Tampons are Tools of Patriarchy

[LadyBlue]

This seems the appropriate thread to mention The Menstrual Museum : http://www.mum.org/

I've been a cup user for about 10 years now (off & on thanks to pregnancy & nursing) I really like it, even though starting after my 3rd baby, I've had issues with leaking at night. Had no clue what I was doing wrong, but I think I figured it out this last cycle thanks to doing a lot of reading on the LiveJournal menstrual cup pages mentioned earlier in the thread. (They also have great comparisons for anyone trying to decide what to get http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/tag/faq)

I definitely couldn't go back to pads or tampons. The 6 weeks of lochia is hell and I think I'd buy/make cloth pads if I had another baby. I end up so sore after a couple of days. And tampons were so horribly drying, even on heavy days. Then there was the blog post I saw a couple years ago that was utterly horrifying....found it http://jezebel.com/5897186/horrifying-m ... nightmares

[thoughtful]

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!

[alchemy]

That happened to me once. I did not get TSS, but I definitely freaked out so much when I realized what had happened that I ended up stress-manifesting a bunch of TSS symptoms (nausea, dizziness, etc.)

I'm a nutcase. :embarrassed:

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you deliberately plop a new one in behind an old one. I just mentioned it because that accident is how I discovered they do fit in okay, what I meant is if you have the need for extra protection a double stuff of two fresh ones works really well. As long as the two together were appropriate for the flow you were experiencing and they were renmoved in proper time they wouldn't pose any mire TSS risk than a single,

[bananacat]

Is it totally awful of me to think that the whole speculum with a mirror (and NOT DURING MY PERIOD, EWW) thing would be kind of interesting to do? Once? It'd be kinda neat to see my cervix. Dunno why I think so, but I'm pretty familiar with all the exterior bits, having gotten out a mirror for those. (This may piss off a certain stripe of feminist, but I don't get the whole "I worship my period" thing. I get the "periods are natural and should not be a source of shame" thing but the sort of stuff I ran across in a few Pagan circles was just weird. As if we women are nothing more than our baby-making bits. Isn't a major point of feminism that we should be seen as MORE than just that? Overkill, ladies, chill out!)

I am told I should be on my knees praising Whoever for the invention of pads with adhesive.

I got to see my cervix when I had to get a colposcopy due to a moderate-risk strain of HPV. I had a good doctor who let me view the screen. I don't remember much about it though. I didn't have my period at the time, but I also don't think periods are gross. Honestly, menstrual blood is the least offensive of the things that come out of that general region.

[bananacat]

Am I the only person whose flow is too light to comfortably use tampons? I mean, I have used them and I keep them around and use them for swimming or similar, but I don't use them on a regular basis because it's not really fun to remove a half-dry tampon. I can use the juniors ok, but I only find them in the variety pack and I don't need to buy 10 supers and 40 regulars just to get a few of the juniors that I can use. My period is moderate on the first day but then really light for a few days. I haven't gone to a pool regularly in ages, but in the past when I was on the light days, sometimes I would just wash out the labia folds really well and then hop in the pool with nothing. A tiny amount of blood actually came out during the hour I was in the pool, surely less than other excretions like sweat, snot, a cut, or from people who have mild bladder leakage.

[Sola]

Both tampons and the mooncup were uncomfortablefor me. I had a prolapse and it would eeffectively push the tampon out. Before my hysterectomy I switched to cloth reusable pads because my endometriosis meant I'd bleed long and hard so I'd end up horribly chapped and sore. Tried the mooncup but it would feel like it was hanging out. Switched to cloth pads from disposable and I nolonger had soreness. BBizarrely I also lost that 'period' smell with cloth pads too. I came to the conclusion that the soreness and any odour was related to plastic backing in commercial pads and the absorbant granuals in them.

As for douches and sprays, I've never seen them in the shops here. Although I admit I've never looked for them either. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to squirt a bottle of perfume up their fanny just so they could smell like roses!

[Sola]

Elder member here piping up to say that I feel as if my body is on vacation ever since the blessing of menopause. I see ashen-faced young women going around hoping someone can spare some extra-strength ibuprofen, and I remember the bad old days, and feel so awful for them.

^ This. I sure as hell don't miss my periods. After thirty-odd years of periods from hell I can honestly say that the period free life is a holiday. Those bodyform adverts used to make me laugh; women jumping out of planes, skiing, etc. I wanted one which showed the grey faced woman throwing up, fainting, curling up on the floor with cramps and begging for ibuprofen and a hot water bottle. That was more realistic for me. Jumping out of a damn plane was the last thing on my list!

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Is it totally awful of me to think that the whole speculum with a mirror (and NOT DURING MY PERIOD, EWW) thing would be kind of interesting to do? Once? It'd be kinda neat to see my cervix. Dunno why I think so, but I'm pretty familiar with all the exterior bits, having gotten out a mirror for those. (This may piss off a certain stripe of feminist, but I don't get the whole "I worship my period" thing. I get the "periods are natural and should not be a source of shame" thing but the sort of stuff I ran across in a few Pagan circles was just weird. As if we women are nothing more than our baby-making bits. Isn't a major point of feminism that we should be seen as MORE than just that? Overkill, ladies, chill out!)

I am told I should be on my knees praising Whoever for the invention of pads with adhesive.

There is definitely a strain of feminism that overemphasizes fertility and its trappings, including menstruation. The danger there, of course, is that focusing so much on our power to give birth and breastfeed not only alienates women who are transgender, infertile, childfree by choice, etc., but also ends up reinforcing traditional misogyny and playing right into the hands of those who endorse "separate but equal" spheres for the sexes across the board.

[Rowan]

Doubling up of the wee ones works really well on heavy flow days. This I found out quite by accident when I forgot to remove one before inserting the next.

I admit that until the last day or so of my period, I will often double up on the super plus ones. It's nice to not have to go and change more than once every 3-4 hours and it prevents a lot of the leakage issues that somehow happen even though the tampon itself isn't completely (or sometimes it isn't even more than 20%) "used."

[Conuly]

Bizarrely I also lost that 'period' smell with cloth pads too.

I had that same experience. And I look back on our puberty education in elementary school, which was two pamphlets (one for boys) produced by one of the pad companies, probably Kotex, where they mentioned that a great advance of disposable pads was less smell and greater comfort (also not true for me), and I get so annoyed.

[SpeakNow]

There is definitely a strain of feminism that overemphasizes fertility and its trappings, including menstruation. The danger there, of course, is that focusing so much on our power to give birth and breastfeed not only alienates women who are transgender, infertile, childfree by choice, etc., but also ends up reinforcing traditional misogyny and playing right into the hands of those who endorse "separate but equal" spheres for the sexes across the board.

Totally agree. I can't understand why I'd want to worship something that provides me with 24 hours of relentless cramps. I live with it. It's natural. I sometimes complain about it, but I feel no need to worship it.

[happy atheist]

Those of you who are talking about doubling up tampons, do you use them side by side, or stack them up like (forgive this analogy) batteries in a flashlight?

[OkToBeTakei]

Those of you who are talking about doubling up tampons, do you use them side by side, or stack them up like (forgive this analogy) batteries in a flashlight?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I totally wanted to ask that. I had visions of Michelle Duggar with my whole years worth lost up her nether regions.

[alchemy]

Those of you who are talking about doubling up tampons, do you use them side by side, or stack them up like (forgive this analogy) batteries in a flashlight?

Mine were side by side. Flashlight style would have left one or both in an uncomfortable position.

[singsingsing]

Honest question, for those who use tampons, why do you prefer them to pads? I thought about switching, but there just seemed to be so many negatives to tampons - greater risk of toxic shock and UTIs, greater risk of leaks, shouldn't sleep with them in overnight, messier to dispose of (if you don't flush them). I'm asking because I've honestly considered giving tampons a try, but what are the benefits beyond swimming and playing sports?

[Rowan]

Those of you who are talking about doubling up tampons, do you use them side by side, or stack them up like (forgive this analogy) batteries in a flashlight?

Side by side. I don't feel two any more than I am able to feel one.

[thoughtful]

Side by side.

XDYvGjZ7Pj8

[MsSaylor]

My mom talks about using 2 super tampins at a time...I've honestly never understood the logistics of it either.

I mostly prefer tampons bc they don't end up a bunched wad. With pads I constantly feel like I have a massive wedgie.

I'm another one that learned the hard way not to flush tampons.

[happy atheist]

XDYvGjZ7Pj8

Is that the guy from SVU?!

[happy atheist]

Side by side. I don't feel two any more than I am able to feel one.

Thanks to everyone who answered this. That's what I assumed, but it seemed like maybe there would be leakage, since the two would be like a figure 8 rather than a single unit. I know they're absorbent, but we all know they're not magic.

[singsingsing]

My mom talks about using 2 super tampins at a time...I've honestly never understood the logistics of it either.

I mostly prefer tampons bc they don't end up a bunched wad. With pads I constantly feel like I have a massive wedgie.

I'm another one that learned the hard way not to flush tampons.

I've been using pads for about 14 years, so I have perfected the art of avoiding the wedgie/bunched wad! :lol: Really, I don't think any method is perfect, and it all comes down to what works best for the individual.

[oil]

I read the article, even I put it in to translate, but I still don't understand it. She is saying the men care about what we use for periods?? The patriarchy control want us to use tampons because so we can hide periods better? Do men care at all? I dont believe her.

[Sola]

I had that same experience. And I look back on our puberty education in elementary school, which was two pamphlets (one for boys) produced by one of the pad companies, probably Kotex, where they mentioned that a great advance of disposable pads was less smell and greater comfort (also not true for me), and I get so annoyed.

My gran used to say commercial pads were a con. She remembered when commercial ones became popular with poorer women - prior to that disposibles were extensive and most ordinary woman had the soaking bucket in the kitchen. She said that how home made ones were more absorbant and more comfy. Thought she was just old fashioned, but once I tried cloth pads myself I realised she'd been right. To make disposable ones as absorbent as cloth ones Kotex etc had to add a plastic backing which makes you sweaty, increases heat down there and encourages bacteria. All that causes soreness and odour. Add in the absorbant granuals they put in now and that makes matters worse.

Sometimes our grandparents did know better!

[freedomjesusfootball]

Honest question, for those who use tampons, why do you prefer them to pads? I thought about switching, but there just seemed to be so many negatives to tampons - greater risk of toxic shock and UTIs, greater risk of leaks, shouldn't sleep with them in overnight, messier to dispose of (if you don't flush them). I'm asking because I've honestly considered giving tampons a try, but what are the benefits beyond swimming and playing sports?

I get too hot with padding against my crotch. Even with the newest pads, I get wedgies and it feels uncomfortably sticky. And I cannot feel a tampon really at all once it is in place. I have always used them since my first period.

You absolutely can use one safely for 8 hours/overnight. And the risk of toxic shock is nearly nonexistent unless you try to wear one for more than like 16 hours, which you shouldn't do anyways. Women got TSS in the 70s when companies were marketing tampons to wear for several DAYS at a time. I also do not find them hard to dispose, just wrap it in TP anfd chuck it in the bin. I also am not sure that tampons increase uti s. I never had one until I was sexually active and used tampons for 12 years before that.

[singsingsing]

I'm tempted to try cloth pads, but I don't know how I'd wash them. I go through a lot of pads when I'm on my period. I can't imagine washing them in my kitchen sink, and I can't imagine carrying them down to the laundry room I share with everyone else in my building, either.

I've never really had issues with heat/sweat/odour while wearing pads, so I guess I'm lucky.