Tampons are Tools of Patriarchy

[polecat]

I use a Diva Cup, which puts me in close intimate contact with my flow yet makes it nearly undetectable to anyone else. What does that make me?

Someone who has a ridiculously adorable piggy?

[polecat]

I use tampons because they're comfortable. Regular pads are squishy and uncomfortable. I've used cloth pads, which tend to be trimmer, but they bunch up. I'm not in the least squeamish about my period.

Still not gonna munch a tampon though. Seriously, it's blood not food.

[Syd+Marky]

O my wow...

Personally, I'm glad to live in a day and age where tampons are an option for me.I don't want to see, touch, feel, smell anything more than I absolutely have to.

Long before "the rag", women used things like plant fibers, packed wool, and animal skins for feminine hygeine worn both in and outside of the body.Were they anti-feminist?

I'm happy with my box of Tampax Pearls in their convienient, sanitary wrapping;-)

[RainbowSky]

Someone who has a ridiculously adorable piggy?

:that:

I use a cup mostly now but have cloth pads and used mostly tampons for a few years. The feeling coming out completely squicks me out and. I can't get it in my head that its not leaking if I can feel it. Meh. My issues, lol.

I don't care if people know about my having periods (again, that's kind of one of those duh sort of things given my age.) But I'd rather not leave bloody imprints round anywhere I go. We clean up bloody anything else like from cuts, etc for the germs possible if nothing else, but letting quite a bit of blood and other random fluids free is okay? Okay then.... :think:

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

One thing I WILL concede is that I get a little irritated by all the tampon cases and tampon covers and other things to make your tampons "discreet" in case someone sees the inside of your purse. Know what? I don't need to make the chapstick, dental floss, and nail file I carry in my purse discreet, and a tampon is just another necessity. I don't care at all if a -gasp!- man sees it. That's like having a special bag to bring to the grocery store when you have to buy toilet paper, in case someone sees it and finds out that you poop.

But that's just me. Shameless hussy me. :lol:

[OkToBeTakei]

One thing I WILL concede is that I get a little irritated by all the tampon cases and tampon covers and other things to make your tampons "discreet" in case someone sees the inside of your purse. Know what? I don't need to make the chapstick, dental floss, and nail file I carry in my purse discreet, and a tampon is just another necessity. I don't care at all if a -gasp!- man sees it. That's like having a special bag to bring to the grocery store when you have to buy toilet paper, in case someone sees it and finds out that you poop.

But that's just me. Shameless hussy me. :lol:

True but I prefer when I drop mine in the playground in school NOT possibly having to explain to a bunch of polite little kiddies helping me pick up my stuff. Same with condoms. So no shame just a bit of thought I suppose.

Why is flushing a tampon down the loo any different to a very huge poo? Or different to the amount of loo roll also flushed?

People balk at the continent for having bins for loo roll due to plumbing but understand it in sanitary products. Weird. All comes out ze one arse.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

True but I prefer when I drop mine in the playground in school NOT possibly having to explain to a bunch of polite little kiddies helping me pick up my stuff. Same with condoms. So no shame just a bit of thought I suppose.

Why is flushing a tampon down the loo any different to a very huge poo? Or different to the amount of loo roll also flushed?

People balk at the continent for having bins for loo roll due to plumbing but understand it in sanitary products. Weird. All comes out ze one arse.

I was told you're not supposed to flush tampons because they are specifically meant to be expanding plugs of cotton that absorb water, so they end up clogging. I was told this by the plumber who came to fix our toilet after I had been living with my partner for about two months. :? Oops.

ETA for riffles.

[OkToBeTakei]

I was told you're not supposed to flush tampons because they are specifically meant to be expanding plugs of cotton that absorb water, so they end up clogging. I was told this by the plumber who came to fix our toilet after I had been living with my partner for about two months. :? Oops.

ETA for riffles.

They TOTALLY do! My poor child is still talking about 'the talk' at school (puberty) where they dropped the tampon in the glass to show how it absorbs etc. Totally gross I know I'm a nurse but I've still seen bigger poos. Not really a conversation you have with your plumber :lol: I suppose there is more of a chance of them catching on bends maybe.

Can't believe we are discussing this :lol:

[tropaka]

They would have done better to attack the companies and advertising folks who tell us/make money off of "feminine hygiene" washes/sprays/douches that have no real use (and in some cases can harm) while sending the message that women parts are somehow naturally smelly and need deodorizing with special products.

[Khan]

I'm of the opinion that menstruation is just like any other bodily function. Natural, normal and not something advertised to random strangers. I tried Diva cup but I couldn't get it to stay comfortably. Tampons are just so easy and convenient.

@tropaka, those companies are so sneaky in their marketing. Upsetting your pH balance can be so bad.

[DistantStar]

I dislike tampons but not for moral reasons- sheesh! So I don't use them unless I am going to swim. Simple enough. The ads that bug me are the ones talking about how the wrapper doesn't make noise - if I am opening a pad then I will be either alone or in a space with other women. It's not like I think horrible things about the woman in the next stall if I hear a crinkle! STUPID!

The only cleanser that gets near my lady garden is good old fashioned soap. It does get a bit smelly down there if I don't wash often enough, but that is just as true of the rest of my body!

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I can't even tell you how many friends I have lectured about not using "feminine sprays"! SO BAD FOR YOU. At least most people seem to have gotten the memo that douching is completely unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst.

[FJismyheadship]

I can't even tell you how many friends I have lectured about not using "feminine sprays"! SO BAD FOR YOU. At least most people seem to have gotten the memo that douching is completely unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst.

They have???? The amount of women who come through my line each week with those products... I want to tell them its bad for them... but that doesn't. seem very proffessional for a cashier lol. Maybe my area just hasn't got the memo yet.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

They have???? The amount of women who come through my line each week with those products... I want to tell them its bad for them... but that doesn't. seem very proffessional for a cashier lol. Maybe my area just hasn't got the memo yet.

You're right, it's probably regional. Oh jeez, I don't think I could restrain myself if I were you. "Ma'am, your p.h! Don't disturb your p.h. Your P.H.!" :::gets dragged off floor by manager::: :lol:

[gypsygirl22]

I'm so confused. I only use pads, and they're most certainly not visible. lol That would kind of defeat the purpose. They shouldn't smell unless you're leaving one on for like the entire day without changing it. I don't 'feel the menstrual blood' 'against my body', either. Pads now are not the same as they were forty years ago. But it makes no difference. I use pads because I personally prefer them to other methods. I don't think my way is the only right way, I don't care what other women do, and I don't need anyone else telling me that I'm doing it wrong or not being a feminist or whatever because of the way I choose to contain/dispose of my menstrual blood. I mean for crying out loud!

Ah, the pads of 40 years ago! Those long handled, super thick Kotex pads were all my Mom would buy. They came in a huge purple box. God those pads were gigantic.

Finally I was old enough to earn my own money and could buy my own supplies. To this day just hearing the word "Kotex" makes me shudder.

[Syd+Marky]

They have???? The amount of women who come through my line each week with those products... I want to tell them its bad for them... but that doesn't. seem very proffessional for a cashier lol. Maybe my area just hasn't got the memo yet.

I've heard this but always thought it was a myth.I'm one of those women who come through your checkout line;Summers Eve douche, &shower wash,RePhresh gel(ph balancer), and Playtex deodorant wipes,the occassional perfume suppository, and iodine douches after my period.Obviously, I'm obssessive about it(so was my mom).Can someone explain how they are bad, aside from dryness and uti's from the deodorant suppositories?

[ThisOlGirl]

They would have done better to attack the companies and advertising folks who tell us/make money off of "feminine hygiene" washes/sprays/douches that have no real use (and in some cases can harm) while sending the message that women parts are somehow naturally smelly and need deodorizing with special products.

I remember a comedienne saying something to the effect of "It's not supposed to smell like spring rain or wildflowers, it's supposed to smell like pussy!" I know, crude, but she was right.

I have to ask this because they were before my time--what was with those old strawberry douches I used to see as a kid? Why strawberry? Confuses me to this day.

[Lillybee]

Anyone else remember the horrible sanitary belts that we wore to keep the Kotex in the right place.

[tropaka]

Strawberry douches? I missed that, but vaguely remember talk of sanitary belts etc...luckily by the time I "came of age" we just had really thick crunchy pads and tampons.

[gypsygirl22]

Anyone else remember the horrible sanitary belts that we wore to keep the Kotex in the right place.

Oh yeah...they went along with the big, thick pads. I always had trouble getting the pads to stay in the right spot so I ended up with lots of butt stains. Not a good look, especially for a junior high school kid.

[meep]

I've heard this but always thought it was a myth.I'm one of those women who come through your checkout line;Summers Eve douche, &shower wash,RePhresh gel(ph balancer), and Playtex deodorant wipes,the occassional perfume suppository, and iodine douches after my period.Obviously, I'm obssessive about it(so was my mom).Can someone explain how they are bad, aside from dryness and uti's from the deodorant suppositories?

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/ou ... uching.cfm

I've never used any of these products in my life and I've never heard any of my family or friends talking about using these types of things (though I'm sure some of them do, they just never bothered to mention whenever we talked about this stuff). Also, my vagina never really smells after my period that I would feel the need to do anything besides take a normal shower.

[Hane]

Am I alone in never liking tampons? They always hurt to put in--though other odds and ends, like diaphragms and manlybits, didn't.

[DarkAnts]

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/ou ... uching.cfm

I've never used any of these products in my life and I've never heard any of my family or friends talking about using these types of things (though I'm sure some of them do, they just never bothered to mention whenever we talked about this stuff). Also, my vagina never really smells after my period that I would feel the need to do anything besides take a normal shower.

This talk reminds me of the old lysol adds.

[gypsygirl22]

This talk reminds me of the old lysol adds.

Lysol was originally marketed to clean your lady parts with? I guess you could mop the floor and disinfect your hoo-ha at the same time. Early multi tasking!

[Conuly]

I've heard this but always thought it was a myth.I'm one of those women who come through your checkout line;Summers Eve douche, &shower wash,RePhresh gel(ph balancer), and Playtex deodorant wipes,the occassional perfume suppository, and iodine douches after my period.Obviously, I'm obssessive about it(so was my mom).Can someone explain how they are bad, aside from dryness and uti's from the deodorant suppositories?

If nothing else, they certainly are a waste of money and time. Why do you think your body needs all that? If you don't have a horrendous stench, the most you need is a little water splashed on your vulva (not in your vagina!) when you shower. If you do, then covering it up is a BAD idea. What you need to do is go to the doctor and find out if something is wrong, because healthy bodies should not smell rancid and awful from fifty paces.