Congratulations on a great Web site! [Many thanks!]
Your site, the Museum of Menstruation, has been selected as a "Site of the Week" at Zenzibar Alternative Culture - http://www.zenzibar.com
ZENZIBAR is a new alternative portal and directory of alternative culture on the Web.
Your site will appear as a site-of-the-week from November 21 - 28, 1999.
It is also a more permanent part of our directory of alternative Web sites. It is listed under the Alternative Health category.
Once again, congratulations!
Sincerely,
The Dreamers at Zenzibar
Wow,
I just wanted to write to say I very much enjoyed your online museum when I stumbled upon it this evening. All of the items and pictures you scanned in are fascinating. [Thank you!]
As I looked at your site, I was constantly reminded of the contrast I noticed between the British attitude towards menstruation and most other west Europeans' when I was living abroad last year. The near-paranoia with which the British seem to regard menses, especially in terms of their needing isolated disposal, more than once brought a smirk to my face. In every restroom I went into there were specially-designed plastic of metal containers to supposedly allow you to put a dirty pad into an intermediary compartment which did not open onto the other refuse that was already in the container. When you closed the compartment, the dirty pad was supposed to drop down to meet its fellows. However, the hilarious thing about these elaborate contraptions was that not only did they work poorly (and messily!), but they also, on the whole, were not emptied or cleaned regularly, and so were always almost overflowing with their forbidden contents! The funniest thing however, occurred once when I was in a lavatory in a lecture hall of Oxford, and in addition to the special metal container, they had provided little brown pad-shaped bags for the dirties. Talk about specialized production! On the bags, which were from the big drugstore chain called Boots, was stamped the stern phrase: "Boots-- To be burned." It was so wonderfully surreal that I had to bring one back to the college for my friend, who promptly tacked it up on the outside of her door to amuse passersby. [What is strange is that the British have some very funny advertising (and here), and it's often bolder than American, comparable to northern European. Go figure. But there is also a concern for AIDS and hepatitis contagion. By the way, an Oxford student is sending some disposal bags she has collected on her travels around Europe. I will set up a page for them and those that I have when I receive hers.]
Anyway, keep up the great work! Only one suggestion-- it might be more pleasant for your visitors if you didn't draw attention to the fact that some extremists have a problem with your being male and also curating such a museum. [In a way I want to document the opposition to it and me - that's part of menstrual culture.] All of the women who come to enjoy your site will clearly not hold this against you much, or at all, if they stick around to look, and talking about it only tends to alienate them, since "they" aren't the extremists. Also, the mention about a male curator perhaps giving more validation to the museum seemed a bit nasty and certainly not necessarily true, even though I know it was well-intentioned. [You're right, it was well intended, but it does seem like a crummy remark. Sexist?] The woman who mentioned that to you should have given you (and your fans) more credit - I know that whoever you win over with your site will be impressed with all of your research and materials, as well as your stellar presentation of them-- not with anything else.
Again, great site!
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.