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Ambiguous Bleeding: Purity And Sacrifice In Bali, Lene Pedersen

Anthropology and Museum Studies Faculty Scholarship

Menstrual beliefs and practices in Bali defy simple classification. Menstruation may be relegated to the dump, as when a woman had to undergo a rite on a street midden when her monthly period coincided with the ritual time for a purification ceremony. But menstruation is also viewed as conferring raja status, and women do exhibit agency in this supposedly passive process. Experiences of menstruation, furthermore, may vary according to caste status.