'Taboo on Sex During Menstruation' Quiz

Beng Culture and Fertility

• In Beng culture, a husband refraining from eating food cooked by his menstruating wife is significant because it suggests that men's fertility and strength could be weakened by contact with menstruating women.

Masters of the Earth and Menstruation

• A Master of the Earth in Beng culture avoids eating food cooked by any menstruating woman to maintain his spiritual power and connection with the Earth.

Sex and Menstruation

• Sex during menstruation is not considered problematic in Beng culture because it is seen as a way to strengthen the husband's fertility and power.

Gender Roles and Food

• The taboo on men eating food cooked during menstruation suggests that men are associated with the public sphere and women with the domestic sphere, revealing a gendered division of labor and power.

Women and Menstruation

• Women in Beng culture enjoy food cooked during their menstrual periods, possibly because it is a way for them to assert control over their own bodies and fertility.

Symbolic Classification of Space and Fertility

• The prohibition on a Master of the Earth eating food cooked by a menstruating woman reveals that the Beng people symbolically classify space and fertility into separate realms, with the Master of the Earth representing the fertility of the Earth.

Sex and the Earth

• The symbolic reason for washing off sex before entering the Earth is to separate the realms of human and Earth fertility, maintaining the balance and harmony between the two.

Pregnancy and Sacrifice

• A husband sacrifices an egg to the Master of the Earth during his wife's pregnancy to ensure the fertility and well-being of the unborn child and the Earth.

Childbirth and Sacrifice

• Sacrificing a chicken after childbirth is a way to restore the balance between human and Earth fertility, and to ensure the well-being of the newborn and the mother.

Separation of Realms

• The separation of realms of fertility in Beng culture represents the need to maintain a balance and distinction between human and Earth fertility, and to prevent the inappropriate combination of the two.

Boundaries and Leach

• According to Leach, boundaries are a key concept in understanding the separation of realms and the interconnectedness of human and Earth fertility.

Fertility and the Interconnectedness

• Beng people view the interconnectedness of human and forest/field fertility as essential to their survival, and believe that the fertility of one realm affects the other.

The Earth and Survival

• The Earth contributes to the survival of the Beng people by providing them with the necessary resources and fertility for agricultural production.

Inappropriate Combination

• In the Beng cosmology, if human fertility and field fertility are inappropriately combined, it can lead to a disruption of the balance between the two realms, causing harm to both humans and the Earth.

Levi-Strauss and the Realms

• Levi-Strauss defines the realms of 'village' and 'forest/fields' in the context of nature and culture, highlighting the symbolic and practical distinctions between the two.

Children and Crops

• Children and crops represent the fertility and productivity of the Beng people, and are seen as intertwined with the fertility of the Earth.

Menstruating Women and the Forest

• The taboo against menstruating women entering the forest in Beng culture is symbolic of the need to maintain the separation of realms and to prevent the pollution of the forest with human fertility.

Food, Fertility, and Human Life

• The text suggests that Beng society views the interconnectedness of food, fertility, and human life as essential to their survival, and that the balance between these realms is crucial to maintaining harmony and well-being.