If you follow the enclosed link you can search for the patents on every feminine hygiene product ever made. Tons of information with diagrams, the inventor's name, etc. I found it (as well as your page) while doing research for an article I'm writing.
http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/
Type in a few keywords and you'll get a ton of info. You can also order hard copies.
Good luck
Hi,
I'm a grad student working on my MFA [Master of Fine Arts degree] thesis show which is about menstruation. One aspect I'm working on is collecting words and phrases that are used as "menstrual etiquette" when menstruation is referred to. Examples are: Aunt Betsy is coming, I've got my friend, tide's out, etc.
If possible, could you post this request on your wonderful Web site and have people send their words and phrases to me at: hgjeng@umich.edu I'm trying to get as large and complete a list as possible. Thank you for your help!
Heidi Gjengdahl
I think the lack of public bathroom tampon/pad dispensers is not because they are not useful to women. Although pads have become smaller, it is not possible to keep an unlimited supply on hand. There has been many a time when I needed a pad quickly. It is easy to be surprised by an early start, or by a particularly heavy day. There is also the dreadful shifting pad. Once a pad shifts or crinkles so that it is not covering well, it seems to be impossible to reposition in an effective manner so I must dispose it and use another. I have even had friends bum a pad and that left me short.
The stocking of existing pad/tampon machines seems to have gradually stopped since the 1980s. This is partly due to the changes in pad and tampon design - new pads that have many desirable characteristics don't fit in the old machines. Pads that I have purchase have been the thicker old-fashioned kind, not nearly as desirable as the thin modern ones in most women's eyes.
Pad/tampon vending machines don't seem to be used as effective marketing devices, being designed to be discreet rather than eye catching, so it is not that profitable for a company to replace them. I don't know why pad companies don't use them as marketing devices, but they don't.
[I asked the writer to explain this point, which she did:
Well, soda machines change frequently in appearance as part of keeping up with the current marketing campaign. Although soda is more expensive at machines, and changes in the machines can't be cheap, soda companies use the the machines to keep the soda in the public eye. People buy at the machines because it is convenient. Tampon companies could use bathroom vending machines in a similar way if they wanted.]
There also seems to be a growing lack of concern for women's needs. Anecdotal evidence of this: When I was going to college they remodeled much of the college and they redesigned the bathrooms. The new bathrooms did not have places to dispose of pad [!]. They did not even have trash cans. I asked why they did not have trash cans and was told that since there were blow dryers instead of towels, trash cans were not needed. It was months before someone put trash cans in those rest rooms.
Dear Mr Finley,
About inversion doing yoga while menstruating: Well, millions of girls and women do yoga, gymnastics, acrobatics, diving, trampolining, etc., and the idea that we shouldn't do certain things during periods went out years ago.
There should not be a problem where the flow is absorbed, I would think, but could there be back-flow if a cup [here's more information about menstrual cups] (Softcup, etc.) is used? Does anyone know?
I need the support!
Many thanks!
Mr. Finley:
Thank-you so much for your wonderful site. [You're welcome!] I've learned more in one hour than I've known my entire 50+ years. When I told both my mother and daughter about it, their first reactions were "Eeeewwww!," until I explained exactly what was here, and now they are both anxious to see it. So it's bookmarked both for them and for me, as I will be returning to it.
I do admire your intestinal fortitude in doing this [I've paid a price] and giving women not only a better understanding of the mysteries of their own bodies (and facing no small amount of teasing, I realize), but making them realize there is nothing shameful about a perfectly natural part of their lives.
Incidentally, my husband is of a similar bent. On the occasion of our daughter's first period, he took the entire family out to dinner to celebrate. There are just too few men in this world like the both of you. [Good for him! I hope your daughter appreciated it! It's very rare.]
Thank you again
Dear Harry,
I visit your site often and thought you may be interested in my new range of products
Just n case.
Just n case are simple, fun containers for feminine hygiene and contraceptive products that are designed to blend in with everyday cosmetics and toiletries, keeping personal items discreet and clean.
My company name is Paxelle which is made up of two words: Pax - peace, and
elle - she, together they mean "peace of mind for women."
My Web site
www.just-n-case.com
was initially designed as a place for women to go to if they wanted a fun story or information and helpline numbers and I am currently researching a whole range of women interest sites to link to and felt we had a common goal.
Located in Dunoon, Scotland, I have discovered a real community of women and men on the Internet and would be delighted to have a link with you.
I am involved with organisations such as Population Concern and Breast Cancer Care who feel that Just n case encourages health and well-being amongst young women in particular.
The very first Just n case was sold to a man, who thought it was a "cool" idea for his girlfriend.
I believe Just n case is the kind of simple concept that can capture the imagination and become a "must have" essential in every woman's make-up/school bag, etc. And, as the mother of three sons who give a great deal of support and encouragement to me in my venture, I feel it helps break down some of the taboos surrounding menstruation.
I hope you agree and look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Carole MacKay
P.S. Just n case is available at retail outlets in the U.K. and through Paxelle at my Web site.
Mr. Finley:
Hi, I'm John Scalzi, a writer. I've written a Web essay on feminine hygiene products. The essay is available today (11/18/99) at the following url:
http://scalzi.com/whatever [it's still there, folks, as of 21 November, perhaps reflecting somehow his wife's saying at the bottom of the letter]
and will subsequently be available at this url starting tomorrow afternoon:
http://scalzi.com/whatever/m991117.html
You can reprint the essay (if you choose) on your site -- it'd probably fit into your humor area.
Also, at the end of the essay, I included a link to your MUM site. [That's the clincher!]
Let me know what you think. I've enjoyed your site quite a bit.
Best,
John Scalzi
www.scalzi.com
"You are the perfect example of a man too lazy to fail."
-- My wife, Kristine Blauser Scalzi
Announcing the birth of a new Web site!
name: SusanLoveMD.com
Date: November 18 at 10:20 pm .
Place: Pacific Palisades, California
Mother and labor team are exhausted but pleased!
Check it out and give us feed back.
Congratulations!
Museum of Menstruation
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According to the U.S. Naval Observatory [Washington, D.C., the timekeeper for the U.S.A.] the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the third will be reached on January 1, 2001 [not 2000!]
This date is based on a calendar created in 526 A.D. by Dennis the Diminutive, the head of a Roman monastery who forged a common calendar from the divergent dating systems of his day.
To read more about it please go to http://justclickandgo.com.do/millennium
Please, may I post a letter on your letter page?
I'm researching a documentary for the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] about menstruation - myths and facts and blessing or curse.
I have much information about the curse and prejudice but I am finding scant information about the blessing! I was thrilled to find medical information linking surgery for breast cancer and the menstrual cycle and the New Scientist report about differing medication levels required during the 28-day cycle, and the research about eating requirements differing during the cycle etc., but I want to hear from women who have evidence of the cycle as a blessing, for example, artists, writers, etc., who are at their most creative whilst menstruating.
I also want to meet women who practice menstrual seclusion, as with menstrual huts of the past [and of the present; women still use menstrual huts].
And anything and everything to do with research into menstruation.
Next week I am interviewing Mr Peter Redgrove and Penelope Shuttle who wrote the first book on menstruation that offered positive information, The Wise Wound, 1978. I am very excited about asking many questions resulting from the book. If you have any questions for them pertaining to the book or their second book, Alchemy for Women, about the dream cycle corresponding to the menstrual cycle, I would be delighted to forward them to them on your behalf. They are not on the net so any questions would have to have addresses!
Thank you so much for this glorious Web site [many thanks to you for saying that!] and I look forward to hearing from visitors to your site.
Ali Kedge.
ali@shortkedge.freeserve.co.uk or fflic.zip@business.ntl.com
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.