See ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1933), Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1970s)
See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates), and Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1928).
And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.


THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH - 1997

Incontinence Aided from London

A few weeks ago I mentioned the serious emotional problems men often suffer when incontinent. Alex Birkett of the Department of Medical Physics, of the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust in London, England, visited the MUM site and invites folks to visit their site. His unit is concerned with the design of novel and effective continence devices for men and women.

It sounds like one of the most worthwhile activities someone could be involved in!

An Australian Comments on The Keeper and Sponges

"Hi, stumbled across the MUM page, and noted with interest an article about the Keeper and other menstrual cups. I bought one when in Canada several years ago, and was disappointed with it. Great idea, and I was confident of it's working, giving my experiences with diaphragms some years ago. Despite following all instructions (e.g., once in place, give it a quarter turn to get a proper seal) it consistently leaked. I also did find it hard to insert (despite having been a dab hand with the diaphragm) and suffered from small cuts/tears which of course are painful. Interested in seeing more information.

"Actually, I used a sponge for a good six months - natural sea sponge, back in uni days when I had lots of time to lock myself in the bathroom every single hour. Found that more comfortable and easier. Just hard to find very dense natural sponges without holes."

Comments are always welcome, and we will publish them here without your name if you give your permission.

Talk About The Keeper!

An irrepressible friend of MUM will brighten up your day with her reactions to The Keeper menstrual cup.

Read some of the reactions others have about The Keeper and the new cup Instead.

Here's what The Keeper and Instead look like.

Making Fun of Menstruation?

I just received an angry phone call from the editor of a lesbian publication, who said that she will not promote MUM any further because the media have been making fun of this museum, partly because its director is a man. Making fun of the museum means making fun of menstruation, and she takes menstruation very seriously.

So do I. I have drawn a lot of criticism and mockery not only from the media because of my seriousness in creating MUM. Most of my own family is deeply upset by this museum, and I am estranged from some of them because of it.

But I will not close it. Menstruation is a neglected and important cultural phenomenon which deserves the most extensive treatment possible, something a museum has never done before on a permanent basis.

People find menstruation funny mostly because it makes them uncomfortable. Humor is part of the culture of menstruation. I was on a talk program where a psychiatrist was making witticisms about periods! Humor is also part of life; we make jokes about sex, not because we don't take it seriously, but because we do.

In truth I have expected at least some some lesbian opposition because of my gender. But heterosexuals of both persuasions have criticized me too, as have the old and young, and the educated and the less so, the far right and the far left, and those in between.

But many folks, some of whom are lesbians, have congratulated me on the museum. One visitor said that "women are thankful to you." Planned Parenthood of America even called it "fabulous."

Why didn't a woman start MUM? I think because women are too close to the subject, which is disregarded to the greatest extent possible in most societies. I believe also that if it were evident that a lesbian had started such a museum, the public would feel it was just another left-wing feminist cause, marginalized as usual, not part of their world.

I want to make menstruation part of everyone's world, men as well as women, at least to the extent of making them realize that it's not shameful and that it's a phenomenon with an extraordinary history.

NEXT EARLIER NEWS | First Page | Newest News | FAQs | Directory
© 1997 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org

See Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and
German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1981) See a Lucky Strike cigarettes ad from 1933.

See ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1933),
See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates),
and Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1928).
And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!
See another ad for As One Girl to Another (1942), and the booklet itself.