Listen to MUM director Harry Finley carry on about men
and menstruation, the MUM museum in his basement, toxic shock, etc., on
the Keeper menstrual cup site. No, they didn't pay me.
ABOUT MUM (MUseum
of Menstruation):
"May God close your horable museum."
From a letter, with original spelling, to
the Museum of Menstruation, from "Shocked, by women," mailed from
Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A.
"Consider how Surg. Gen. Koop
changed the country! . . . Carry on!" Judge Giles S. Rich (retired),
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, D. C.
(from a letter to me)
Comments from TV,
online and other media about this museum.
Three listeners' comments (more) from my
half-hour interview with Howard Stern (here):
° "Get a life, creep."
° "[I] am quite familiar with the obstacles
to a frank and intelligent discussion of menstruation." (Nancy
Freedman, author of Everything You Must Know About
Tampons, 1981)
° "I was just listening to your interview
with Howard Stern. You handled yourself very well with him. He lambastes
just about anyone with a peculiar interest, but you had him very much in
check. I was amazed!"
"Stick to jock itch products,
buddy." In a commentary about the museum and its creator in
the defunct Sassy, an American magazine
for teenage girls.
"Terrifically diverse" - The Independent on
Sunday (London, England)
"It's fabulous that somebody
out there is willing to . . . pull back the curtain." Mona Miller,
national media relations director of the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, discussing the museum in The
Prince George's Journal, Maryland, U.S.A.
"One of the best on the Internet"
- Britannica.com
"This gem
of a website is a virtual repository for everything
you ever
wanted to know about women's periods." - New
Scientist magazine (United Kingdom)
"More interesting than you might
think. . . . lively." The V Book: A Doctor's
Guide to Complete Vulvovaginal Health, by Elizabeth G. Stewart, M.D.,
of Harvard medical school and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.
More media on MUM
|
Current articles & news below
The medication for my hand infection - I was hospitalized and had an
operation in the past week - is making it too difficult to update MUM. I'll
give it another try late Sunday.
Black & red cans containing contraceptive
& menstrual sponges
(American? First half of the 20th century?)
More Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"Another name a girl friend of mine and her hubby made up was
that it's Blow Job Season. ****"
I've been in the hospital for a few days for an awful hand infection
(a rusty wire poked through the top of my hand). I'll have the next update
Sunday, 4 May.
The Art of Menstruation: Megan Morris
***NOTICE***
I regret I can't let visitors use the actual museum archives; I dismantled
the museum itself
years ago. The vast majority of the museum's 5-6 thousand items are already
packed for shipment to Australia's largest museum (read
more), their destination if I can't find a suitable
display home in the U.S.A., which looks like the case. I must spend most
of my time now on a time-consuming career as a picture-painter in order to eat.
Articles continue below the ad(s)
Current articles & news below
A contraceptive/menstrual sponge in a cardboard
box
Humor
More Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"Hi Harry, First off, I LOVE the MUM site.
I'm just writing to elaborate on the expression the
monkey has a nosebleed as a reference to menstruation. A few years
ago I heard the saying the circus is closed, the monkey
has a nosebleed. Since that day when referring to having my 'monthly
visitor,' I say, 'the circus is closed, the monkey has a nosebleed.' I don't
think it's a very popular saying however it sure does get a good laugh from
whoever hears it. ****"
"Hi,
"I'm an Irish teenager and thought you'd like some more
expressions used in Ireland.
"Most common are euphemisms like 'I've got woman things/the
woman thing', 'I'm not able to swim', 'I've got my flows' or 'I've got my
flowers.' Some men refer to menstruation as 'Munster playing at home' (a
reference to the red colours employed by the Munster rugby team). In the
Irish language menstruation is most commonly referred to as 'ta cursai mna
agam' (I've got woman things- the word 'cursai' is ambiguous but generally
means events). Also heard are 'i got/have my friend', 'I've the visitor'
and 'I'm menstruating/ have my menstruations' is becoming quite popular
when referred to in a kind of playful way. It also has to be pointed out
that verbal flexibility is highly prized and phrases vary hugely from person
to person."
More letters to Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
Letters to your MUM:
Pancake-uterus video, research proposal, PMS & epilepsy, oral contraception
danger, and more.
From a writer in Israel: "The new IUD, Mirena, stops menstruation
while it is in. I'm 30, and still having children, but as soon as I've had
my family, I certainly plan to get Mirena."
Tampax sells its tampons to dealers with
a slick folder, 1964.
Music & curing women, men and hogs:
"The stomach of a hog needs cleaning out once
in a while . . . ." You do too!
Find out how in The 20th Century Song Book (1904)
from the Chattanooga Medicine Company
Red dragon
"I have one that I didn't see. My good friend who's a guy always refers
to it as the 'red dragon.' Red as in blood and dragon as in the girl's temperament
at that time."
Read more
Words and expressions about menstruation
Stress worsens endometriosis
Read
a study.
EEEK! What's a man doing here? Why, this eighty-year-old
is attesting to the effectiveness of Black Draught in
Home Treatment for Women, probably before 1920.
Your WASP grandparents enjoy a Coke 'n' Kotex
in a series of Kotex ads for teenagers from the
1940s-1950s.
Your mega-WASP great grandparents enjoy - Whoops! Your great grandmother drags your great-great-grandmother into the
20th century in a series of Kotex ads from the
1920s.
New contribution to Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Wrapping boxes of Kotex, pregnant in public,
and sending washable pads to African girls
Menstruation has its own radio program in France!
Aurore, the blogmistress of
http://lesangdesfemmes.over-blog.com
invites you to visit and listen to the (French)
Canal Sud 92.2 FM, www.canalsud.net in Toulouse / France
for "Le Sang des Femmes", "The Women's Blood" on this
independant radio
"Why Synthetic Estrogens Wreak Havoc On Reproductive
System
"ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) - Researchers at
Yale School of Medicine now have a clearer understanding of why synthetic
estrogens such as those found in many widely-used plastics have a detrimental
effect on a developing fetus, cause fertility problems, as well as vaginal
and breast cancers." More.
Kotex' tampon's Tell
It Like It Is (1981)
warned about the recent toxic shock crisis although not by name.
Russian artist Vladislav Shabalin creates sculpture for this museum - and see his other work
"Modern[e] woman's best friend" -
yours? Did the company that makes Kotex pads make the first commercial tampon?
The menstrual cycle and The Pill (oral contraceptives)
change the performance of a western classical female singer according
to an article in Musica Scientiae, Vol 11, No. 2, Fall 2007. "[T]he
singer reported better voice control during oral contraceptive pill use,"
etc. But . . .
"Certain Oral Contraceptives May
Pose Health Risks, Study Suggests
"ScienceDaily (Mar. 11, 2008) - The widely used
synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) decreased endothelial
function in premenopausal women in a study done at the University of Oregon.
The finding, researchers said, raises concerns about long-term effects of
MPA and possibly other synthetic hormones on vascular health in young women."
Read the story.
And . . .
"Structure Of Brain Receptor Implicated
In Epilepsy And Pre-Menstrual Tension Determined
"ScienceDaily (Mar. 11, 2008) - Scientists have
identified the structure of a receptor in the brain implicated in conditions
such as epilepsy and pre-menstrual tension. The same receptor has also been
reported to be highly sensitive to alcohol." Read the story.
How shall I tell my daughter? puberty booklet,
1981
Do menstrual cups reduce period pain? Comments
from the boss of Femmecup, a company in the U.K.
Beaver & tampon TV ad in Australia
for Kotex's U products: - no, really!
(for non-Anglos: "beaver" is slang for women's genitals):
And speaking of that wild country:
What's she selling?! Um, beaver? Libra
menstrual pads.
She'd kill for pantyliners?? Libra, 1996
Abortion, coming right up! Ergoapiol (1904)
For many Dutch women, an out-of-reach black dress. Nefa
menstrual pads, 1954.
1936 Sears catalog offered a zoo of menstrual
products.
New menstrual cup (What are cups?)
Hi, I love your site and I am a cup user. I just heard about a new brand
of cups that is one the market (I believe in Finland. [It looks to me to
be the Czech Republic.]) The website is http://www.ladycup.eu/.
They just came out in January.
Thanks for your website.
****
Tampax to you: "Don't take advantage of your
husband [!]"
Understand? OK, now read "it's time you knew .
. . ," 1966
Dutch booklet about menstruation,
with much American English, from Libresse, 2007
The art of menstruation: Spanish woman Isa Sanz
Not quite new, but . . .: Words and expressions about menstruation: On the blob, Blobbing
"My usual term for menstruation is 'on the blob', it might be
a Plymouth (Devon, UK) thing as a school friend used to refer to it as 'blobbing.'"
Interesting article about the invisibility of
menses on reality tv: http://bitchmagazine.org/article/period-pieces
The producers of PBS's "Frontier House" and folks at Plimoth
Plantation, a Massachusetts museum, both mentioned in this article, called
me years ago to ask what women used for menstruation in those times. I suggested
"nothing" - they didn't want to hear
that.
Judith Esser designed the o.b. tampon . . .
. . . and she used it - in a Belgian ad, anyway.
Watch out! She's on her (bi)cycle!
Stayfree folder for teenage girls, 1980
That's a warning! Early American disposable
Southall's ads
"Hi, I am from Assam, India. I grew up in a Muslim
family. But the surrounding was mostly Vaishnavite Hindus.
In my family we used the words 'she is not well,' which means she is having
her periods. And our Hindu friends used to say 'she can not' to mean the
same thing. In my family and in most of the Muslim families it was a hush
hush thing, nobody said it openly in front of others that someone is having
her periods. But the Hindu families were quite open about it. But the women
of their families were exempted from household chores during the days of
menstruation because a menstruating woman was thought to be 'unclean' .
But in Muslim families they could go on with their life as usual. Regards,
****"
Planned Parenthood wrote a clear, short booklet with nothing to sell you:
Having Your Period, 1985.
"Periodically . . . feeling down"?
I can't believe he said that.
The Associated Press reported that Barack Obama
said to reporters, "I understand that Senator
Clinton, periodically when she's feeling down, launches attacks as
a way of trying to boost her appeal." Read
the story.
Speaking of which, kinda:
"The group has also shown that the serotonin system in healthy women
differs from that in women with serious premenstrual
mental symptoms. These results suggest that the serotonin system
in such women does not respond as flexibly to the hormone swings of the
menstrual cycle as that in symptom-free women." Read the story.
"Essence of Womanhood": Modess napkin
& tampon tell-all menstruation booklet, 1959
Hillary Rodham Clinton's classmate might have
been wrong!
About whether women who live together have menstrual periods at the same
time, that is. The latest from the New York Times.
Watch rare positive TV treatment of menstruation
On 12 Feb. (9 pm PST, 8 CT, 7 EST) in the U.S.A. the family sitcom
"According to Jim" (ABC) will feature Helynna Brooke's First
Moon Passage to Womanhood Kit (www.celebrategirls.com),
according to one source.
"Hello! I love your website; I've referred
a lot of friends to it. I was just browsing and found this site: http://www.artgoddess.com/purses.htm
. While not directly menstruation related, it still gave me a good laugh
to imagine walking around with such a purse! Thanks!"
"Can a woman's period save her life years
later?" Article
from the New York Times
The tiny pad is back, now a bit different as UniqueMiniform,
and it's looking for dealers (company site)
How years ago Italian women made
and marked their washable menstrual pads: New
info from a Canadian museum staff member
MoonCup menstrual
cup widely available in the U.K.
A student at Oxford U. writes, in part,
"Starting in April, I will be conducting some small-scale research
here in Oxford, where I will interview women at my college about products
they use. I don't know if you're aware, but MoonCups seem to be more widely
available in the U.K. than menstrual cups generally are in the U.S. I've
seen them in your average pharmacy here, whereas you'd never see something
like a Keeper in CVS [an American drugstore]. (Instead is another story
entirely.) Women at my college can even get MoonCups
for free starting this year, paid for by the student union. The emergence
and availability of this product excites my sociological mind, so I will
be interviewing/surveying women to see how they interact with and feel about
the cup. I'm also interesting in the definition of 'alternative' when applied
to menstrual products."
By the way, I have much catching up to do in adding information generous
people have sent to MUM, including the menstrual cup
section, which badly needs undating. Some of you are aware of the murder
of my cats and neighborhood drugdealing, which have caused me to look for
a new place to live. This takes time and a huge amount of energy, which
I hope I have.
See the fabulous "The Art of Lee Miller"
exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (26 January - 27 April) and read
the eye-popping story about her in The New Yorker (21 Jan. issue).
She was a model and photographer who lead a very, um, interesting and productive
life. Picasso painted her and Man Ray photographed her and . . . your Museum
of Menstruation and Women's Health shows her menstruation
ads for Kotex!
These are girls?! Two Kotex ads, 1923,
for a girls' magazine
The Dutch tampon Amira absorbs the famous blue
liquid!
Is the Miniform back?
A tiny pad designed to fit between the lips of
a woman's vulva went off the market several years ago but I'm told it's
for sale again. Several women e-mailed the museum to say they missed it!
Check back for any information I receive.
Hello! A couple of British contributions for your impressive
euphemisms collection:
1. 'On the blob' - at school it was accepted for being on
your period to be described so,
2. and the presence of a tampon(tail, mouse) as noticed
by my boyf[riend], means he refers to me, and my period, as 'mousehouse'.
You have a wonderful website!
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP in SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH at The Kinsey Institute. More
More help for British women! Menstrual pad in a tube (1930s?)
"Can a tampon get lost in the body?" asks a German girl.
"Heck, no!" replies Tampax in an ad, 1989!
Feminine-hygiene-spray language in a reveal-all
book about the travel industry
"'Every description sounded as if it had been lifted from a feminine-hygiene-spray
commercial,' he writes of one of Mr. Steves's Eastern European video tours.
'Seas glistened. Cities sparkled. Hungary was a "goulash" of influences.
And, of course, the Croatian city of Split was the usual fascinating blend
of ancient and modern.'" Read the book
review in the new York Times. And see model Cheryl
Tiegs in a spray ad, and a funny ad for Pristeen.
"Bad
PMS May Mean A Depressed Nervous System"
"However, women suffering from PMS saw results reflecting autonomic
and parasympathetic nerve activity decrease significantly in the late luteal
phase, which precedes menstruation. Those with the most marked symptoms
(known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder) had lower rates of nerve activity
than the other groups during the entire menstrual cycle."
New words and expressions
about menstruation from China:
"Firstly thank you for this wonderful website which I just discovered
today. I'd like to add a couple of phrases to the Chinese section, although
I'm not sure if they are only specific to Taiwan.
"The term that seems to be used professionally is 'MC'
which I assume stands for 'monthly cycle'.
"Many young women call it 'my good friend'
(the contributor gave apparently the actual Chinese for each expression
but they did not appear coreectly in my e-mail) or sometimes simply 'that'.
"We also often say 'I feel a bit uncomfortable.'
When I was at primary school in England a group of my (pre-menstrual) friends
decided to christen it 'Fred' as a convenient
way of checking whether anyone had got their first period 'Have you seen
Fred yet?'
"Are there culturally specific words/phrases for one's first period?
My friend wrote me a letter stating that 'something
had happened to her', and her mother told her 'she
wasn't a little girl anymore'. My mother asked
me if I knew about periods, then sent me to see my sister! Once again,
thank you for the website."
A kind e-mailer translates some
Hebrew on a box of tampons and unwittingly contributes to the intellectual
rigor of the Museum of Menstruation Winter Ball!
Menstrual napkin belts from Boots and Dr. White, U.K.
"I've used Instead [menstrual cup] both
before and after having my children. I found it easier to properly insert
afterward. It does take some practice. I only had a leak once that I can
recall and it wastual to improper insertion. Yes, disposal is different.
Usually they are easy to 'empty' into the toilet and then wrap as you would
any other throw away product. I once found myself in a situation where it
would have been obvious, so I dumped, flushed, rinsed it out, and 'pocketed'
it for discreet disposal elsewhere. I highly recommend them for times where
you want to be confident and clean. Again, once you area able to insert
it properly, you don't feel it. Very similar to a contraceptive diaphragm."
A Menstrual Mystery!
A Tampax knock-off for Israel from Switzerland?
New Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"My family has always called it Easter
Time, both to disguise it from strangers and from the family's children.
I don't know why, if it's some sort of sarcasm. But calling it Easter
naturally leads on to sanitary pads being called Easter
Eggs, which is a convenient thing to write on your shopping list."
New expression: "I have no idea if you're still updating your
collections of euphemisms [of course]--and frankly,
this is the opposite of a euphemism anyway--but I always tell my female
friends that I'm 'bleeding the lining of my uterus
through my sexual organs.' It's a delightfully graphic description
of how I feel at the moment. I'm a 17-year-old San Diegan (very Southern
California)" She later elaborated: "It definitely
captures all the discomforts of menstruation -- cramping,
irritability, the general feel that your body is 'out to get you'
-- and the complete lack of interest in anything involving sex, or pleasing
men. Plus, it sounds like a great justification for copious consumption
of chocolate and general grumpiness; after all, it's graphic enough to
sound like an injury. 'Bleeding the lining of your uterus through your
sexual organs' sounds a lot more serious than being 'on your period'; it
just /sounds/ more painful." More Words and expressions about menstruation.
The Kotex Rosie the Riveter?
World War II ads in America and the Netherlands
Scientists find stem
cells in menstrual blood!
Women View Men's
Faces Differently Depending On The Stage Of Their Menstrual Cycle
The first contured menstrual pad and with disposal
wrapper?
In World of a girl, puberty booklet for Confidets
pads (1965), U.S.A.
Menstruation in time of war
No, not this war, World War II
"That day is here again . . . .,"
1944 booklet from Kotex, U.S.A.
New humor
"Women have the sexiest walk during the part
of the monthly cycle when they are least fertile. The finding implies
that women use a variety of signals to advertise their fertility to men,
using some signals to advertise when they are ovulating and others to conceal
the fact." Read the story.
If you haven't seen the Disney film about menstruation, read on:
Hey,
Love the website, but it makes me cringe reading all the
references to gender roles! :)
Enjoy,
Humor with John Lennon,
The Have a Happy Period campaign and "You [the guy who started
and runs this museum] are a brave man and some kind of hero. I
hope you get a well-deserved statue, molded of firm and absorbent cotton"
[I'd prefer a bricks-and-mortar museum named after the biggest funder if she's willing. If Hillary
wins . . . .]
Plus: Ali McGraw (Playtex,
1967) & Cheryl Tiegs
(Tampax, 1969) in ads,
and
The Hygienic Sponge (no date),
"How Times Have Changed: A Manual of Menstruation,
Its Purpose, Function and Care," Tampax Inc., 1950s
Study (1946) determined that Tampax was safe to
absorb non-menstrual discharge
British TV tampon humor and Would
you stop menstruating
if you could?
María García's Spanish translation of Dr. Soucasaux's
article on the G-Spot ("The Gräfenberg Spot"): El
Punto Gräfenberg (Punto G) (English version here)
Register for "In the Flow: Embracing the
Cycles of Womanhood" Sept. 29 In San Francisco. More
here.
"Cost Hike for Birth Control Worries Colleges," article
A frequent contributor to MUM writes, "There IS a toilet
paper museum: http://nobodys-perfect.com/vtpm/"
The beautiful - and "reliance-able" - Australian(?) contraceptive
sponge
The first non-whites in a menstruation booklet?
Modess's "How shall I tell my Daughter?"
(1969)
Kotex tries to win over retailers, 1960s:
Your "Keys" to More Profits
o.b. tampons writes a booklet
for women, 1988
Kotex's "Tell
It Like It Is" for its stick tampons, 1974
Did Kotex battle Modess with fancy clothes?
Betty Kay: Did PMS give her the nuttiest
eyes on menstrual hygiene products?
Four reasons women chose tampons
More pages from early mail-order catalogs AND
two of those "NO BELTS, NO PINS. . ."
Tampax ads
Contribution to Words and expressions about menstruation:
In 2001, a former roommate and I coined the term "Bitchy
Witchy Week" for any menstruation-related snappiness and
mess. "What's the matter with you?" "It's Bitchy Witchy Week."
"Let me just avoid you, then ...." We're both pagan, but aren't
entirely eager to embrace the hormonal wackiness/mess/pain as a gift rather
than a right bloody inconvenience. We were living in Phoenix, Arizona at
the time; I've since seen a few people pick it up via Internet.
"Doctors: No more designer vaginas!
"Today, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists delivered
a clear message to women: Don't nip, tuck or tighten your vagina. Just leave
it alone!"
Read the story.
"Is It Safe To Use Oral Contraceptives To Eliminate Periods?
Science Daily - The new birth control pill Lybrel
is the first oral contraceptive designed to be taken 365 days a year with
no pill-free intervals. Women who use Lybrel don't have regular periods,
although they may have breakthrough bleeding. There are risks and benefits
to suppressing menstruation, reports the September 2007 issue of Harvard
Women's Health Watch." Read
more.
Menstrual belts, belts and more belts (and other stuff) in Butler
Bros. catalogs, 1916-1938
English Tampax ad gives 12 #1 reasons to use them
"Women may be hardwired to prefer
pink"
Article
also discusses blue, famous in menstruation marketing.
"Is Four
Agents Decoction (Si Wu Tang) An Effective Treatment For Menstrual Pain?"
(More on menstrual pain.)
An Australian living in America contributes to Words and expressions about menstruation:
"A few more euphemisms for the list: in my family the period was generally
referred to as 'Betty'. If it was a bad one,
'Betty's a bitch'. We called tampons 'plugs' - since I'm the oldest of 5 girls plugs and
pads were a regular on our grocery list! One thing I miss from Australia
was the brand of unbleached, unscented cotton pads and tampons. They were
the only ones I didn't react to - I'm sensitive or allergic to a lot of
things and have problems with yeast, especially in summer."
Read how an American woman corrects fluffing
it.
First on TV, first with deodorant and plastic: Playtex
makes 2 announcements to dealers, 1970s
Ah, life before periods! With a wand Kotex took you back to childhood, sort
of, in a series of ads.
A high school social studies teacher shares her lesson called
From Bullets to Blood: Military Technology
and its Impact on Civilian Life. It includes menstruation and pictures
from this museum, to the horror and delight of her audience!
Modess puberty booklet (1969)
with a letter from a mother to her daughter's doctor
An Indian and an American send their stories to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
A woman writing an essay about brothels & museums and an Indian
telling the latest about Indians wearing pads and belts: both here.
Hello,
I work on a sanitary napkin brand at an ad agency and was
wondering if you could help us.
We're looking for how periods and
sanitary protection products have been represented in popular culture recently,
including TV shows, films, comedy routines etc. For example, there
was a "Sex and the City" episode where Carrie give a tampon to
a maitre'd at a restaurant, and she always got a great table at the restaurant
after that. We're looking for other examples that have some interesting
moments, whether it be a conversation in a film, comedy routine, TV and
so on.
If you could also direct us to any other resources, that
would be helpful as well. Thank you in advance for your time! [Send your contributions.]
Embarrassed woman exposes herself for Kotex, 1992
Speaking of Kotex: the company that invented it also invented Kleenex and
offered both in this Liberty magazine ad, 1932
What a pain!
Midol tins, 1911-1970s
 
When douching was ki-, er, queen:
Facts for Women (1931) and Feminine
Hygiene The Marvel Way (1920s-30s?)
Very early Kotex booklet shows how to flush a
pad down the toilet, etc.
The Baltimore City Paper updates
its cover story on this museum; see what the story writes
about.
(Read more media attention.)
"Um, you're going to do what with that?
A pamphlet introducing the Modess tampon, Meds
(1930s?)
"My husband calls tampons
'mousy tails.' I was the
first woman he knew who used tampons, as opposed to pads. He said he could
see my 'mousy tail.' Now, if he is looking for sex and I have my period
I say I'm 'mousy tail.'"
"One of my close friends is female-to-male transgendered
and hasn't gotten his operation to make him fully male yet. So when its
that time of the month, he calls it 'estrogen
poisoning.' We're 18 and from Chicago, Illinois"
"My girlfriends and I used the term 'Emily
'or 'Em' ('M'),
such as 'Emily is visiting this week' back in the early 70s. Love your website.
Thanks!"
A new contribution to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"I was in grade school, probably grade one
or two, and three of us were playing in a corner of the school yard. . .
." (continued in humor).
"Hello, My name is queen Nzinga. I've been doing menstrual
art for the past 4-5 years and I recently created a website to
display then on the web, www.artfrommywomb.com
I have also included a link to mum.org I wondering if you can add my site
to your search engine" See more art of menstruation.
Oh, no, what's a white teen to do? Kotex knows!
90 puzzles with answers in the booklet "Are
you in the know?" (1956)
A Tampax inter-office memo reported on what
a competitor spent on advertising
"Study Finds Hereditary
Link To Premenstrual Depression
"Science Daily - A specific genetic variation may be tied
to an increased risk for severe premenstrual depression, scientists at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of
Mental Health have found." Read the whole
article.
A nurse promotes a product identified by a prostitute
having her period!
Puberty booklet Growing up and liking it (1957)
from Modess
When did YOU find out about menstrual belts?
New Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"About 20 years ago, after hearing the joke about what
elephants use for tampons (sheep) [it's somewhere deep on this
page], my husband and I began calling tampons sheep.
This led to using the word "sheepish"
for having my period. When my husband made me a cute little wooden box [see
a Swedish tampon box] to store my tampons in,
he glued a small ceramic sheep to the top for a handle, and we call this
the sheep box. These days it holds Q-tips (cotton swabs) which fit perfectly.
We still call it the sheep box which one may think very strange unless you
know the history and the joke! If you are asking for demographics, I'm 48
from the northeastern U.S."
She doubts the
official Kotex account of where Kotex got its
name.
Puberty booklet for girls from Pursettes
lubricated tampons (about 1959)
Kotex praised Allah
in a booklet for girls (1948)!
Oh, and girls, don't jitterbug while menstruating!
New humor
New Words and
expressions about
menstruation:
"I'm born and raised in North Carolina; my mother was
born and raised in Missouri.
"I was born in 1942. My mother was born in 1917. My mother
always called it 'the pip.' I have never known
what that word or those letters stood for except it was her way of saying
she was having her menstrual period.
"Also, I had friends who referred to it as 'my
red headed aunt fell off the roof,' or 'I'm
being visited by my red headed aunt.' Mostly it was 'I have the pip.'"
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Discover the rich history of menstruation and women's health on this
Web site - MUM for short - devoted to menstruation and selected topics of women's
health!
 
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