Performing Womanhood
Menstruation, Ritual, and Gender Construction in Ritu Kala Samskaram
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70042/eroth/1001232Keywords:
Ritu Kala Samskaram, Gender Performativity, Menstruation, Ritual, WomanhoodAbstract
Menstruation, though a universal biological phenomenon, acquires culturally specific meanings through ritual, symbolism and social regulation. In India, menarche is frequently marked through ceremonies that publicly signal a girl’s transition into womanhood. This paper examines Ritu Kala Samskaram, a South Indian menarche ritual, as a critical site where gender identity is not merely recognized but actively produced. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, the study argues that womanhood emerges not as a natural outcome of biological maturation but as a culturally scripted identity constituted through repeated rituals. Through practices such as seclusion, ritual purification, adornment, and public celebration, the adolescent body is reconstituted as a socially acceptable feminine subject. The study demonstrates that menstrual initiation rituals operate as powerful ideological mechanisms through which gender is performatively produced, stabilised, and enforced. By reframing Ritu Kala Samskaram as a performative process rather than a neutral tradition, the paper highlights the ritual’s role in shaping gendered subjectivity and regulating womanhood within Indian cultural frameworks.
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References
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