Does anyone know artist Martina Hoffman's address?
Hello!
My name is Cho, Doojin and I'm a editor at Inhyang Publishing Co. in Seoul, Korea.
I am publishing a Korean edition of Is Menstruation Obsolete? (Oxford University Press, 1999) [read some excerpts, a review, and some responses to the theme of the book, voluntarily stopping menstruation]. I have seen the Female Crucifixion by Martina Hoffmann on your Web site and I'm deeply impressed by the picture. So I want to use the picture in making an image of our new book's cover. I would like to know how can I get a permission to use the picture.
Thank you for your attention.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Cho, Doojin ockam@korea.com
[I searched Colorado on the Internet but couldn't find her. She had submitted her pictures from that state years ago.]
Black panty liners on the market
Dear Mr. Finley:
Have you heard about Carefree's new black panty liners? They just started selling them here in Connecticut. Just like the regular deal, only jet-black, for dark-colored panties. Will you be adding this product to your museum Web site? [I checked my Safeway grocery store this morning, but no black panty liners. I live near Washington, D.C., perhaps not a cutting-edge pad town. I wonder if the dye used to blacken the pad could be harmful.
[A Swedish site regular mentioned in July that Sweden had introduced black panty liners.]
-A Faithful MUM.org Reader in Connecticut (U.S.A.)
She likes menstrual cups, especially Instead, but how do you explain them to men?
Mr. Finley,
I am a huge advocate of menstrual cups [read an incomplete history of cups and see pictures of some]. I have been using Instead for a couple years now with wonderful success. I wouldn't use anything else! It's almost like not having a period anymore. It's just not a big deal.
During the day I don't have to make sure to carry anything with me; I normally empty the cup at noon, wash it with antibacterial soap and re-use, and use a new one when I get home. It's great not having to fill your purse up with pads and drag it everywhere.
I have one question or request, and I have not e-mailed it to Instead yet at this point [Instead's Web site]. I am 31 and divorced. I've had a number of sexual partners and always have a difficult time "explaining," and some men are terrified to hear anything about menstruation [I used to be one of them. When I was in my 30s, I remember my mind and body "freezing" when a girlfriend casually mentioned that her mother had not prepared her for her first period. I just had no idea what to say. I've learned a lot since then!] I personally feel obligated to tell my partner if I'm having my period if we're going to have sex, but I wish there was an easier way to explain how the Instead cup works, and why it is much cleaner and user-friendly to use during sex. Actually, I think I could get away with never telling anyone I'm wearing one, but I wouldn't feel right about it. Personally I feel that most times even oral sex would be possible without the slightest hint of odor or blood, but there just isn't a good way to explain how these work to guys.
Is there, or would there possibly be a way to set up a FAQ for MEN on this subject?? Some way to say, "I use something different, here, go to this Web site!!!" [That's a terrific idea! I asked the writer to write something herself, which I and any of you out there could refine. But it might spoil the atmosphere to have a computer right there, tuned to this Web site, your MUM eager to answer questions.]
Thanks for your work on the MUM site. I've really enjoyed my "tour." My Gram [grandmother] has never wanted to discuss how things of "that nature" worked in her day, and I've always wondered. Next, I'd like to do a search on the history of birth control, because she won't talk about that either. [The history of birth control is another topic this site and the future museum will discuss. Someone who objects to birth control and also to reading a history of it might think about how a history of the world would read if no mention were made of Hitler.]
I'd love to visit your museum someday. This is all very enlightening.
A sincere woman,
Here's her Kotex #2
Dear Harry:
I don't want to be a picky lady, but here below what you mentioned for the update on July 29:
To satisfy the writer, on Saturday I imaged Kotex from 1974, as well as 1959 and probably the 1930s - all from the MUM archives - but on Sunday my computer went bonkers and wouldn't start until evening, so I couldn't surprise her with her favorite pad. I'll finish the pages for the next update. Name one person who REALLY understands computers!
Thanks for the 1930s Kotex belted pad picture but I saw no pictures of 1959 and 1974 pads on the August 12 update.
Will I be surprised on the next update? [Yes - see New this week at the top of the page.] Do you have Modess pictures also?
Thanks again for your lovely site.
Sincerely,
Montreal, Canada
I'm happy to do it
Thank you for doing this.
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."
Robin Garrett, Director
Women's Center
West Chester University
West Chester PA 19383
"Keep the faith. After all, failure is impossible."
Tampons and the empowerment of women
I am a student at the University of California at Berkeley. I am researching the history of the tampon and its relation to the, social, political, and economical empowerment of women. Do you have any suggestions for primary and/or secondary research materials? [If you have suggestions, e-mail me and I'll pass them along.]
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.
