New this week: Shampon Young stick tampons (Japan, 1977) - humor

Would you stop menstruating if you could? (New entry)
Words and expressions for menstruation (New section, Greece, and an addition to America: "courses" )
What did European and American women use for menstruation in the past?

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Could you make your menstrual blood disappear with a powder?

In 1959, Dr. Karl John Karnaky (his son, Dr. Karl John Karnaky, Jr., told me he died in 1988) published an article ("A New Absorptive for Menstrual Hygiene," in Arizona Medicine, 16 [September 1959: 605]) in which he stated that a powder and tablet inserted into the vagina could transform menstrual discharge into something apparently metabolized by the body. I quote here Nancy Friedman from her book Everything You Must Know About Tampons (Berkley Books, New York, 1981), p. 148:

Karnaky's "advancement" was a combination of powder and tablet. When both were inserted into the vagina just before or during menstruation, they changed menstrual fluid into a "fine, dry, non-sticky, inert, non-toxic sterile powder," highly acidic [the healthy vagina is quite acidic; it becomes less so during menstruation, making it more susceptible to harmful bacteria, protozoa and yeast], which was "apparently" metabolized and reabsorbed into the circulation. The major advantage of this method, Karnaky wrote, was that it circumvented the problem of "deterioration" of menstrual blood, with its accompanying malodors and flourishing bacterial growth.

Karnaky showed 200 women how to use this method (it helped to have some advance warning that one's period was about to begin), but he presented no data on their experiences. He did, however, offer two addresses for physicians wishing to order glass or plastic vaginal powder applicators.

Does anyone know anything more about what Friedman called "one of the most bizarre footnotes in the history of menstrual products"? His son said he had no knowledge of it other than the Arizona Medicine article.


Letters to your MUM

Celebrate menarche with the book Rites of Passage

Dear Harry:

Greetings!

I wanted to say "Congratulations and keep up the great work with the Museum of Menstruation." [Many thanks!] Best wishes to you in this important endeavor.

I wanted to invite you to visit our Web site, http://www.spress.org. Synchronicity Press, Inc. publishes empowering books to celebrate the female cycle. My new book, "Rites of Passage: A Celebration of Menarche" is a gift book from parent/caregiver to celebrate the special event of menarche. If you would consider us for your links page, that would be great. We'll also be happy to add your site to ours as soon as our site's links section is added. Also, I'd be happy to send to you an autographed copy of the book, please let me know. Again, best wishes in all of your endeavors.

Sincerely,

Linda M. LaFlamme, M.S.

Author, Rites of Passage, A Celebration of Menarche


How much should television ads show of tampons?

Hi there,

[I'm a] long-time visitor of your site (which is always informative!), but first-time writer.

Just wanted to thank you for bringing back memories with the Pursettes tampon ad [there are many of them on the site; start looking here]. Makes me a bit melancholy to think that I'm actually old enough to remember that very same ad from "Teen" and "Seventeen" magazines back when I was in high school.

One thing that's been on my mind, and maybe it's a possible future topic for discussion on your site, is a recent commercial I've seen on TV (primarily on Lifetime network) for Tampax. It's for Tampax Compacts, or some such, and it shows the tampons out of the wrappers, with stringy tails and all.

Now, I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, I'm embarrassed. I remember a time, not so long ago, where advertisers would never dare show such a picture of feminine hygiene. But, on the other hand, as I'm trying to get a more liberated and empowered mindset of my natural monthly cycle, I feel as though I should be pleased that TV is no longer hiding the product, and, in effect, making us feel like it's something to be "ashamed" of.

I'd be interested to see/hear other women's opinions on this.

Thanks again for a great site!! [You're welcome! My own opinion is yours, and it applies to hemorrhoid medication, adult diapers, etc. These things must be talked about, and must be easily available, even though they are often unpleasant to watch. That's life.]

Of courses!

I was fascinated to find your MUM on the 'Net. I spent a long time wandering around, and your collection of Growing Up and Liking It covers [and read the complete ones from 1944 and 1972, and read a list of many similar books on this site] sent me to my box of stuff in the attic. Where lo and behold, I found my copy, in a bag with belted pads. (Why did we get belted pads? I know they made adhesive ones by then - 1976; my mom used them.) [Belted pads from Kotex and Modess only recently disappeared in America - read an announcement from Kotex - although I believe women can buy generic brands in some parts of the country, as well as washable belted pads.]

Anyway, reading through your list of alternate terms, I don't see the one my grandmother used. She insisted that 'courses,' or occasionally 'monthly courses' was the only polite way to refer to it, if you had to refer to it at all. Needless to say, polite people didn't. That whole side of the family is English or Scot, so I'm assuming it's a regional thing. [I just added your contribution!]

You've got a really cool site. Definitely one to keep in the bookmarks! [Thanks!]


Pap art exhibit starts 21 September in Delray Beach, Florida

I am writing to request your participation and assistance in an exciting and important project regarding women's health issues.

The world-renowned scientist and lover of the arts Dr. George Papanicolaou, better known as Dr. Pap, inventor of the Pap smear test, will be the subject of a special exhibition at the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach, Florida, beginning September 21, 2000. The gala opening and artist's reception will be held on Thursday evening September 28, 2000. The foremost patient advocate and director of the Center For Cervical Health in the United States, Carol Ann Armenti, will be the keynote speaker.

The exhibition will run through November 12, 2000, and will feature recent works by international artist Olga Stamatiou, Dr. Papanicolaou's niece. Stamatiou's works will be available for acquisition and the profits will go toward:

1. The creation of "PAP MOBILES," vehicles that would be used to provide testing for under-served women in areas, with the highest incidence of cervical cancer.

2. The creation of a traveling multimedia art exhibition.

3. The production of a documentary film based on the life, work and scientific legacy of Dr. Papanicolaou and his wife Mary.

4. The Center for Cervical Health.

5. The Papanicolaou Woman's Corp.

Our organization "PAP" - Prevention and Protection - will have as its goal to raise awareness about women's health issues, including the importance of having regular Pap smears and the provision of information on new and existing methods for detecting cervical cancer.

The traveling exhibition, to be viewed in public spaces and museums, will be a multimedia environment drawing on and inspired by Dr. Pap's love of the arts and sciences. This environment will include permanent built-in units that will provide creative spaces for national and local women's health organizations to inform women on what is available involving health care.

The September 28th opening reception will also include international guest artists and feature a wide range of styles and media. A percentage of their work will benefit the above-mentioned projects.

Olympus Corporation of America will provide working microscopes and monitors along with technicians on opening night to demonstrate how Pap smears are read.



Washable-pad company for sale

Gayle Adams, owner of Feminine Options, wants to sell the company to someone willing to put time and energy into it. The Food and Drug Administration has already approved its products.

Call Gayle at (715) 455-1652 (Wisconsin, U.S.A.).

[See and read about washable pads.]


Money and this site

I, Harry Finley, creator of the museum and site and the "I" of the narrative here, receive no money for any products or services on this site. Sometimes people donate items to the museum.

All expenses for the site come out of my pocket, where my salary from my job as a graphic designer is deposited.


You have privacy here

What happens when you visit this site?

Nothing.

I get no information about you from any source when you visit, and I have no idea who you are, before, during or after your visit.

This is private - period.


Is this the new millennium or even century?

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


Tell Your Congressperson You Support the Tampon Safety and Research Act of 1999! Here's How and Why


Help Wanted: This Museum Needs a Public Official For Its Board of Directors

Your MUM is doing the paper work necessary to become eligible to receive support from foundations as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. To achieve this status, it helps to have a American public official - an elected or appointed official of the government, federal, state or local - on its board of directors.

What public official out there will support a museum for the worldwide culture of women's health and menstruation?

Read about my ideas for the museum. What are yours?

Eventually I would also like to entice people experienced in the law, finances and fund raising to the board.

Any suggestions?


Do You Have Irregular Menses?

If so, you may have polycystic ovary syndrome [and here's a support association for it].

Jane Newman, Clinical Research Coordinator at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University School of Medicine, asked me to tell you that

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.

Learn more about current research on PCOS at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University - or contact Jane Newman.

If you have fewer than six periods a year, you may be eligible to participate in the study!

See more medical and scientific information about menstruation.


New this week: Shampon Young stick tampons (Japan, 1977) - humor

Would you stop menstruating if you could? (New entry)
Words and expressions for menstruation (New section, Greece, and an addition to America: "courses" )
What did European and American women use for menstruation in the past?

PREVIOUS NEWS
first page | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address | contact the museum | privacy on this site | art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | belts | bidets | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | costumes | cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous people | FAQ | humor | huts | links | media | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | menstrual products safety | science | shame | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads

privacy on this site

© 2000 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