Hi Harry,
I went to your page today, because I remembered I had an unfinished letter to MUM. And lo, there is another letter about religion. I am going to respond both to Kathleen and the letter you have from the girl who says she is a Muslim.
Yes, Leviticus 15 [for a not up-to-date translation of it, the King James version, see here; I hope to put up a better translation in the coming weeks] (part of the Christian Bible and Torah) applies the same rules for men with seminal discharge. In Islam, also, restrictions applied to menstruating women also apply to men with seminal discharge. Maybe Kathleen was not aware of it.
In Islam, the only things about menstruation that are unanimously agreed upon are the restrictions written in Qur'an which are about prayer, fasting, and no penetrating sex during menstruation. Other than that, there are different opinions.
Islam does not have priests or an institution of priesthood who set the rules for people to follow, so people are bound to study the rules themselves. If they are not capable of doing their own study, they are allowed to follow people who they think more capable and knowledgeable then they are. Even then, they are asked to use their head, so as not to follow blindly. [I find this very interesting!]
In Islam there are five major schools of thought commonly accepted, and many Muslims follow one of them. Many are raised in a society that holds the opinion of one school of thought, and they may not be aware of the opinions of other schools of thought.
The Muslim girl who wrote may follow one of them. Other schools of thought may have opinions different from what she wrote. For one, about touching the Qur'an, many Muslims I know do not think the restriction has any valid base.
Kathleen also mentioned that reformed Christians and Reformed Jews do not follow Leviticus 15 anymore. It is quite true that many people who claim to be Christians, Muslims, Jewish, or any other religion do not necessarily practice exactly what their scriptures proscribe or say; some out of conscious effort to reform, some out of ignorance, and some others simply do not really care. That's exactly why comparing what the texts say (I took it to be the Scriptures) is more reliable then comparing the practice. The practice might not be what is in the Scriptures and may differ from one group to another.
Sincerely,
Ida Sitompul udur@omni.cc.purdue.edu
Dear Harry,
I was greatly encouraged by the letter published on your Web site this week.
I am 40 year of age and was introduced to belts and pads by my mother when I was twelve years of age. In those days pads were definitely not as good in terms of absorbency as they are today and were often worn on conjunction with protective sanitary briefs. I have had various flirtations with both tampons and press-on pads. To this day I still prefer to wear a belt with looped towels and sometimes protective panties. I can remember the early advertising for press-on pads which made them sound so wonderful, promises that were not delivered. Although I have not worn press-on pads that often, I have had them partially detach, and twist over and stick to my pubic hair. On one occasion one decided to escape from my pants completely; if I hadn't been wearing tights it would have fallen on the floor (I was dancing at the time). It is my firm belief that belted pads have been a victim of onward marketing [I love that expression!] and I hope to continue to wear them until my menopause.
Harry Finley,
My partner and I love your incredible Web site. [Thank you!] Every time we visit we find something new and fascinating. Still, we did not notice any mention of a way to carry feminine hygiene products. That's because, to our knowledge, such an obvious necessity has never been commercially available. Until now. [Well, actually there are other carriers, but not as attractive as Personal Attitude's.]
Personal Attitude has just introduced the first-ever collection of discreet, custom-sized carriers for feminine hygiene products. "Created by Women, For Women."
Please visit our Web site at personalattitude.com - we just put it up and are eager to share it with you.
Thanks again - you really provide something important. [Many thanks!]
Beatrice Kahn
Irregular menses identify women at high risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which exists in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is a major cause of infertility and is linked to diabetes.