Yours is a great site. I've forwarded the address to all my friends! (What a surprise is waiting in their e-mailboxes!!!) Anyway, as I biologist, I would like to refute the comment about blood-borne pathogens festering around products like Instead [menstrual cup]. Not so. I must admit that I've read no studies on the topic, but my microbiological knowledge just tells me it isn't so. Any microbes in there would be from your own body and are either A: natural symbionts (i.e., beneficial bacteria, etc.) or B: something your immune system is already fighting off (i.e., nothing that is going to proliferate beyond what you can naturally handle). I could see someone getting an infection if they don't practice good hygiene of the hands and otherwise, or if they left it in for some indefinite period of time (an infection in this case being caused by irritation and lack of hygiene.) [See safety for Dr. Philip Tierno's assessment of the safety of cups.] Anyhow, I myself loved Instead, and am disappointed that I can no longer find it. [Call 1-800-INSTEAD in the U.S.A. or see their Web site www.softcup.com] I did have trouble with leakage before the four hours, but that didn't bother me due to the comfort and freedom it provided! I hope it is refined and brought back to market. [It's already there!] Thanks for your time.
[Part of the Australian mail stated: The women's movement generally says that sanitary aids are health products and should be tax free like condoms and aspirin. The minister says that they are toiletries or grooming aids and should be taxed like shaving cream.] Does the minister have a beard? Maybe the Australian women should start walking around without any protection at all and see how popular that would be. [Actually, that is a fabulous idea! The experiment - give it several cycles to really work - would be the greatest gender test in 2411 years, since the Athenian women's withholding of sex to stop warfare in Aristophanes's play Lysistrata. What would men DO??!! Couples who hadn't had a serious discussion in years would have nothing but, and the Australian sisterhood would ignite similar actions around the world, finally toppling men from the leadership of great nations. Lose your reserve, not your nerve!, if I may suggest a battle cry. And your MUM - see her at the top of the Directory page with Prof. Mack C. Padd - waddles out in front, non-communist red banner unfurled! Good grief, what am I talking about? I must have forgotten to take my pill this morning.] I'd say tampons and pads are more necessary than both shaving cream and aspirin (ignore the headache and it will eventually go away while the spot in my trousers will only grow bigger if I ignore the need for tampons). I mean, it's not as if women choose to have periods!
The women's movement generally says that sanitary aids are health products and should be tax free like condoms and aspirin. The minister says that they are toiletries or grooming aids and should be taxed like shaving cream.]
[Actually, that is a fabulous idea! The experiment - give it several cycles to really work - would be the greatest gender test in 2411 years, since the Athenian women's withholding of sex to stop warfare in Aristophanes's play Lysistrata. What would men DO??!! Couples who hadn't had a serious discussion in years would have nothing but, and the Australian sisterhood would ignite similar actions around the world, finally toppling men from the leadership of great nations. Lose your reserve, not your nerve!, if I may suggest a battle cry. And your MUM - see her at the top of the Directory page with Prof. Mack C. Padd - waddles out in front, non-communist red banner unfurled! Good grief, what am I talking about? I must have forgotten to take my pill this morning.]
[from the Australian mail: "What is it exactly with American women and applicator tampons?"] Agree! I liked Tampax when I was 13-15 years old and still a bit narrow in that area, but now I prefer the ones that fit into a small "tablet box" in my handbag. One or two o.b. tampons also go nicely in that ridiculous little "fifth" pocket most jeans have. [the mail: "because I've never seen an ad like the 'shame' one here in Oz"] I have seen one like the Swedish one that shows a belt. It was the same "view" of one woman wearing a pair of slightly see-through, but quite "proper" white briefs with a white bulge at the bottom. I think it was black-and-white and I think the text was something like "At night nobody can see what you look like" and the product was extra thick, extra long night pads. That one was also Swedish. [the mail: "Because even though I find periods a pain in the arse, they are part of being female that you get used to. . . .] At first I felt totally ashamed of buying pads, but my mother (who is 37 years older than me) refused to buy them for me. She said she'd just get complaints from me if she bought the wrong kind (and no, it's not that she's a prude, as a teacher of 13-15-year old children she's had to deal with the topic enough to be "desensitised" to it). Eventually I figured out the logic: What does the fact that I buy this product say about me? What conclusions can people draw from seeing me buy this? That I am human, a woman, somewhere between 10 and 50 years old, healthy and not pregnant. Quite frankly, I'd feel very insulted if anybody thought anything else!
Hello Mr. Finley, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of Mum, At first I want to say, I'm very surprised (in a positive way) to find a site like yours. It is full of amazing things. Especially the company booklets directory invite a long stay. But I also have a question: Is it possible to set a link to us on your site, as we would do the same on our homepage? [Yes] For your information: We are a forum for hygiene and environment, which is founded by some of the most famous companies of hygiene products (you have a lot of these products mentioned in your site). Here is our homepage address (in German): http://www.forum-hygiene.de Greetings from Bonn Bodo Woltiri Forum Hygiene & Umwelt
What a fascinating site. Though my menstruating days are over due to a hysterectomy, it still is an interesting topic and part of my history as a female. Thanks.
What great pages! I had heard of your museum, but stumbled across the pages by chance one day. I hope I can visit the museum one day - keep up the good work! You're doing a brave thing because menstruation is still taboo. You must get a lot of misinterpretation [I sure do] of what you're doing, but I think it's great! [Thanks!]
I'm researching some ethnographic material on the New Zealand Maori that suggests menstrual clots were thought of as a kind of abortion or stillbirth. I've found a similar idea in an ethnography of the Inuit. I would like to find one or two more sources from other cultures. Can anyone suggest a reference or two? Thanks in advance. Adele Fletcher Maori Dept. University of Canterbury
This same seller, "tokyokaren," has Hello Kitty vibrator and sanitary napkins as well as this douche. Title of item: !!! Hello Kitty DOUCHE Japan only!!! . . . . Price: Starts at $6.99 Item Description: Yes, you read it right: DOUCHE. At first I couldn't believe it either, but our favorite animated character, Hello Kitty, is indeed featured on a brand of Japanese douches. Needless to say, this quirky item is for the Hello Kitty collector (or douche collector, I suppose) who wants EVERYTHING. I don't think that you'll find this one in Walmart any time soon; these are available only in Japan. . . . Winner pays shipping. . . . If you like this item, you should check out my auction for Hello Kitty sanitary pads. Thank you for visiting my auction and good luck on your bidding! Be sure to check out my other auctions for more of the coolest Hello Kitty stuff, straight from the home of Hello Kitty herself, Tokyo, Japan!
Hi there, Mr. Finley, I just wanted to send you a little note to let you know that I think your site's very informative and interesting, and that the jokes page can be good for a much-needed laugh once in a while. I really can't see why some people would get offended enough at the jokes to try and bully you into taking them down, writing angry mails, etc. Maybe I'm wrong, but I figure that if something like a joke about menstruation is that vexing to you, then simply roll your eyes and hit the "back" button on your browser to take you to wherever you'd been reading before. Honestly, it just seems kinda petty to get that bent out of shape over some silly thing you stumble onto online. But, as I said, maybe I'm wrong; it's just my opinion. [Don't be so humble - you're right!] In any event, you sure do have guts to take on a subject like this one! LOL [Thanks. I thought the thing over for months before I started the actual museum in 1994. I asked myself if I was willing to take the inevitable criticism and innuendo. I figured I had maybe twenty years left to live - maybe a high estimate, since nine months after closing the four-year-old museum I had coronary angioplasty - and could stand anything. I overestimated that, in view of the heart problem, but here I am. I just want the actual museum to be set up in a public place before I die.] Keep up the good work! [Many thanks!]
Greetings, Harry, I'm writing from Denver, Colorado (U.S.A.) I want to say how much I enjoy your site and I am going to be recommending it as a destination to a group of 12 - 18 year-old girls with whom I will be conducting a menstrual workshop in mid-March. But meanwhile, I wanted to pass on to you this little tidbit that I retrieved from the Rocky Mountain News newspaper (Denver). Unfortunately I do not have the exact date of the article. It was published in either November or early December of 1999, of that I am quite sure. The article reports: DURANGO, Colorado: A student who used menstrual blood in paintings hung in a Fort Lewis College gallery has withdrawn the paintings after several American Indian students complained that such blood is taboo in their culture. College officials said a Southern Ute spiritual leader has been called to conduct a purification ceremony at the gallery where the painting were displayed. The student artist, Pilar Reggae Paulsen, told college officials she was unaware her paintings would be offensive to American Indians and quickly decided to pull the pieces from the Senior Art Majors Art Exhibition. Don't know if there is place for this item in the museum, but thought you'd be interested. [Thanks for the good information!]
DURANGO, Colorado: A student who used menstrual blood in paintings hung in a Fort Lewis College gallery has withdrawn the paintings after several American Indian students complained that such blood is taboo in their culture. College officials said a Southern Ute spiritual leader has been called to conduct a purification ceremony at the gallery where the painting were displayed. The student artist, Pilar Reggae Paulsen, told college officials she was unaware her paintings would be offensive to American Indians and quickly decided to pull the pieces from the Senior Art Majors Art Exhibition.
You can get the correct information if you go to these pages published by the U S Naval Observatory: http://psyche.usno.navy.mil/millennium/whenIs.html (that`s a capital "i" in "whenIs") http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/faq/docs/millennium.html A comprehensive site from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich will put right any doubts: http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/new_mill.html
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.