(this may be a post my few male readers want to skip - that means you BusyDad....and my own father & brother who drop in here from time to time)
Who here remembers our lively discussion that basically boiled down to "You stick WHAT up your snatch? Are you kidding me?".
Well, it seems that post drew a little bit of attention and I was left trying to figure out why my stats have doubled the last few days. It's because of this post on another blog. See that highlighted "this one" in the 5th paragraph (well, sixth if you count a single sentence as a paragraph)? That's a link to little ol' me...the eco-terrorist, who is....oh - what was that quote in the comments of my original post...."as squeamish as a bunch of 3rd grade boys upon finding out where babies come from"
And who are these people? They are LUNAPADS. What is a Lunapad? It's a reuseable sanitary napkin...the Peas to the Carrot that is DivaCup.
And I'm still unimpressed.
(although I AM impressed that these two women managed to create what seems to be a growing and hopefully profitable eco-friendly company. As for the product itself? Not so much)
As if the idea of sticking a plastic shot glass up my coochie wasn't bad enough, now there are reuseable sanitary napkins. Just when I thought it couldn't get more gross (ok - that's good for at LEAST a "2nd grade boy crack", isn't it?)
So let's get the environmental issue out of the way. Seeing as I am no environmental scholar, I'm going to concede that issue to them (although I question what the difference is between washing the blood down the drain from a Lunapad/DivaCup and the blood from pads and tampons finding it's way in to the same rivers/streams/oceans that our treated waste is dumped in to...but I could be wrong on that.)
Women are certainly free to deal with Aunt Flo any way that they please. I guess my whole issue with these products is the cult-like devotion that people have to them and the just plain wierd comments/testimonials that I have read about them.
Example, from the Lunapads website:
Menstruation is a literal symbol of our power as women to be able to create life, and as such should not be treated as garbage. By not throwing away all those pads and tampons, you are honoring this fact. Being more present with your menses by washing your pads can bring about a wonderful sense of self-acceptance that can extend to other aspects of your physicality. Using Lunapads enables you to be self-sufficient and to incorporate a ritual of self-care into your monthly cycle.
Where do I start? Well first, urination and defecation is a literal symbol of our power as humans to cleanse itself as well - yet another miracle. But I DO treat it as garbage.. And if my self-esteem is wrapped up in my ability to look at and wash the blood out of my underwear every 28 days, then I have bigger problems than "cloth or plastic?"!
Besides, after the birth of #3, my tubes were partially removed and I assume are sitting in a little red bag in a medical landfill. I am no longer able to create life (thank goodness, since I kind of like having enough money to afford food). What does MY period now represent?
And how is the using of LunaPads more of "a ritual of self-care" than me taking responsibility by purchasing pads/tampons, using them when necessary, and flushing them down the toilet/wrapping them in paper? Both involve the same ritual if you swap "shopping" for "rinsing" (and if you ask any sane woman, they will tell you that shopping is way more fun than rinsing blood out of underwear). What makes the Lunapads user "more aware"?
Hint to the Lunapads people: if you want to convert more people, stick to the environmental impact and stop trying to sound like Helen Reddy
Another example:
Being able to ignore the feminine hygiene aisle gave me back time and peace of mind I never realized I was missing
Exactly how much time was she spending in that aisle and why? Here's a time-management hint: send your husband to buy the tampons. My husband can get in & out of that section in under 2.13 seconds!
And yet another:
“As I rinse my Lunapads, I think, I am releasing all the old energy from the past month and making way for the new. I like being more aware and in touch with my cycle and with what is actually happening in my body.”
Does that energy include Thetans? Seriously - this is something I would expect Tom Cruise to say (if he were a woman, since I can't think of any female Scientologists right now and I am too lazy to Google it and everyone knows that Tom Cruise is nuts).
Hey - whenever I poop I think of it as getting rid of the old food and making way for the new. Should I start wearing Depends and pigging out as much as possible?
Hint #2 to the Lunapad people: testimonials are great to have on a website. Try to not use the ones from people who sound like they are waiting for the next arrival of the Hale-Bopp
Last one, I promise:
I cannot tell you how much of a relief it is to not be ashamed of leaving disposables at friends houses, buying products at a store, or feeling ashamed of the noises changing a disposable makes.
Now who sounds like a 3rd grader? You are a woman of child-bearing age. Of course you get your period. Get over it already and grow the fuck up!
Does it sound like I am trying to single-handedly take down their business? Nothing could be farther from the truth. Like I said - I applaud these ladies for their ingenuity and wish them the best of luck in what is obviously a successful and growing business.
Just please stop trying to convince me that my vagina is going to save the world or that using their products makes me somehow "more of a woman". It's insulting.
Mr Lady
*snort*
I am highly suspicious of anyone who too firmly believes in any cause, movement, or mindset.
PS: I had no idea people took pads so seriously. And I am about as squeamish as a porn star, but there ain't no way nevah I'm using a reusable ANYTHING for my period.
Period.
summeralyssa
Hilarious, and so, so true! I've been slowly becoming more conscious of my ecological footprint, and I spend a significant amount of time volunteering for my local Earth Institute, but I could never bring myself to use a diva cup. Yuck. I would consider using a cloth pad, but for very practical reasons of less waste/less expense. More respect for my womanhood? Puleese:) I so totally agree with you! I'd rather not menstruate at all if I could avoid it... gross and inconvenient, lol!
I love your blog. Keep up the great work:)
Daisy
How can you be ashamed of the noises of your personal power as women?!?! I am just appalled!
Who are these whack-jobs??! Go with the cardboard applicator and let's call it a decent, sustainable compromise, shall we?? UGH!!!!
HP
Full disclosure: I have tried a Diva cup. I don't think I could have run from it faster.
I am applauding your words, Mindi.
Mr Lady
You know, I bet I COULD do a cup. I don't know what they are, but I've done diaphrams and I have used (and totally liked) the disposable cups. So, yeah, MAYBE the cup.
No way in hell with the pad. Uck.
Mr Lady
OH, NO. I take it all back. I just followed the link (how did I miss THAT doosie of a post?) and dude? Hell to the no's. The other cups (Instead?) were just like a diaphram, which rocked for me because I bleed and cramp so damn much I get about 5 minutes of usage from tampons. The cups (old ones, not those things you could change the oil in your car with) hooked onto the pubic bone. No squeezing them out.
Inner monolouge: Why am I telling you all of this?
Maybe because I am horrified. Also horrified by the initial comment on your first post. I am glad the showed some restraint in the link up there.
I am shutting up now.
BusyDad
Note to self: Mindi added that warning for a reason. And no, you do not have to read about shotglasses full of period to gain acceptance into the mommy-blogging mafia, and no you won't get extra credit for reading this, and yes, a shot of whiskey right now would help tremendously.
Mindi
Mr. Lady: yep - it seems that our "products" can save the world! I would have thought that reliance on fossil fuels was a bigger issue, but I guess I was wrong!
summeralyssa: thanks! I'm really trying to reduce my "footprint" as well and I don't even have a problem with the cloth pads (at certain times....like the very end when just a pantyliner would do). What I do have a problem with is the almost cult-like thinking that seems to be associated with them!
Daisy: hadn't thought of ot that way! Those sounds are just a symbol of our power! eh - whatever!
Mr. Lady (again): So I guess you are saying that when we have our "Wawa Date", you don't want me to get you a DivaCup with your coffee?
BusyDad: hopefully it made you lose your appetite, which will help with you W8loss efforts!
fightingwindmills
Mindi, you were wise and clever to reference Helen Reddy. I agree with you about using cloth pads on light days, but avoiding the cultish self-importance that the testimonials are evidence of. I am unpredictable in my attitude toward my period. Sometimes I really get that goddess energy feeling and sometimes I am disgusted by it. I wouldn't want to add rinsing out my pads to my list of chores on a bad day.
Mindi
fighting: wise? no. OLD? yes!
I can't say that I have ever had "goddess feelings" about my period. Mainly it was always a pain in the ass and a painful reminder/"thanks goodness" moment that I wasn't pregnant (depending on my mood).
I HAVE had "goddess moments" when my hair was looking great!
JanB
Man, I just loved this! I tried the luna cup too. I couldn't walk without feeling like it was going to fall out in a bloody puddle at my feet. How horrible, it was like having a tractor tire in my - well, you know.
Personally, I just love being done and over with my period and since it feels like it has to honor me way more often than I would like, I am up for any means to shorten our encounter. Ultra absorbent tampons with those dessicate packets stuffed into them would make it end soon enough for me.
I have better things to do with my time than to wash pads. Whomever invented disposables for this purpose has my vote for best invention ever.
Mindi
JanB: If I was considering being a hypocrite and just TRYING the DivaCup, your description of it's high level of comfort just changed my mind! I agree: I've never looked at my period as a wonderful and blessed time. I just try to get through those 4 days without ruining a pair of underwear and look forward to being able to have sex again (although if I was a tru goddess, I guess I would insist that my husband have sex through the blood....yeah - like that's happening any time soon!)
Lara
OMG! Ick ick ick! My mom was born during the Great Depression. Back in those days they used rags, and washed them. Hence the term, "being on the rag". Sorry, but I don't have any desire to go back to the 20's.
I used cloth diapers on my kids back when they were that age. Wonderful things... no real hassle at all, and I loved not having to run out for diapers. I used them even when we traveled, and felt great demonstrating how easy it really was. I'll call that my contribution to the environment. Someone else can save their blood in little cups.
Though I heard something lately about stem cell research and menstrual blood... I guess we could all contribute to scientific progress by using the cup.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21996417/
And there might be the ONE positive about this. But not from me. I used cloth diapers. It's someone else's turn.
Pammy Girl
I'm actually crying... so funny. These people who produce and testify of reusable pads (I will say 'YUK' and move on) and the Diva Cup (shudder) are anything BUT open-minded. I'll save the environment in my own way, like carpooling, recycling and cutting down on my carbon footprint. My period is NOT up for compromise.
I was in France 3 years ago and I received a surprise visitor. Off I trekked to the grocery store to pick up some tampons but all I find once I arrived were generic French pads that didn't absorb and were about 14 inches thick. I'm 35 years old and there's no way in hell I'm about to wear a diaper that doesn't absorb. It's bad enough my friends' dogs stick their nose in my crotch; I don't need to rest of the world to know I'm on the rag.
And by the way, no matter what these period Nazis say... I am yet to see a commercial on television or in a magazine that promotes said items. So if the overall plan is to keep these products for themselves (because unless I'm in France again and have no other options, the answer is HELL TO THE NO), then I say, "Mission accomplished!"
Mindi
Lara: even my grandmother, who steals Splenda packets from McDonald's in an effort to save money, wouldn't consider this! And I wanted to do cloth diapers, but my husband wouldn't hear of it. Of course, by the time #2 came along, #1 was still in diapers and I am sure that I would have switched to disposable then. I prefer to save the planet with my reusable grocery bags.
Pammy: "not up for compromise"...I like that! And you are right. I have yet to see a single TV or print ad in the "mainstream media".
fightingwindmills
But the Diva cup does come with a little pin that you can wear on your lapel. It proclaims you are a Diva. It's kinda like the Mary Kay pin you hope someone will notice you are wearing so you can tell them about what a great product it is (not). 😉
shari
Oh bless you. Someone else who sends their husband to do their monthly bidding.
Mindi
Fighting: well, 'cause that worked SO well in Mary Kay, didn't it?
Shari: oh - he won't do it any more. The last time I got him to do it was after The Queen was born and I wasn't allowed to drive for 2 weeks because of my c-section (and if you have kids, you might remember the 4-week-long period you get after delivery)
Cat
Ok, so I came across this site looking for what other people thought about lunapads, and I must say, I giggled a bit when I read your article, you have a humourous way of writing, I love it. I can appreciate different points of view, and I agree with you in some ways, and some ways not....
A year ago I heard about the cups, and I thought, ah heck, I'll give it a try. I guess I'm kind of a curious experience junkie, even for things relating to my period apparently! WELL, the cup I truly did like. Sure, there is the added time of rinsing it off, but it sure saved me the time of cleaning myself off instead, or having to wash underwear, clothes, ETC all the time. Yup, I've been 'blessed' with heavy periods, and killer cramps to boot! And that's where I agree with you about these wacko hippy comments. There is nothing about a period that is to be enjoyed. EVER EVER EVER. Whoever says there is, well, they must be in denial or have really light and non painful periods (grrrr!). And even still....
Anyway, my point is, other than that wacko talk, there is some good to these things. Back to the cup....I don't have to change it as much (holds more), it keeps me cleaner (except for my hands at sometimes, but hands are easier to wash than anything else!), and for some reason has lessoned my killer cramps into pains that are somewhat tolerable, which says a lot. There have been other reports of this, so I really don't know. That and there is less of a smell than with pads or tampons, and of course there is the whole argument with the chemicals and bleach they put into disposables. So really, there is a benefit for those who are willing to try, and for those who don't like it, so be it I suppose. Oh, and I forgot to mention, tampons gave me crazy cramps, worse than the normal ones. So there you go....
On the other hand, I was always grossed out by reusable pads. I always thought, ew, they'd stain, and what a (nasty) hassle to wash, etc. But in light of the terrible rashes I get from pads (not to mention the smell, or the fact that if you sweat they started to stick/rip, etc) I decided to order some. We'll see how that goes, as I haven't tried them yet. I just ordered a couple to double up in case of a cup leakage, which I haven't experienced yet other than at the beginning....
But anyway, I do agree with those ridiculous feedback comments. I just want to put the word across that it's not only hippys that use/try these things. I'm pretty normal....well....maybe not too normal;-)
Lets just say I don't feed my plants my 'moon blood' with their water. YET:-P