In the first part of the paper we shall focus on an ancient belief, which turned to be deadly in our time. It is called "The menstrual cycle".
Let us begin with the biological facts: the menstrual bleeding is a necessary by-product of the belief in the sanctity of virginity. This religious belief is sufficient for initiating a sort of "real miracle" in the bodies of women. When girls abstain from intercourse (hence there is no fertilization) the bleeding of the menstrual cycle appears. 1 Naturally the bleeding is caused by the fact the girls were not fertilized, but abstaining from sex is against our natural behavior.
In the past the menstruation period of young women was much shorter. The first bleeding of girls signaled parents that the girls have matured and are ready for marriage. Indeed the menstruation was a social convention, but it stopped existing (practically) in the girls' bodies due to the (forced) marriage at young age. All the married women were recruited to fulfill the commandment to procreate. They were practically condemned to a life of slavery, involving of a continuous chain of pregnancies, labors and breastfeeding new babies. That is, the menstrual cycle (which existed before their marriage) disappeared.
In order to clarify the ancient cultural attitude towards menstruation, we should turn to the biblical sources.
The following is a quotation from Leviticus 15, (19-24): "'If a woman has a discharge, andthe discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. If anything is on herbed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean…"
The biblical message is clear; the menstrual bleeding defiles the women's bodies. The menstrual cycle proved that the women evades fulfilling the commandment to procreate, hence she was severely punished by the legislators, and was sentenced to isolation and excommunication (In Hebrew the word for a menstruating woman is of the same root as excommunication).
"Virginity" is a mythical idea (impressed into our minds during childhood) hence we shall end this chapter with a true story. Visiting anthropologists were trying to find out the word representing a virgin girl – in the language of a central African tribe. The western scientists had great difficulties explaining their exact request to the astounded natives. After a short discussion, accompanied with rolling laughter, a common decision for men and women was made. The tribesmen told the distinguished guests, that the only title for such a strange and exceptional girl is: crazy.
1 - Observations of women who shared a living space, for example during their military service, proved that women synchronize their monthly period so they all start it at the same day every month. The biological mechanism responsible for this phenomenon has recently been revealed. The synchronization of menstrual cycles is due to the release of "pheromones", the sex hormones are sensed by our nose. Do women sharing a living space try to synchronize the birth of their offspring? Having babies at the same time is a common phenomenon for animals living in packs. The main advantage of this is minimizing the statistical risk of the babies to be eaten by predators.
| 
