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Suzanne Freyjadis-Chuberka

The wacky world of menstruation. It's time to accessorise your period

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I found this post about designer menstrual pads in Japan and it got me thinking about all of the different ways a woman can pass her time of the month. I swear, there is something for everyone. If you have a period there is a product out there just for you, everything from tampon cases to reusable menstrual pads to help you get through the joy of womanhood.

So in honor of our shared joy, I have tirelessly searched the internet for a range of menstruation options for every woman.

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First of all, I am completely perplexed by Vinnie's Tampon Case. I have watched this hipster case grow to be an icon from the days that it was first advertised through Bust magazine, but I am clearly not hip enough, because this eludes me. I love the tongue-and-cheek "know your flow" tag line with the flow chart, but there is no way in this world that I am carrying a tampon case with a guy on the front. If you are hip enough to be down with this, let me know what it's all about, please.


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I much prefer the more fashionable "Don't Cramp My Style" tampon case from The Spoon Sisters. This goes to show that there is a full range of menstrual items available when I can chose a favorite tampon case.

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For the hippies and environmentally friendly folks there is the *I kid you not* menstrual cup. This cup fits over the cervix and can be worn for twelve hours. It is supposed to be environmentally friendly since it is reusable and stuff, but I just can't go there. I've had friends who have used the cup, but they have all gone back to the traditional ways of doing things at the end. From what I've heard getting the proper fit is a bit more complex than one would imagine. It just seems like such an ordeal!

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Then there are the washable and reusable menstrual pads and I have the hardest time imagining the caretaking that these things would require. I am quite certain that this is the reason that native people used to burn their menstrual rags and one good reason that we have continued as a people to move as far away from huts as possible. I know that it is more environmentally friendly to reuse my menstrual pads, but I just don't want to.

And then there are the advertising gimmicks. I had no idea that I could be empowered by the Always Pad-O-Meter, an animated, song-playing device where you chose from one of six words that might generally convey an aspect of how you feel during your period and the pad-o-meter will empower you. Amazingly enough, this is not a joke. I think that the people behind this gimmick are trying to help girls have some fun with their "time of the month," but I just really don't see this doing it. I certainly don't need to be empowered by some company's advertising gimmick.

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With all this stuff arranged to make our monthly cycle more personal to our temperament or style it's no wonder it seems a bit less manic than it did in the days of menstrual pads with belts (yikes!) I really appreciate the fact that girls now can come of age with fewer stigmas attached to their progress toward womanhood. Now girls get gifts when they start their flow and with all these choices it can be something that really fits who she is.

Related:
Give me a seat, I'm on my period!
The taboo of "period sex"

Posted by on June 26, 2008

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Comments

Vinnie designed his tampon case with a guy on it as a way to get boys to ask girls about their periods. He hopes it will encourage boys to learn about women's cycles and to try to understand what is happening during this time of the month. I love the idea of opening a dialog based on a tampon case! Check in the next issue of BUST Magazine (Aug/Sept, there is an entire page on period products.
xo
Callie Watts
BUST Magazine

Posted by: callie | June 26, 2008 6:05 PM

The cup is actually a fantastic device. It doesn't sit over your cervix (it's really in the wrong place if you've done that) it sits lower in the vagina and you totally cannot feel it.

My experience, from the first cycle on the first day, I have never looked back.

If you don't want to do it for the environment or your purse then do it for your vagina (sick, I know). Think about that the next time you remove a tampon that wasn't quite ready (ouch!!! we've all done it) but you had to because you would skyrocket your risk of TSS if you left it any longer.

Posted by: Trina | June 19, 2009 1:51 PM

The cup is actually a fantastic device. It doesn't sit over your cervix (it's really in the wrong place if you've done that) it sits lower in the vagina and you totally cannot feel it.

My experience, from the first cycle on the first day, I have never looked back.

If you don't want to do it for the environment or your purse then do it for your vagina (sick, I know). Think about that the next time you remove a tampon that wasn't quite ready (ouch!!! we've all done it) but you had to because you would skyrocket your risk of TSS if you left it any longer.

Posted by: Trina | June 19, 2009 1:53 PM

The cup is awesome. You really should do a bit of research before you start slagging it off. It sits just inside the vagina, it's clean, you can't feel it, it's portable, environmentally friendly and cheap, and it doesn't dry your vagina out like tampons do. If your mind goes "ick" at the very thought, well, you need to spend some time accepting your body and your womanliness, and the cup will help you do just that. It demystifies periods and helps you learn that they are not at all icky - this is just a media construct. Some of my friends have even reported it reducing period pain. I recently had my IUS removed and started having periods again - would you believe I looked forward to recommencing periods so I could use my cup? Well, I did. I just adore my cup and I wish more women would open their minds and try it.

Posted by: Abs | June 24, 2009 10:53 AM

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