for safe births, abundant crops, protection, guidance, and healing. They performed rituals, prayed and made offerings to their goddesses, and sought to invoke the goddess' virtues within themselves.

In these ancient societies, women and men lived in tune with nature’s rhythm. Women tracked their blood time with the phases of the moon, leading to the invention of the first calendars. Midwives welcomed babies into the world. Women healers used herbs to comfort the body’s ills.

In many of these cultures, women lived equally to men and held high-status roles, such as queens, shaman, healers, advisors, priestesses, businesswomen, and teachers. It seems that the world was balanced.

But that changed around 2,000 years ago, when patriarchy began to rise in force around the globe, systematically destroyed polytheistic and goddess-focused cultures, and enforced dogma and planted views that demeaned women and menstruation. Patriarchy prevailed.

Thousands of years later in the 21^st century, here’s how our patriarchal culture and its views on menstruation is affecting our girls and women:

A 2020 study reported 42% of women experienced period-shaming.

62% of teens indicate that society teaches people to be ashamed of their periods (2 points up from 2023).

Over 77% of girls under the age of 17 experience body image dissatisfaction

Most women don’t even like to say the word “vagina” and prefer euphemisms over the words “menstruation” or “period.”

The patriarchy has done a great job of putting women down.

Goddess Honoring Traditions That Can Support Period Pride

I believe that we can repel patriarchal attitudes and recover from this negative conditioning by practicing a few female-honoring, goddess-oriented traditions that support our personal power and period pride. A few suggestions follow.

Be a Wise Woman for your daughter

In ancient days, mothers and wise women taught their daughters about their body and menstruation. Even today, some Lakota Native American tribal elders maintain the tradition of initiating groups of girls into womanhood by teaching the ways of women. Strong mother-daughter bonds can help support girls’ self-esteem and confidence. Teaching girls about the body’s functions and how to navigate period days, while also instilling empowering concepts to help girls feel empowered, will help cultivate positive attitudes toward the female body and periods.

Bleed and commune with other women. In many cultures, bleeding women gather and commune in a tent or hut. These gathering places are sacred resting spots where women can rest, replenish and share wisdom. Today’s Red Tent movement is one that encourages communities of women to gather in circles to honor their body and menstruation, whether they are bleeding or not. You can create a Red Tent experience with your community of women of all ages.

Honor your daughter’s first blood.  

Through history and around the world, a girl’s first period has been honored and celebrated. A girl’s menses, or first period, is a milestone. Though she may act like a little girl, her physiology and psychology are maturing into womanhood. Acknowledging, or even celebrating her step into womanhood can support her self-esteem and personal pride and power.  Download our First Moon Celebration Guide here:

RDS 10 Easy First Moon Celebrations.pdf

Download PDF • 1.94MB

 Record your dreams

Our ancient sisters believed dreams that occurred during menstruation foretold the future and came directly from the goddesses. We can use our own dreams to discover what is inside of us and potentially use them for guidance.  Writing down dreams in a journal may help connect the dots between questions and solutions. In fact, journaling in general, is proven tool for personal discovery and emotional well-being. After waking up on your period days, write down your dreams. Try to interpret their meaning. While you’re at it, write about other things on your mind and see what is revealed. You may feel better about something that is bothering you, or may release pressure that you’ve been holding inside. Or you may write amazing poems and stories.

Create art with red paint

A drawing, painting, collage or other creation made in red will remind you of the Mother Goddess around you and the Divine Feminine Energy within you. Whether primitive-looking or a detailed masterpiece, let it express your appreciation of your body and blood. Display your art where you can see it easily and be reminded of your power.

Offer your menstrual blood to the earth by pouring it on the land and plants.

No doubt, before the invention of period products, women bled directly into the earth. Since women invented plant cultivation, they likely bled onto the plants, perhaps noticing plants grew more abundantly with it. In later civilizations, menstrual blood was poured on property boundaries for luck and plants for better growth. In some cultures, menstrual blood was a sacred offering to Mother Earth. The next time you rinse your bloodied panties, offer it to your houseplants or pour it on the ground, and thank Goddess for your health and body.  

Honor your body and blood.

Do as the early humans in paleolithic times did: regard blood as a sacred symbol of Goddess and woman's own divinity. Your blood doesn’t make you “dirty," it is your cosmic power. Know that your body is a divine creation and you are gifted in so many ways. You may begin to rise above any shame that you may hold or that society tosses your way.

Close

It’s difficult to shift a cultural paradigm, especially one that’s thousands of years old. But we can shift our beliefs in our own bodies and in our communities. Our energy will merge with the many current individual and community efforts to normalize menstruation and view it as valuable and honorable.

We can connect with the divine aspects of ourselves and honor them, as our ancient sisters did.

Let’s view our blood as sacred, a gift to humanity, and a symbol of our divine powers.

Let’s honor ourselves and recognize our menstruation as our super-power.

After all, where would humanity be without our periods?

To learn more about pre-patriarchal Goddess-worshipping cultures, I recommend you read the following classics:

When God Was a Woman, by Merlin Stone

The Great Cosmic Mother, by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor

Whence the Goddess, by Miriam Robbins Dexter

Shakti Woman, by Vicki Noble

Sacred Places of Goddess, by Karen Tate