"Fertility is measured by offspring, not by honours." - Alexander Grothendieck.
Days of celebrations with the Native Americans: Navajo are the biggest tribe of Native Americans in the United States. They celebrate menarche grandly. The menarche ritual is called Kinaalda. As soon as a girl gets her first bleeding, a celebration of multiple days starts and everybody helps preparing the party. The Kinaalda ceremony can go on up to seven days, and all this time the girl is protected and cared for. She is treated like a princess: the women wash her, give jewelry and decorate her skin. The tribesmen and women sing for her and make her dinner. Because: the happier the girl during the Kinaalda, the happier she will be the rest of her life with good fertility.
A Navajo Girl
Contrary to this we see a different scenario in Gonds tribes of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. They follow an age-old belief of isolating menstruating girls and banish them to ' period hut' or gaokar in local language which is located outside the village. It is made of windowless mud room with no toilet and no access to water. The girls use mahua leaves covered with paddy chaff as pads. These unhygienic menstrual practices often leads to infections, illnesses and sometimes even deaths. Events like this shows us that different society treat menarche and other bioevents to fertility differently.
The Gond "Period Hut"
Fertility is the realized capacity of individual to produce children. This is measured by counting the number of children born to an individual or couple. To produce the children number of activities occur in both female and male reproductive system. All these activities to produce children in both female and male are called as bioevents to fertility.
The term menarche was first introduced by EH. Kisch in 1910. Menarche denotes the beginning of the cycle of menstruation and onset of adult sexual life. It is considered as an important event socially and medically in female life, as it denotes the possibility of fertility.
The age at which menstrual cycle begins is different for different females. The age at menarche is influenced by many factors like genetic, social, economic, environment and nutrition.
Approach to Study Age at Menarche
In physical anthropology the approach to understand menarche is diverse.
Anthropologist uses:
Menopause is when mensuration stops and female reproductive hormones slows down. This phenomenon is universal and marks the end of woman's reproductive cycle. It is the time in womens life when menstruation stops permanently and she will be no longer able to bear children. Menopause is defined as having occurred when a woman has not had any vaginal bleeding for a year.
Fertility Life Cycle
Menarche and menopause are significant bioevents in a woman's life, marking the beginning and end of her fertility. The age at which these events occur can vary between individuals and populations, influenced by factors such as genetics, nutrition, social status, and environment. Anthropologists use various approaches to study menarche, including primatological, historical, cross-cultural, and evolutionary data. Menarche does not guarantee immediate fertility, as some girls may not experience ovulation right away. On the other hand, menopause marks the end of a woman's reproductive cycle, and she can no longer bear children once it occurs. Both menarche and menopause are essential aspects of a woman's fertility life cycle and are influenced by numerous factors. Understanding these events and their impact on fertility is crucial for improving women's reproductive health and well-being in various societies.
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