The Island of Menstruating Men Essay

Words: 999
Pages: 4

The Island of Menstruating Men

The men and women on Wogeo both lead very different lives, this is made clear by the distinct rituals that each sex participates in throughout their life, the roles held in tribal events as well as the strict customs that are adhered to in the daily life. Now, though the men and women have very different customs that they practice, both sexes of Wogeo are noticeably similar on a social scale. The truth is that on the island of Wogeo the tribes are male dominated. Through practiced customs and social norms the women of Wogeo are able to increase their social status to be on par with that of the men.
The people of Wogeo have very specific traditions and rites of passage ceremonies that are held throughout a

The taboos or risk of being “ritually unclean” play a very strong role in the everyday lives of the people of Wogeo, if someone rekareka they are considered to be dangerous to the community and must follow a number of restriction to insure that they do not contaminate anyone. It is also said that if someone who is rekareka accidentally or intentionally disobeys the regulations in the case of the female the victim with fall ill and die. On the other hand, if the rekareka male does the same both he and the victim will parish. In a culture that is male dominate it helps balance out the social status of both sexes, for example, in Wogeo men are allowed to beat their wives but they must be carefully because the wife can retaliate by touching his food while menstruating, causing the husband to become sick and eventually die. This carries on to the idea of sexual pollution which was a strong factor in boosting the social equality, the thought that they both pollute each other equally and are afraid of one another. In addition, Adultery was common place but the male was only