Women Health. 2002 ; 35(4): 81-99.

Menstrual madness: women's health and well-being in urban Burma.

Skidmore M.

School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. mskid@unimelb.edu.au

Women's health in peri-urban Burma is conceived of in terms of blood, strength, and the relationship between the body, the body politic, and the local environment. The regulation and volume of blood at menstruation and childbirth are the fundamental indicators of health and well-being. Well-being is contingent on harmony in and between the body and the universe. Blood flow is a key symbol through which women's beliefs and practices concerning their health and well-being can be understood at the levels of pathophysiology, interpersonal relations, the local environment, and the wider political and moral economies of urban Burma.