quote:

---

Is no one else creeped out by the use of the phrase "women's hygiene"? Am I the only one?

---

Let's discuss it here!

I for one use the term in only the most sarcastic and snarky tone of voice.

Isn't the advertising term "feminine hygiene" - sort of like you are blushing red while covertly rinsing it out, as our grandmothers did ... (perhaps great-grandmothers for some of the younger babblers).

Or "menstrual products". Although some things such as panty liners can be used at other timers and for other reasons.

Hmm, euphemisms for "feminine products".

Okay, how about "Linens for visits from Aunt Flo?"

We could call the keeper a "blood basket".

Visit from Aunt Flo is an old joke, I know.

I like the Onion ones, which included "Riding the cotton pony," "Walking on the beach in soft focus," and "It's one of those times when 'I'm not at my best' because 'my vagina is bleeding.'"

[ 28 February 2003: Message edited by: lagatta ]

[ 28 February 2003: Message edited by: lagatta ]

quote:

---

my vagina is bleeding

---

Love this topic.

DH is usually very comfortable with menses... infact, he likes the sound of the word so much, he tries to use it in every-day conversation... creative, that boy.

I grew up in a home of 4 daughters, my mom, my dad, and three bathrooms. My three sisters are triplets, AND were living together, just picture it, will you? LOL. My Dad never got desensitized to "feminine issues", despite the ratio. Mom would come home from Costco after shopping for my sisters with a WAREHOUSE box of tampons and a HUGE bag of pads... I'm serious, these things were bigger than diaper packs. Dad walked in as she was unloading, "SWEET JESUS!!!" and turn on his heel.

I was reading a midwifery text book last night, there were pictures of episiotimies and some perrineum tears, my husband looked over my shoulder and shrieked the very same thing, followed by, "you women are NUTS! Why don't you get dogs????"

I love Inga.

Funny thing about women cycling together, huh? When I went home for Christmas this past year, my mom and my sister and I were all on at the same time, even though we'd been apart for months!

I'd hate to look that particular book up on the web - hate to think of all the porn sites that would spring up faster than a penis-extension add (Add 3 inches in 2 weeks was the latest one ) Would not particularly enjoy reading it on public transport either.

Mom's cycles are already a little unpredictable, but nothing too strange yet. And still very few other symptoms of "the Change". She's gotten extremely fit and healthy in the few years since my parents split. She's now ultra vital and I think it's just grand!

Edited to add: I just reread the gem recently and kind of enjoyed some of the curious looks I got in transit. It's a very tasteful cover design, and so catches some people off-guard when they actually read the title. Heehee.

[ 04 March 2003: Message edited by: Lima Bean ]

My cycle is perfectly regular for now, just even heavier than before. Not uncommon.

I really couldn't be bothered changing to the keeper at this point. I have a cervical cap so the device itself is very similar, despite the different use.

I know that if I did have one I couldn't bring myself to use it when not at home, as I wouldn't know how to wash the thing before and after in a public basin.

I tried to use those cotton washable pads, but I find that they are not absorbent enough, except at the end of my period, and they tend to be irritating.

quote:

---

I know that if I did have one I couldn't bring myself to use it when not at home, as I wouldn't know how to wash the thing before and after in a public basin.

---

The nice thing about the keeper is that you really shouldn't have to empty or clean it while you're out in public. You can keep it in for up to 12 hours and it doesn't have all that dioxin shit and other crud in it that tampons have, so there's far less risk of toxic shock or other serious ailments associated with contamination.

[ 05 March 2003: Message edited by: oldgoat ]

(psst, it's menarchê)

I am always pedantically yours.

[ 05 March 2003: Message edited by: Mandos ]

quote:

---

menarchy. Is that related to anarchy?

---

You said 'feminine hygiene' again. I think 'period products' is the/a more acceptable term.

[ 05 March 2003: Message edited by: Lima Bean ]

quote:

---

There are however, those within the feminist movement that are more comfortable with the term "mynarchy"

---

re: "War is Menstrual Envy" I have only seen bits of it. I think it is banned in Canada.

quote:

---

Of course, I lived in perpetual fear of "PRICE CHECK IN AISLE SEVEN PLEASE FOR TROJAN CONDOMS!!!

---

I had this happen once, with the girlfriend right there. We were a bit embarrassed, but we also saw the humour in it. The stockboy who did the pricecheck zoomed back to the aisle on rollerskates too, which gave it all a surreal humour.

It's not like we used them all up in a week or anything. They last for a year or two, don't they? And we WERE living together.

[ 13 March 2003: Message edited by: Michelle ]

I liked it in particular because of the way she made seem possible to get a real movement going, that a shift in collective thinking was possible. Perhaps feminism, as a movement and a way of life was a little remote to me before reading Cunt. She made sense of a lot of issues that had been eluding me.

It's not a perfect book, but it's been a great thing to have around for days when I'm feeling especially powerless or frustrated. I like diatribes that offer some concrete alternatives and even minimal instruction for their implementation, as I think Cunt does. I found it to be pretty effective in changing my perspective on a lot of things.

THANX! Of course, being the numb-skull that he was, the sarcasm was totally lost on him and he proceeded to hand me the bathroom key with a look of utter horror on his face. I think if he'd had a ten-foot-pole handy he would have used it.

I accept thanks from all his future girlfriends (if any) for contributing to his real-life experience of the feminine mystique.

To both of our horrors, water continued to flow from the pipe, even though the shutoff was off. You can't solder pipe with water in it; you just get boiled water for your troubles! Then my wife had an idea - she disappeared to the bathroom and returned with her last 3 tampons! What a great idea!

The first one was a proof-of-concept. Down the pipe it went, and I checked how long it would take to saturate.

The second one gave me enough time to flux the pipe.

The third one went in, I got the fitting ready, then I yanked the string, fit the fitting, hit it with torch and solder, and lo and behold, it worked! Yay grrrl power!