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"Care for a slice of
spice cake with your douche, Ma'am?"
Read the Lydia Pinkham Come
into the Kitchen
recipe 'n' hygiene booklet, about 1930.
"Complex Changes In
The Brain's Vascular System Occur After
Menopause
" In a new study, researchers at the
University of Missouri have discovered
significant changes in the brain's vascular
system when the ovaries stop producing
estrogen. MU scientists predict that currently used
estrogen-based hormone therapies may
complicate this process and may do more harm
than good in postmenopausal women." Read
the
article.
"Hormone Disorder May
Contribute To Lack Of Menstruation In
Teenage Athletes
"ScienceDaily (Jun. 17, 2008) -
Researchers from Harvard University have found
a way to predict which teenage female athletes
will stop menstruating, an important risk
factor for bone thinning, according to a
preliminary study.
"Amenorrhea, or absence of
menstruation, occurs in as many as 25 percent
of female high school athletes, compared with
2 to 5 percent in the general population, . .
." Read
complete
article.
Does the moon
influence menstruation?
A Harvard medical school professor and
MacArthur Award winner writes - it looks that way.
How did women get rid of used pads and rags in
the past? A reader
writes.
"Delayed
Sleep Phase Syndrome Linked To Irregular
Menstrual Cycles, Premenstrual Symptoms In
Women" More.
A woman
visitor likes this museum
"I think the website is great!
"I think young girls who are SO EMBARRASSED about
getting their periods and talking about it
need to realize that EVERY woman on this
earth has to deal with it also, and that
there IS humor
in it too.
"They need to see the
website."
Another contribution to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"Irregular Menstrual Cycles In
Teens May Be Warning Sign Of Bulimia" Whole
article.
Does estrogen make
women want to feel powerful and have
control? Maybe.
Daints tampons
(1930s),
"For the Woman of Charm"
Lil-lets mini
tampons ad from the U.K.
Nikini menstrual
panties ads from England
EZO, a Tampax knock-off
for Hollywood actresses?
Many new words and
expressions about menstruation:
TNSFF, ragdoll, What a bloody mess! shark bait, chumming the waters,
dying
the beard red, I'm
a ragdoll. (read the users' thought processes.)
Black & red cans
containing contraceptive & menstrual
sponges
(American? First half of the 20th century?)
The Art of Menstruation: Megan Morris
A contraceptive/menstrual sponge in a cardboard
box
"Hi,
"I'm an Irish teenager and
thought you'd like some more expressions used
in Ireland.
"Most common are euphemisms
like 'I've got woman things/the woman thing',
'I'm not able to swim', 'I've got my flows' or
'I've got my flowers.' Some men refer to
menstruation as 'Munster playing at home' (a
reference to the red colours employed by the
Munster rugby team). In the Irish language
menstruation is most commonly referred to as
'ta cursai mna agam' (I've got woman things-
the word 'cursai' is ambiguous but generally
means events). Also heard are 'i got/have my
friend', 'I've the visitor' and 'I'm
menstruating/ have my menstruations' is
becoming quite popular when referred to in a
kind of playful way. It also has to be pointed
out that verbal flexibility is highly prized
and phrases vary hugely from person to
person."
Music & curing women, men and hogs:
"The stomach of a hog
needs cleaning out once in a while . . . ."
You do too!
Find out how in The
20th Century Song Book (1904)
from the Chattanooga Medicine Company
Red dragon
"I have one that I didn't see. My good friend
who's a guy always refers to it as the 'red
dragon.' Red as in blood and dragon as in the
girl's temperament at that time."
Read more
Words and expressions about menstruation
Stress worsens endometriosis
Read
a study.
EEEK! What's a man doing
here? Why, this eighty-year-old is
attesting to the effectiveness of Black
Draught in
Home Treatment for Women,
probably before 1920.
New menstrual cup
(What are cups?)
Hi, I love your site and I am a cup user. I
just heard about a new brand of cups that is
one the market (I believe in Finland. [It
looks to me to be the Czech Republic.]) The
website is http://www.ladycup.eu/.
They just came out in January.
Thanks for your website.
Puberty & menstruation booklet for girls,
1963: How shall I
tell my daughter?
Two letters to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
1. "I absolutely would
love to stop having periods. I've always had
super painful and super long periods that last
up to 8 days . . . [more]"
2. A
bipolar woman writes, "I
think it is so easy for many women, especially
young girls just starting out to say 'Yes!
Make it stop!' Most people if they knew what
effect my periods have on me would probably be
shocked by my answer. . . . [more]"
Where is a
"discussion of the many different ways women
have conceived of and
rediscovered/reinvented their understanding
of menstruation in the last 20-30 years"?
A letter to MUM
I recently discovered your MUM
website. It is so very helpful to have so many
interesting links assembled in one place.
It's a little odd, I admit,
realizing that this was started by a man. I'm
puzzled how a man would become some
passionately interested in what is a
peculiarly feminine topic. However, as a
teacher of mine was often fond of saying -
ideas do not have pedigrees and there is much
about this site that shows a lot of serious
and thoughtful work has been assembled
whatever the gender and academic credentials
of its curator (you seem a bit defensive on
your credentials. [More
here.]).
As much as I appreciate the
site, there does seem to be a very significant
omission. If it is on the site, I can't find
it. This is a discussion of the many different
ways women have conceived of and
rediscovered/reinvented their understanding of
menstruation in the last 20-30 years. For
example, Jewish feminist thinkers have done
considerable work on the meaning of mikvah and
woman's connection to cyclic notions of time -
topics that are deeply connected to
menstruation. The section on Judaism and
menstruation contains no mention of their
work. [True. Does anyone want to write
something about this?]
I realize some women have found
it affirming to make art
out of menstrual supplies or refuse (they even
dispute that the body fluids of menstruation
should be called refuse), but this is not the
only modern feminist reinvention of
menstruation.
There are many others, myself
included, who have taken a different tack in
reclaiming menstruation - they have chosen
instead to place the five days of flow into
their larger context. Put another way, the
importance of menstruation is *not* the five
messy and sometimes painful days of blood flow
(which is but a transition from one cycle to
the next) but the creative process of which it
is a marker. I have that five days because for
the previous 20 days my body was preparing to
do what no science has yet figured out how to
do - nurture and create life from its very
beginnings. And all science that has done to
help in the process ultimately is modeled on
the process which nature has given to my
feminine body as a matter of course.
When viewed in that light the
monthly period, even with all its pain and
mess, is little more than a transition from
one creative cycle to the next. Its presence
reminds us all of the continual possibility
that creativity can be renewed even when it
seems to be losing its very lifeblood. I am by
no means unique in feeling that there is
something profoundly holy, even priestly in
this uniquely feminine cycle and the lessons
with which it can empower us.
Nor do I mean to romanticize the
five day of blood flow - like many women, I
can get pretty bad cramps and migraines.
However, transitions of any sort - menstrual
and otherwise - come with a cost. Whatever the
outcome they are usually pretty messy when
they are in process. This too is part of the
feminine wisdom that can come from such
intimate association with the cycles of
nature.
The first
Junior Tampax
Anshin - Peace of Mind - tampon for the
origami-loving
Japanese
Hello Harry,
I am so pleased to be contacting
you. I have appreciated, been inspired by and
benefited from your Museum of Menstruation for
years. Thank you for all the work you do!!!!
I am now contacting you on
behalf of Metaformia, a new online Journal of Menstruation
& Culture, www.metaformia.org.
The founding of Metaformia and its editorship
are jointly Judy Grahn, author of Blood, Bread and Roses:
How Menstruation Created the World
and Deborah Grenn, of the Lilith
Institute. Our journal seeks to further
explore Judy's metaformic theory, a theory of
human consciousness originating with menstrual
consciousness, as well as other menstrual
perspectives about the origins of culture. We
invite submissions of all sorts and hope to
engage with readers of all backgrounds and
interests.
We want to inform you of our
journal and also inquire about the possibility
of supporting each others' work. . . .
Thank you again for all of the
diligent work you do and I look forward to
hearing from you.
Cheers,
Annie Lapham
Hello Harry.
My thesis, The Men$trual Origins of
Money: Radical Economics in the Presence of
the
Divine, Sacred Feminine is a
published book at: www.lulu.com/radwoman
Also, there are links to my book
on my website: www.radwoman.com
Thanks so much.
Peace,
Polly
www.radwoman.com
A Rorschach test? Nooooo. Jennifer Weigel,
The Art of Menstruation
Did you know the J.C. Penney stores sold their
own brand of menstrual pads? And see many ads for pads
made of disposable paper before Kotex
appeared.
More Words and expressions about menstruation: "I'm pinkin'" and "I'm going through a
detrital phase."
"I don't know if you are still
collecting code words for menstruation, but I
always just said 'I'm having my period' to
other women; to men., 'I'm Pinkin'.'"
"I don't know if you're still collecting and
adding, but I like to use the expression: 'I'm
going through a detrital phase.' I derived it
from the word detritus, which means 'loose
material' or 'a product of disintegration,
destruction, or wearing away.' 'Detrital' is
simply the adjective form of the noun. So
basically, menstrual blood and such are
categorized as debris, or 'detritus.' Of
course, it gets interesting reactions, but
that's what I aim for in the first place!"
She offers a
petition
I recently called the number to
Always pads. I told them the last time I used
their product my skin peeled. I asked them for
a list of ingredients so I could determine
what I was allergic to. They informed me that
because pads are a medical device, they don't
have to tell me the ingredients. They took all
of my information, and told me to hold on to
the pads in case their health and safety team
needs to retrieve them.
I have started a petition.
Menstruation is not a medical condition
anymore than pooping. Pads are not a medical
device in any way. Please read this petition,
and if you like it, maybe you could put a link
on your site.
http://www.petitiononline.com/pmppg9/petition.html
Thanks :-)
Kurb your enthusiasm because you're a few decades too late! Try
writing a slogan for
Midol instead and win $100! Aw,
darn it, you're almost 100 years too late on that
one!
Ever think you might want to try douching
(even though you shouldn't) but didn't want to
buy the thing until you're sure? Here's just what you need!
The earliest ads
for Modess menstrual pads, 1927?
Midol: from headaches to (Oh, excuse me!) hiccups
and back.
The Keeper menstrual cup writes MUM about
a new cup
November 12, 2006
Dear Harry:
We want to thank you so much for
letting women know about The Keeper throughout
the years. Your kind words and support have
been extremely important to us!
I am writing to you today
because we want you to be among the first to
know about our newest product, The Moon
Cup, a silicone version of The
Keeper. Our Moon Cup was developed in
response to numerous requests from
latex-sensitive women, who asked us to create
a silicone version of The Keeper, so they
could experience all the benefits their
friends were enjoying: the freedom, as well as
the economic and environmental advantages that
are the hallmarks of The Keeper.
These women told us that they
felt it was important that this new silicone
product be manufactured by our company, since
The Keeper, Inc. is the leader and most
trusted name in the menstrual cup industry.
Like The Keeper, our Moon Cup
has FDA approval. And since the Moon Cup has
been in the planning and development stage for
several years now, we are delighted that it is
finally ready for "prime time."
Please feel free to go to www.keeper.com
or www.mooncup.com
(both are the same site) to learn more about
both products.
Again, Harry, thanks so much for
your support over the years.
Many thanks,
Julia Schopick
Marketing Director
The Keeper, Inc.
[See
what menstrual
cups are and see
The Keeper page.]
Did American women send
their washable pads out to be laundered in 1909?
Kotex starts!
1920.
Ad for Delicate
pad 'n' belt in a tube, 1953
Words and expressions about menstruation: Shark week (U.S.A.)
"My favorite expression for mensturation is
Shark Week. Blood in the water. I
first heard it on a livejournal community
called tmi_chix.
http://community.livejournal.com/tmi_chix/profile
I know it comes from Discovery channel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Week but I
don't know who first coined it for use as an
euphemism for menstruation. I do like it
better than Aunt Flo, or surfing the crimson
wave, or any of the others I've heard or used
in the past. It more accurately describes
how vicious an attack of menses can be for
some women. :)"
Read more Words and expressions about menstruation.
Two more MUM pages translated into Spanish by María
García (Web
page):
Sincronía menstrual
y suspensión
Los riesgos de las
duchas vaginales
Art of Menstruation: Mayra
Alpízar (Cuba)
Very early Kotex
ad, 1920
Art of Menstruation and an invitation to you
from
Hélène Epaud
(France)
The earliest
disposable pads? Second earliest, maybe?
Words and expressions about menstruation:
U.S.A.:
"I was at a hockey game a while ago, and my
brother was joking around and said of the
goalie, after stopping a puck, 'Fastest pads
in the west.' Me and my aunt started laughing,
as 'pads' can really only mean one thing to
women, a bit to my brother's confusion.
Relating this to my best friend (21, I'm 13),
we now sometimes use 'playing hockey' instead
of 'on my period.' I just hope I can keep
going to actual hockey games without laughing,
now!" (Read more words
and expressions)
More trustworthy than
Rely? 1977
Ad for Modess
pads in France, 1972
German mothers, daughters and dancers celebrate menstruation,
1988
Words and expressions about menstruation: New: Philippines
"I have a Filipina fiancée and
she uses the English words Red Tide or misred
to describe her menstruation. She will not
take a bath or shower during this period as
she believes an ill wind will enter her
vagina. She does however wash locally but no
bath or shower." (read
more)
Stick 'em in! Oops!
I mean UP! Oh,
no! Anyway, call Homeland Security!
The Menstrual Militia is on the move. Join
them!
(I thank David Pressman, patent lawyer, S.F.,
author of Patent It Yourself (Nolo Press),
World's Best Selling Patent Guide,
www.PatentItYourself.com
for the tip.)
German cartoon
strip about
menstrual synchrony - or lack of it.
Bath for Jews
after menstruation, Germany, built 1260.
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"I only do four times a year and would not
change it for anything." (continued)
NEVER IN AMERICA!
1. What's
the name of
that pad again?
2. o.b.
strikes again - but in Europe,
of course!
3.
Omagosh, you saw 1.
& 2.
WHERE?
In a government museum?!
Why don't elephants use tampons? (Answer)
"Instead menstrual cups are now at http://www.softcup.com
just for the people who worried that they was
gone," writes an e-mailer.
Did suction pull her cervix out?
"Back in 1996 I discovered the
Keeper and bought one. It was messy
at first and I learned to break the
suction when removing it. I even took it
on a trip, part of which was primitive
camping. I used it for three periods but
quit when I had to push my cervix back up
inside. :-( A few months later I
tried it again - thinking maybe it wasn't the
Keeper that pulled the cervix out. But
within a couple of days it was out
again. I haven't used it since, but often
wish I could because I like the idea of not
having to buy tampons every month.
"I wrote to the makers of the
Keeper but never heard back from them. [Read
more comments about
menstrual cups and read a short &
incomplete history
of them.]"
to take your temperature? Another nurse in
Kotex ads, 1930s.
Make your own menstrual pads from "bird eye" cloth - in 1904
Humor:
"My older brother loved to get into mom's
thing's when little; make-up, jewelry, and
pads. Around age 3 (before my birth) my father
hadn't heard much noise from my brother and
went looking for him. He found in the bathroom
peeling back pads and [continued]"
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"A resounding YES!!! I despise
having my period every month. I have been
experiencing my period since I was 11 years old
and my family is known to menstruate into their
50s - 40 years of blood every single month is
just too much! [continued]"
"The emotional
effect of a male gynecologist examining my
wife could very well bring a violent and
dangerous response."
E-mail from a reader of Dr.
Soucasaux's article The
Psychology
of Gynecology:
"Well, Doc, you've got a
fascinating article on the psychology of
gynecology. But you neglected one thing: a lot
of women don't like male gynecologists because
they just totally believe that the only man
who should be there is her husband. My wife is
Brazilian and she has told me the same. She
would refuse to see a male even if it were a
life-and-death emergency.
"See, Doc, we both believe that
any male inspecting a female's genitalia would
be violating the SACRED husband and wife
intimacy - which we both believe GOD
recognized - but notice that nowhere in
Scripture does he recognize a doctor's
intimacy with a man's wife. [continued]"
Read about the latest way of stopping
menstruation on Slate.com
"I just wanted to let you know
that the story on menstrual suppression is
out!
http://www.slate.com/id/2151746
"Unfortunately, there was very little room for
quotes so I couldn't include all the great
info you gave me.
"Best of luck with your work!
"Sarah Richards"
There she goes again!
Mrs. Pinkham's pushes her Vegetable Compound,
1897
Wanna buy a tampon,
lady? Tampax reps sell tampons, 1934
A company fails on its second try. Tassaway menstrual cup, 1970
Wow! Mmm! Jersey doctors
sure knew how
to eat in 1897!
Oh, those nurses! A
short-lived medical
tampon in
California, 1910.
Would you stop menstruating if you could? She writes,
"I did stop menstruating for over two
years. One might wonder if it was a
disease or maybe I'm some super athlete or
something. [continued]"
Phone in your Kotex
order, avoid embarrassment, 1923
Two new answers to Would
you stop
menstruating if
you could?
Hi, MUM,
I wouldn't stop. I am a pagan
and use my blood in rituals. I like the idea
of it, how it (continued
here)
Words and expressions about menstruation:
U.S.A.: Kill
the babies, the red tent, Would you look
at the calendar?
I'm 21, from Connecticut, and
when my dad or brother catch me being "moody"
and start to complain about my attitude, me
and mother say "Would you look at the
calendar?" Also, while in college in
Cambridge, Mass., I was in an all-girls dorm
that was painted red and within the first
month the boys across the street starting
referring to our house as "the red tent" [the
name of a famous book about menstruation]. My
friends and I refer to cramps by holding our
stomachs and saying, "Kill the babies," i.e.
we're glad to have our periods cause we know
we're not pregnant!
Love the site,
***
Writer disputes my interpretation of "wood
wool" in the first disposable pads
Hi, I've been reading your
fantastic site, and I noticed your explanation
of "wood wool" on the page that has the ad for
Hartmann's "sanitary
wood-wool sheets." My husband is
British, and I'm almost certain that "wood
wool" is not shavings, but rayon. The British
call "wool" anything that looks like cotton
(i.e., cotton balls are called "cotton wool").
And rayon (or viscose, as it is called in
Britain) has been manufactured since the 1890s
from wood--cellulose. It is MUCH more
absorbent than cotton, and for this reason it
has been used in disposable "feminine hygiene
products" since their earliest inception:
rayon products leak a lot less, apparently,
than cotton ones (although I've read that
rayon tampons can leach chemicals into a
woman's body more than cotton products,
especially organic cotton ones).
Just thought I'd mention this. I
really doubt wood shavings would have been
used in these pads--the British would never
have called wood shavings "wool".
--Jennifer Matesa
author of Navel-Gazing: The
Days and Nights of a Mother in the Making
(Random House, 2001)
Did Kotex Nurse Buckland really exist?
Read the explanations for four more
contributions to
Words and expressions about menstruation:
U.S.A.: "Ammunition," "I've got Grover,"
"Photons," and "She has her Red-Headed
Stepsister"
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
No, she
writes:
"I know that science
can medicate all that away for me, but
like ADD/ADHD and some depressions, I think
magic pills take away from the multiplicity of
human experience." [She continues
here.]
Why are C-sections
so popular? And why did doctors conceal
forceps for decades even though they were
far better than what doctors used before -
and read about doulas, bleeding to death
and other, um, gripping things about
delivering babies.
And how a woman anesthesiologist
revolutionized obstetrics by scoring.
"Forceps deliveries are very difficult to
teach - much more difficult than a C-section.
. . . With a C-section, you stand across from
the learner. You can see exactly what the
person is doing. You can say, 'Not there. There.'
With the forceps, though, there is a feel that
is very hard to teach." Read the New Yorker
article (9 October) "The
Score" by 2006 Macarthur Award winner
Dr. Atul Gawande, of Harvard Medical School.
From The Onion,
America's Finest News Source:
Excerpt from a story about an bad ad
agency, here:
Despite the failed campaign, the
agency remains optimistic. "Sure, we're
disappointed" Kennedy said. "In this business,
you're only as good as your last ad. But we're
very excited about our newest client, Tampax.
We feel we've really developed a great overall
package for them."
The upcoming 30-second TV spots,
featuring celebrity spokesperson James Garner
and the slogans, "Tampax-For Those Awkward
Bleeding-From-Your-Crotch Days";
"Tampax-Inserts In One Quick, Painful Jab";
and "That Ugly Bitch Is On The Rag-Tampax,"
will begin airing in late March.
and from the July 20, 1925 issue (hard to
read; I did my best to improve it):
The Onion also compiled a list of words for
menstruation, here.
So what if the
punctuation's wrong? It's America's first
disposable menstrual pad!
Marvel vaginal
douche in the Wild West!
and
Zonite
antiseptic for douching and scrubbing the
floor, 1916
Dutch feminist exhibit about menstruation, 1982
Lysol in the press,
1891-1924: cleaner, insect killer, birth
control fluid, douche
An immigrant from Norway shows tampons to
Americans, 1935
Women discovered it in the personals section: Tux tampon, U.S.A., 1930s
Contribution to Words and expressions about menstruation for
U.S.A.
I lost my baby
"There was a time a while back when I
thought/hoped I was pregnant (not really
really hoped, but you know, like, would have
been happy), and my roommates and I were
joking about it and one of my roommates kept
asking me if I was still pregnant, and then
one day I said, 'Well, I lost my baby,' so now
that's my euphemism of choice but it's not one
that I use out loud, obviously. Please sign me
anonymous. Great site! Thanks!"
Read newspaper ads for early American tampons:
B-ettes, Tampax, Dale, Wix, Fibs and
one for the patent medicine Cardui.
Two women contribute to Would you stop menstruating if you could?
A reader wants to know if you can you identify this
model in an American 1970s Tampax ad. An e-mailer thinks it's
Angie Dickinson. Another says Jane Fonda.
Right?
A retired American teacher writes
about how her very poor family did NOT bleed
into their clothing, and other matters, such
as no-belt pads with
no underpants (!), recipes for poisoning
instead of divorce, and make-shift
birth-control methods in the previous two
centuries passed down in her family.
She also writes of
the Tassaway
menstrual
cup:
"I used Tassaway cups at age 17
when they first came out. They were the best
and I have used the other products made since
(Instead, which often leaks, Diva cup, which
sometimes has leaked but I will continue to
use) but none of them have been as good. The
holes prevented excess suction; the ridges
prevented any leaking, and held it firmly in
place. Yes, they could be rough inserting
especially when cold (our bathroom where I
kept them was very cold in the winter) so I
learned to run warm water over it before
inserting to soften. Even though they were
supposed to be disposable, since money was an
issue, I reused it throughout my period then
threw it away and use a new one next month. I
have missed them and was searching for them on
eBay and the Internet which led me to your Web
site. I would love it if they were brought
back but I feel the main reason they failed is
not enough women knew they existed, and still
don't. I have not known another woman
personally who even remembers them. I ordered
mine from the back of a magazine, then found
them later at the drug store, but then they
were gone. Thank you for the Web site.
"P.S. The figure drawings in the
instructions are misleading as I inserted it
all the way into the vagina and reached in to
grasp the loop to remove it. It wasn't
sticking out. (women today are cutting down
the stick on menstrual cups that are too long)
In fact I remember something in the
instructions that said if you had a hard time
grasping it, to bear down to push it out so
you could grasp it."
Growing up in the
Netherlands: puberty booklet, 2004
Korea spinning out
of control!
Korean
Transgender Singer to Do Menstrual
Pad
Ads
Beauty in advertising: the Hickory menstrual
pad belt, 1925
The irony of daintiness, pads, belts and
menstruation: Formont
belt and "protector"
Girls with no father
in the house have earlier first
menstruation
"Scent
Of Father Checks Daughter's Maturity"
Read the riveting story.
Fractures, no
menstruation, death:
Running and not eating
The New York Times has a great article
about anorexia among athletes; coaches'
reluctance to ask about menstruation part of
problem
A mother writes a
letter to her daughter's doctor about
tampons and hymens.
And speaking of hymens and virgins, as
this e-mailer does:
"About page: http://www.mum.org/tamvirad.htm
[a Tampax ad about tampons and virginity]
"I think the magazine must have
been 'YM' (an offshoot of 'Cosmo,' if I
remember rightly). I had a subscription for a
while when I was about 13. I remember this ad
distinctly, because even as a pre-teen I
thought, 'What the hell? You'd have to have
SEX to not be a virgin! How stupid can you
be??'
"Anyway, I just thought it might
be useful! I love the MUM project, by the
way!"
"Our church was going to the beach for a
camp. My twelve-year-old sister and her
then-best friend Lyn were on their periods and
were a bit upset that they'd be unable to swim
at the beach (tampon use is still uncommon in
Malaysia due to cultural taboos and the
*&@#*! things being priced about RM1
apiece). (Continued;
from a 23-year-old Malaysian woman biologist)
New Words and expressions about menstruation: Zambia (whole new category)
NOTICE: "THERE WILL
BE NO MORE . . . (continued)
The Art of
Menstruation: sculpture by Roz Bonnet
Would you stop menstruating if you could? She
would:
"I see it as a curse, a harsh reminder
from my body and my brain that if
and when I start having sex (yes, I am
still a virgin, and plan to remain that way
for as long as I possibly can), I'd better be
careful to make sure I'm adequately prepared
against pregnancy . . . ." (continued)
"Kotex Panti,"
1970s
She defends the menstrual
cup:
"Hi! I'm writing in response to
the posting of a letter on your site.
"The lack of logic of the person
who sent the letter about menstrual cups being
dangerous astounds me! I never respond to web
postings, but I feel so strongly about this
(and I do not work for a menstrual cup
company!!). How could cups possibly be any
worse than tampons? How could ANYTHING be
worse than tampons?? Chemical, bleached,
fibrous material that absorbs blood and rots
for hours... sounds wonderful to me. The cup
holds the blood for a time without interacting
with it to make it something harmful or
poisonous. And obviously, don't leave it in
long enough for the blood to completely
congeal and go bad... use some common sense!
Wash it well and often, don't be lazy and
abuse the gift of the menstrual cup. Because
it can be a wonderful thing! Think about our
landfills and what they would be like if even
one of of ten women used a cup instead of
nasty and wasteful tampons and pads. And think
about the insides of women, free of foreign
and harsh chemicals and remnants. I'd like to
see the references which the writer claims to
back her opinion up with.
'The point is: anything can be
dangerous if abused or used incorrectly. But
in this case, tampons and pads are MUCH more
likely to cause harm than the menstrual cup.
"Thanks for letting me blow off
some steam." [Read some history of menstrual
cups here and some older e-mail
from you about using
cups.]
Two funny Kotex menstrual pad ads for 1950s teens
Do I have to use my finger? Ads, Germany &
U.S.A.
She likes MUM and directs you to a famous
movie
Dear Mr. Finley,
As a former women's studies
major, present nursing student, and aspiring
nurse midwife I admire you. Your Web site is
so thorough, unbiased, and INTERESTING. I find
myself looking at it over and over again. No
one has addressed the history of menstruation
as you have. I hope that someday you will be
able to open your museum. I think managing a
museum like that would be incredible and I
only dream that I could someday do something
like that!
I have found a link that
features the entire Disney film you have
mentioned. I do not know if you have seen all
of it before. Either way, please know that you
have all of my support as you continue on your
exciting journey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amVJpkJo-xw&mode=related&search=
Thank you for your contribution
to the study of the female experience.
****
An addition to
expressions for menstruation:
"Love the site!!
"When I was in high school
(upstate New York, 1970s) and we had swimming
in gym class, if you had your period you just
had to respond 'I'm
Regular' when they took
attendance and you'd be excused from going in
the water. Some girls were 'Regular' three out
of four weeks!! [signed] ****" Read more Words and expressions about menstruation
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