Menstrual products from Sweden, and a Swedish girl invented "wings"
Hej,
I have seen some things in Swedish media which you might find interesting:
* TV ads about black panty liners (that's what those "mini-pads" are called in English, right?). The ad is about a couple in a romantic situation, removing black party clothes and suddenly something is white and destroys the whole mood! The idea is that it should match black transparent underwear.
* Pads that "breathe" (like Goretex jackets). The TV ad is about a woman who stands on two pads (one of the old kind and one of the new kind) and then takes a few steps on a shiny black floor. One foot leaves sweaty footprints, the other does not.
* TV ads about a pad that is "2 in 1," i.e., it can be both pad and panty liner. The "logic" is that our bathroom cupboards are too full of stuff and now we can get along with just *one* bag of pads.
* An inventor has made underpants with warm pads in them which he claims can take away period pain: http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/kvinna/story/0,2789,70864,00.html
(I haven't found links to the other ones.)
[The Swedish woman later added:
Those ads are certainly among the more creative things I've seen. Also, did you know that "wings" on pads are a Swedish invention? A 15-year-old girl invented them and got an award for it, and then some Big Company came along and took all the credit! I know this because I was 15 years old and interested in that inventors contest myself.
[Many thanks!
[Swedes also first marketed the panty-pad for thongs and make a beautiful wooden tampon dispenser for your home.]
Tell a magazine what you think about abortion
http://homearts.com/mc/articles/41baby13.htm
is the Web address for a survey being conducted by Marie Claire magazine. They will publish the results.
Company in New Zealand that distributes Natracare
Hello,
Can I please have my site listed as a link on your MUM site? (Great information you have).
FemCare distributes the Natracare range to New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
I look forward to hearing from you.
With best regards,
Helen Macdonald
_________________________________________
Helen Macdonald
FemCare
P O Box 58
Queenstown, New Zealand
p +64 03 442 4159
f +64 03 442 4308
visit http://www.femcare.co.nz
They sell subversive clothing
Hi, Mum,
We thought you might be interested to list our store, Wacky Jac Clothing and Accessories. We carry MoonTime undies and other menstrual accessories. Let us know and we will reciprocate.
xo,
Mark
WJ Marketing
Wacky Jac Clothing & Accessories
POB 29
Shutesbury, MA 01072
U.S.A.
Toll Free 877.922.5987
Phone 413.549.2758 (NEW)
Fax 13.549.2758 (NEW)
www.wackyjac.com
About Our Company:
Wacky Jac designs subversive clothing, whimsical accessories, and alternative cultural artifacts. We are an independent, woman-owned company since 1998. Wacky Jac's message is sex-positive, pro-creative, and simply Divine. We're a little bit cheeky, too. Wacky Jac is in the middle of a daring dialogue with our customers, a coalition of cool niches. gURRRL Witches and Diva Goddesses love us. No small wonder.
Those stupid booklets and movies about menstruation!
When I was in the fourth grade (which was in 1994) I received a "Growing Up and Liking it" booklet from Personal Products [read some: complete booklets, 1944, 1972, and many covers, 1944 - 1978]. I just saw that you have a few of those books . . . . I also thought that some of the booklet was funny (even when I was in the fourth grade) because real pre-teen/teenage girls do not act so stupid.
Plus, I wanted to know if you had any of those growing-up movies that they show you in school [I hope to put parts of some on the site eventually]. If you do can you post information about them on your Web site, because me and my friends have always wanted to know why in everyone of those movies we saw, someone was always making pancakes. [Maybe because they kinda look like pads?] Isn't that weird?
Thank you for taking the time to read this. [Thanks for writing!]
She gives tips on using menstrual cups
Hi, Mr. Finley!
This is a little letter I've been taking some time to distribute to various sites offering information on health. Many feature information about ordinary cotton tampons and pads but fail to mention the cups you feature so well at your site.
The below letter describes my suggestions on usage which may be of use to visitors at your site.
Thanks to your site, I have learned a lot about the history of menstruation.
Sincerely,
Debbie D'Amico
To Whom it may concern,
In visiting your site and reading about tampons and their alternatives I was surprised information about menstrual cups was lacking. Here are a few sites and my recommendations for the usage of both types of cups which I have been using for over eight years now and think they are the best method since sliced bread that have been overlooked for too many years. There is also a museum of menstruation online, at http://www.mum.org, which outlines the history of menstrual products.
The first site for menstrual cups is: http://buyinprivate.com/buyinprivate/in12hourfemp.html
offering the Instead menstrual cups [see pictures of cups] which are inserted just like a diaphragm (a diaphragm can also be used for menstrual use, it just requires frequent emptying in increments of about every two hours on a heavy flow day.)
I have found that by bearing down to release trapped air and create a vacuum seal with the Instead practically eliminates any leakage when sleeping with one one during the heaviest times of menses.
The other, at http://www.keeper.com is made of natural rubber and works great for daytime. I say this because in removing it the dexterous user can remove it without disturbing the collection of fluid, discretely empty it into the toilet, wipe the rim and reinsert easily with minimal muss or fuss! (Removal of Instead can be very messy when you "break the seal" and the only way I know of to handle this is to make sure your purse has ample antibacterial wipes for your hands and fingers/fingernails!)
I have found that the Keeper product on the heaviest times of menses if worn to bed can leak more often than not and to minimize you can create somewhat of a vacuum seal per the instructions with it by twisting and gently squeezing as you insert but it's not ideal for reclining and since it is not configured like a diaphragm, intercourse is not an option unless of course it is removed.
I strongly recommend that in using either that the user carry antibacterial wipes when outside of the home to cleanse the hands thoroughly immediately before insertion to prevent possible transmission of bacteria known to be found on bathroom door handles such as hepatitis A, B, or C among many others. Washing before and after is advised as well whether in or out of the home.
In closing, I hope this helps other readers out there to know there are still other alternatives.
[Read more information from readers about cups and read a short history of cups.]
Caution: a letter from another cat lover!
Hee, hee, hee! I love this! I have a "Catcellency" too. [It amuses my oldest cat - I think it's funny, too - to be addressed this way.] His name is Marmalade (aka: Warwa, Warwamocct, Mocctie-Schmocctie-Gocctie-Occtie, Warrie, W-W-W-W-Warrweeowww! [I love it!], or Mr. Orange Candy-Cane Tail). He is a four-year-old neutered orange tabby. We found him as a kitten in a gutter near a park in Oklahoma City (U.S.A.), starving, eaten up with fleas and nearly dead. We bundled him up and brought him home and he has been the sweetest companion imaginable. My husband died in 1996; I got Warrie in 1997, and have never wanted for male companionship!
I found out about your site from the GladRags catalog. I think it is a great thing you are doing, educating the public about menstruation and other women's issues. [Many thanks!] I can't understand why your family feels the way they do [read their reactions, but things have improved recently]. But then, most visionaries' families think they're nuts!
Even Jesus Christ's earthly relatives thought He was off His rocker. Boy, they must have been surprised after that third day! [Take THAT, skeptics!!!]
Anyway, this site is very cool. If I'm ever in your area I'll definitely stop by the museum. [Not yet! It's still looking for a public home! Read some ideas for the future museum.]
Kind regards,
Mom art site
I highly recommend the new gallery/Web site at www.scaramoosh.com. There are some bizarre and extremely funny acrylics by a mom who's apparently slightly off her rocker ... and they're great !!!
Book about menstruation published in Spain
The Spanish journalist who contributed some words for menstruation to this site last year and wrote about this museum (MUM) in the Madrid newspaper "El País" just co-authored with her daughter a book about menstruation (cover at left).
She writes, in part,
Dear Harry Finley,
As I told you, my daughter (Clara de Cominges) and I have written a book (called "El tabú") about menstruation, which is the first one to be published in Spain about that subject. The book - it talks about the MUM - is coming out at the end of March and I just said to the publisher, Editorial Planeta, to contact you and send you some pages from it and the cover as well. I'm sure that it will be interesting to you to have some information about the book that I hope has enough sense of humour to be understood anywhere. Thank you for your interest and help.
If you need anything else, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Margarita Rivière
Belen Lopez, the editor of nonfiction at Planeta, adds that "Margarita, more than 50 years old, and Clara, 20, expose their own experiences about menstruation with a sensational sense of humour." (Later this month more information will appear on the publisher's site, in Spanish.)
My guess is that Spaniards will regard the cover as risqué, as many Americans would. And the book, too. But, let's celebrate!
Two weeks ago I mentioned that Procter & Gamble was trying to change attitudes in the Spanish-speaking Americas to get more women to use tampons, specifically Tampax - a hard sell.
Compare this cover with the box cover for the Canadian television video about menstruation, Under Wraps, and the second The Curse.
An American network is now developing a program about menstruation for a popular cable channel; some folks from the network visited me recently to borrow material.
And this museum lent historical tampons and ads for a television program in Spain last year.
Now, if I could only read Spanish! (I'm a former German teacher.)
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.
