 
Readers' comments about the Lunette, The Keeper
& Diva menstrual cups.
Several wars ago: 3 Kotex ads sell pads to
kids during World War II
Two American menarche ads
Two ads for "sanitary panties" from
the U.K. and U.S.A.
Three American ads for menstrual pad belts
New phrase in Words
and expressions about menstruation:
"Tammy Time - referring to tampons, obviously." From U.S.A., Atlanta,
Georgia"
3 new contributions to
Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
English writer: Her French cousin
used a for a menstrual pad a hotel towel.
Ad for a native Dutch brand menstrual pad, 1967
Early newspaper ads for menstrual pads, including
Kotex, and an early article about a new
Kotex plant.
I'm back!
I got over my flu a week ago and was updating this MUM site when
"CRUUUUUNCH! SCRAAAAAAPE!"
rattled me and the cats, who ran as if the biggest dog in the world were
chasing them. The top of a tall truck had ripped the telephone line from
my house. I called the cops, who called the fire department, who c-u-t
the line, saying it was a traffic hazard. It took one week - one week
- for the phone company to mosey on over and put up a new connection, just
a couple hours ago.
I'll start answering the heap of e-mail in my inbox and will update this
site on Thursday, 7 June.
A PERIOD PIECE
"Refreshing Film for Preteens"
Read more about its release in June
New Words and
expressions about
menstruation
Paulette
"I was just on your site and it is very interesting to see how
many women from various cultures describe their periods as 'Auntie.' My
best friend and I have always used this term, but in college, one of my
floor-mates in the dorms called it 'Paulette' as in 'Paulette showed
up today' or 'Paulette's here.' This caught on and in our circle expanded
to 'Paulette's here throwing her luggage/ banging stuff around, etc.' to
mean 'My period's here - with cramps.' Just thought I'd share. Great web
museum. My friends and I are Black/African-American and that was about ten
years ago in college."
Also: comments about the origin of "Guests
come to visit" in Russian
New Humor!
New contribution to Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
New, upbeat Letter
to your MUM
A stock certificate for the Tassette, Inc. menstrual
cup right before it failed. Stock fraud!
Boyfriends promote Kotex in a series of Dutch
ads
New contributions to Would you stop menstruating if you could?
And read US
approves birth control pill that blocks menstruation in New scientist
online.
More contributions to Words
and expressions about
menstruation:
"The great Canadian-American physician Sir William Osler (1849-1919)
once referred to the menstrual flow as "... the
tears of a disappointed uterus." I guess the sole purpose
of a uterus is to produce a full term baby, and menstruation shows a failure
to make her goal. (http://education.vetmed.vt.edu/Curriculum/VM8054/Labs/Lab28/NOTES/OSLER.HTM)"
From Hong Kong, China:
"In Hong Kong (in Cantonese), women have called menstruation "mother's
eldest sister" or "auntie" colloquially. Pads are called
"mother's eldest sister napkins." Regards, ****
From Australia:
"Hi. What a great site! Keep up the good work! What my friends and
I in Australia have called menstruation: 'The red coats are coming' or 'The
English are coming' which I suppose reflects old colonial anti-English/anti-establishment
sentiments. 'The communists have invaded' is in a pretty similar vein I
suppose. 'I feel like a bowl of soup' - referring to the bloated fluid retention
feeling often associated with it (kinda goopy!), AND because you often feel
like your comfort foods (for me it's often warm soup) 'Aunt Rose' - pretty
obvious 'having an earache' - why else can't you swim!?!? 'Out-of-date baby
batter'- for the actual blood and tissue. Yup. Hope these bring a smile
to someone's face. Giggle. Kind regards.
A brave man outs himself in 1978 - and in a Dutch
ad, of course!
New humor.
"I am with everyone else who loves your site. We all sat around
and laughed uproariously! I'll throw in my wife's euphemism for menstruation.
She says, "I sat on a tomato."
During her heaviest time that's how she described the feeling of it to me,
a guy, who can't understand how uncomfortable this time of the month can
be for a woman. Of course it's also color appropriate." Read
more Words and expressions
about menstruation
Read more about - and order! - the book 100 Places Every Woman Should Go, in which this museum is featured.
Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
"I'm sure that if men had to deal with something
so undesirable for just 3 months, then there would definitely be a miracle
pill to stop this madness immediately!" MORE.
"If you are unhappy with the products you use
then you should look into the many other options out there." MORE.
Poll: "Would you try a cup similar to the Instead menstrual cup if there was a way to prevent the messy
removal?" (See the PowerPoint presentation)
No tax on
tampons!
Kotex Security Tampons: Not for sensitive
labia
Please inform visitors to your wonderful museum
the following. Thanks so much:
Can you imagine a country where sex organs are removed from 622,000
mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends each year? That country is not
in Africa or Asia or South America. It's the United States of America.
Join hundreds of thousands of women and men by signing a petition to
make sure that every woman who is told she needs surgery to remove her
female organs is provided with the HERS Foundation's video "Female
Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs."
Tampons and sanitary napkins have cooties!
Researchers at Duke University prove
it!
Menarche booklet "Accent on you" by
Tampax. Yes, you can swim with Tampax but I hope you could already before
you do. (Just a [little] joke.)
Words and expressions
about menstruation - from Russia:
Menstryak "My
sister calls it Menstryak (it is Russian). It is funny because it's got
a Yak in the end, and Menstr explains everything. Words ending with -yak
are sort of used to be criminal jargon before
but now have gained a common acceptance. So yak is being added in the
end, and it doesn't carry any special meaning, sort of like ie in thingies.
And yes, we are both Russian." Read more.
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"As much as I dislike going through mine, I would rather keep it, than
suffer some unknown health issues women wanting to cease their
cycles may face." MORE.
"And it's kind of disgusting, but I kind of like wearing pads during
the school day or whatever. It's kind of squishy and it's actually a little
bit comfy, like a little cushion." MORE.
Belgian student discovers what her grandmothers used and needs more
information on menstrual suspenders (not suspension
of menstruation, a topic du jour, here)
Hello, Harry,
I'm a Belgian student in the last year of Modern
History who is writing her final paper (thesis) about the experience of
menstruation of the oldest generation in Flanders. I have interviewed 15
women. In my paper I talk about the knowledge of menstruation from the Romans
and Greeks to this day, about how much/many women knew about it, about the
shame to talk about it, about the universal menstruation taboo(s), about
the church and its vision on menstruation, about the hygiene, about the
advertisements and about the history of the menstrual products. I had never
had any idea that my grandparents lived in such a different era.
During my investigation, I accidentally found out about your
museum and website. It is really amazing what an amount of interesting information
you have gathered. Although your site is a bit difficult to navigate through
[it's gotten out of control!], I found some interesting things I hadn't
found in books and libraries. I didn't know about the suspenders women could
wear over their crotchless underpants. I wonder if these were worn by lots
of women? I can imagine that the advertisements only appear in publications
that were only been read by the high society. I can also imagine
that this new invention was quite expensive. I also
think women of the lower classes preferred just letting drip their menstrual
blood instead of wearing such suspenders: it doesn't seem to be handy
for women who were working on the land, or in factories, or at home.
[Yes! She entertains the idea that many women, at least in Europe, used nothing special for menstruation.]
Do you have any idea if these suspenders were popular with
a large group of women? And if they were manufactured or sold outside the
States? [I don't but if any readers out there know, please e-mail.]
Too bad that you live in the States. I'd like to see your
museum and help you out with my results and with the more historical background
that I'm investigating at the moment. [Alas, the museum - see
it - closed in 1998. Read about my idea for the future
MUM. But I've offered to put what she finds on this site.]
Greetings,
Kim ****
The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research holds its biennial
BASH (aka conference) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June
7-9. More info at http://menstruationresearch.org/about/upcoming-conference/#c15
Read my breathless report about the conference
10 years ago.
"Jewish Bath Found in Erfurt [Germany]"
The online version of the German news magazine Der Spiegel reports
(in German) that
"In an old cellar in Erfurt archaeologists have made an unusual find:
a mikva, a place for ritual bathing for the Jewish community. The bath is
from the Middle Ages and possibly more than 1000 years old. . . . The mikva
was the place for the ritual cleaning of tableware. But also the women of
the community had to use it: after menstruation, before their wedding and
after giving birth they had to undergo a symbolic cleansing before they
could enter the synagogue again. Before that they were regarded as unclean."
See an old mikva in Friedberg, Germany.
(photo from spiegel.de)
Female civil servants in India must reveal information about their menstrual
periods and the date of their last one. "Presumably this information
is relevant because their primary civil function is to participate in time-sensitive
focus groups to evaluate pads and tampons for free distribution," writes
Carol Lloyd in Salon.com. They're mad!
Read more about educating rural Indians about menstruation here
and here.
"What I noticed was that American women
are extremely conscious about their body and easily embarrassed by the most
natural things. American women couldn't even imagine not shaving their
armpits." A German woman explains
why stopping menstruation sounds verrrry American to her. Read Would
you stop menstruating
if you could?
An American washable pad from ?
Cutting to the chase:
The real reason I started this museum
Why is this man smiling?
Because women can be Nana and menstruating too!
White + menstruation = Red? Not for these products.
"Kotex" to help Kenyans out of poverty
Multi-Pulitzer Prize winner New York Times columnist
Thomas Friedman today tells how:
Naisiae Tobiko is a 28-year-old dynamo who grew up in Kenya's
Masai region. She runs a public relations firm, but when we met all she
wanted to talk about was Kenya's shortage of sanitary napkins for girls.
Here's why, she explained: Her family could afford to send her to school,
where she thrived. As she got older, though, she started to notice something
about the less well-off girls - they missed four days of class every month,
"and I could not understand why." When she finally asked, they
confided that they did not come to school when they were menstruating -
because their parents could not afford sanitary napkins.
"They would say, 'How can I come to a place when I am
bleeding?' " she recalled. "Some were using rags or soil or mud."
Because of those lost school days, many eventually dropped out. So Ms.
Tobiko recently teamed up with the Girl Child Network and other N.G.O.s
here and started a project in the countryside to distribute free sanitary
napkins. They have targeted 500,000 girls, and so far have reached 189,000.
More school days means more educated women and better mothers. [If you
are Times Select member you can read the whole article here.]
See how an activist in India is helping
girls make their own washable pads - and see how poor women in another
part of India learn to make a washable pad rather than sit
in a cow shed when they're menstruating.
New contributions to Words
and expressions about
menstruation from Mexico:
"Regla
(translated Rule) basically is a rule that you will have it every month,
something constant. We'll say something like 'I'm
on my regla.' Comadre (kind of similar
to the 'Aunt' reference in English) is like your companion, very close to
you. In Spanish a comadre is someone who is related to you because they
are the godmother of one of your sons/daughters, so is a very close and
special person, many times a relative, that you should respect. We'll say
something like 'My comadre came to visit.'
I'm a female, Mexican, living in the U.S. and I'm 22, a college student."
Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
"I am done with having kids. I am ready to be done with having
periods. . . . I have been asking how I can speed up the menopause process
just so I can stop this monthly cycle." This
letter continued and another new contribution
A funny story in humor:
"I got my first period during a summer spent in France. [continued]"
Christianity and menstruation
I've enjoyed your MUM site for a long time. Your page
on Religion and Menstruation doesn't have much
about Christianity, so I thought you might find this page interesting:
http://www.womenpriests.org/traditio/unclean.asp
It shows that early Christianity didn't believe that
menstruation was evil or unclean.
Thanks again for your site!
Sincerely,
Rosemarie
http://www.cleanofheart.info
Do you bleed and bleed and bleed?
Dear Sir/Madam,
In the process of researching websites related to menorrhagia
and its treatment options, we visited your website. As your website provides
vast information on menorrhagia-related topics, we ask that you please consider
adding a link to our website http://www.aboutheavyperiods.com.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank You,
Jon Holato
Wix, goodbye
Another MUM auxiliary staff member
has died, killed along with a stray and thrown into my yard. Wix,
named after an early tampon, was a huge, goofy tomcat
from my oldest litter. He never meowed, just gurgled and only when he was
happy. In his eight years he and his sister Fibs (another early
tampon) would not allow me to touch them, and five years ago I spent
a morning chasing him with the vet's net to let her inspect his urinary
infection. Well, I lied about the meowing: after he had his penis removed
to prevent another infection he meowed for a week while confined in a spare
room recuperating. I would have too. Then his silence resumed, and today
it is deafening.
Named women say why they use New Freedom and LightDays pantiliners
Freedom! Nudity! French
and German ads, 1970s
New Art of Menstruation: Jelena,
from Serbia
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"I even asked the vet if I could be spayed along with the
cat. He just laughed. He thought I was kidding. [More]"
New words in Words
and expressions about
menstruation:
"I am American and was raised Muslim and since women are not
allowed to pray or fast during their periods we would always say that 'I am not praying' to indicate menstruation."
More.
Can light shorten your menstrual periods?
An emailer writes,
" Prolactin, LH, and FSH were significantly increased with bright light exposure for 45 minutes each morning, and
the menstrual cycle shortened." Read the study.
Artist Judy Chicago - she donated
one of her famous prints to this museum - is central
to the feminist art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, says a New
York Times story (with pictures); no mention of menstruation. The Times
writer, a woman, seems disappointed with the show.
Updated
menstrual sponge
pages
It's really not a bag but those funny Danes! Pad ad,
1970s.
Fibs ads, 1938-1959. I named one of my cats Fibs in honor of this 'pon.
A concerned e-mailer writes:
"Painting w/ blood and then drinking it is sick [here].
Why do you promote such barbaric things? As you know, Jewish people should
not have the blood of an animal so it is also anti-Semitic." I wrote
her [him?] that this is a museum; I'm not promoting anything. Some people
even object to the very existence of this museum. MUM just documents a human
phenomenon.
New Brazilian contributions to Words and expressions about menstruation.
"My name is Eliana and I live in the south of Brazil. Here are
some expressions I know: Lua vermelha = red moon, Naqueles dias
= in that days, Visita= visitor, Chegaram meus primos de Lagoa
Vermelha = My cousins of Red Lake arrived (in the state of Rio Grande
do Sul there exists a city with that name, so I believe that's an expression
usend only in that state). Regras= rules"
New American contributions to Words and expressions about menstruation.
"My fiance calls it 'the monster' and it really fits since it's
almost like me going from Dr. Jekyll to Ms. Hyde on that time of the month.
I usually like to refer to getting my period as 'getting my monthly subscription
in the mail,' especially when we're having girl talks and we don't want
the guys to know what we're really talking about. **** Ft. Lauderdale, Florida"
Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
She wouldn't and is waiting to "become one of those older
wiser women one hears so much about." Read more.
Speaking of menstrual art:
"Greetings Mr. Finley,
"I am an artist who has incoporated menstrual blood into
my work for a number of years now. My artwork has been shown in galleries
and shows on the east coast for almost two decades. If you would
be interested, I would be honored to donate a painting to your museum. I
understand your current space restrictions, that the museum is online at
present, and that you may not wish such a donation.
"If you'd like to look, my website is www.succubusarts.com. My
Abstract Expressionist gallery - the one with menstrual blood art - is called
the Milky Way. A link to several such pieces is:
"www.succubusarts.com/images/orangeblack_abstract.jpg
or www.succubusarts.com/images/bloodogham.jpg
"Additionally, I'm currently working on other menstrual
blood pieces. I'm impressed by your labors in founding the Mum, and wish
you well in locating a future physical site.
"Sincerely,
Gregory Scaff"
And photography:
"Dear Harry Finley,
"Your menstruation web site is fascinating! You certainly
have an amazing collection. These objects have been (and in many places
still are) hidden. The religious and philosophical aspects are fascinating
also. Keep up the good work.
"I am a photographer in Canberra, Australia. I am interested
in how women's bodies are depicted, especially because menstruation is so
hidden. My photography explores some of the symbology of menstruation.
"A sample of my photos are shown on:
"www.glamourgirls.com.au.
My web site is: www.artofwoman.com.au
"Contact me if you need more information.
"Cheers,
Margaret Kalm"
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Web site
"On February 1, Project PCOS unveiled a brand new website
and campaign designed to bring PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) education,
support and resources to the PCOS patient professionals treating PCOS and
the public.
"You may review our site by visiting: http://www.projectpcos.org"
Tampon for watching TV? In Italy? Don't be silly.
This museum is one of
100 Places Every Woman Should Go
book by Stephanie Griest (Travelers' Tales, Palo Alto, California, 2007
- buy),
which just appeared. See more publications, radio,
TV, etc., that have discussed MUM.
Did its gluey tampons kill Pursettes?
Is this action, below, similar to the menstrual
slap?
"The underlying theme of this remarkable tale [Infidel
by Hirsi Ali] is sexual repression and gradual liberation. Not only was
an uncircumcised woman treated as a demon in her clannish society, but Hirsi Ali was called 'filthy prostitute' by her own mother
when she had her first period. She was tortured by guilt when she
was kissed for the first time by a Kenyan boy. Even in the Netherlands,
she still felt disgusted by Ethiopian girls because they revealed their
legs. But finally she rebelled against the duty of Muslim women to submit
to Allah, and to their fathers, brothers and husbands. Hirsi Ali feels that
she was set free, sexually, socially, intellectually, by the West, starting
with Danielle Steel."
from a review
by Ian Buruma of "Infidel," 4 Mar 2007, in the New York Times
More American Words and expressions
about menstruation
(The male contributor didn't say if these were actually used): High
tide, The tide has rolled in, The Girly Girl thing, Devil days, The devil's
work, The week of the devil, Muddy waters.
Kotex featherweight belt in a tube
Dutch contributions to Words
and expressions about
menstruation:
"I've called it two different things: 1) 'I got a visit to the
red light district.' I'm Dutch, and well, sometimes me and my family joke
on if we go to Holland to visit family well, make a trip to the red light
district, but not really. 2) 'Give me two things: chocolate and space' says
it all."
"Little Doozy" after-the-party douche
Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have
access to modern medicinal abortion" by Dr. Nelson Soucasaux
"The Jewish Tradition of Slapping Our Daughters
at Their First Period" by Caren Appel-Slingbaum now translated into
Spanish by María García:
"La Tradición [Judía] de Abofetear
a Nuestras Hijas" traducido por María García
E-mail: "Having only recently read the article, by Caren Appel-Slingbaum, about the slapping
of Jewish girls by their mothers upon menstruating for the first time,
I would just like to add that this was done to me by my mother. My mother,
who is of Polish origin, told me that she did this because she never wanted
me to lose color in my face (ie. never be pale). Presumably, the slapping
process retains a healthy color on our faces. My mother's handprint
on my face cheek disappeared rather quickly, and I am still always pale.
Thank goodness for blush make-up. And so much for this tradition which
I am happy to report ends with me as I will not do likewise to my daughter!
Great article."
Playtex Sport tampon, 2006
Dragging your mother into 1929 - for Modess!
More Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"Menstruating and sex: Relating to the euphemism that having sex is
'going for a ride' I tell my spouse that: 'I'm
closed for renovations,' or 'I'm closed
for maintenance.' When I have cramps, 'my
uterus is angry.' My mom, who was very shy about this stuff,
would ask my sister and I if we needed any 'supplies'
before she left for the grocery store when we were kids. My brother totally
figured it out despite her efforts. Michigan, 26 years old"
What better way to say
"Will you be my Valentine?"
than with a Tiffany glass bowl?!
She'll cry, "You shouldn't have!" especially
. . .
"I am a female and amongst my female friends we always
say we have 'the curse of TOM.' TOM is short for time of month.
I am Caucasian, 19, Nevada"
Read hundreds - thousands? - more Words and expressions about menstruation from around the world!
I located Englishwoman Brina Katz, whose art work
the Jewish Museum in Vienna, Austria, wants to show. Congratulations, Brina!
White pants with German Stayfree and Camelia pads?
Listen to MUM director Harry Finley (yours truly)
talk about his goals for the future museum, why he opened the museum in
his house, and how in the world he got interested in menstruation. The Keeper
menstrual cup site offered the time and space for him to talk. And, yes,
he praised menstrual cups to a Seventeen magazine reporter at the opening of the museum in 1994 and recently accepted
one of the new Keepers for MUM.
"I have always believed that woman are 'higher beings' in some
ways because we have children and get to wear divine
dresses!!"
Two new opinions for Would you stop
menstruating if you could?
"Harry, Link below is to another (TV) ad
that features a man - and also humour and 'penis references'.
:-) It is currently showing on Australian TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBOBg9tZgUw
"
[I can't get the ad - maybe you'll have better luck. See a French pad ad
with just a man.]
New tampon in Australia
http://www.moxie.com.au/
"What an interesting website. You may have heard of this, but my
Mom, who was born in 1908, told me when she needed "sanitary protection,"
commercial pads were way too expensive so the women of the family used
literally rags which they washed and reused! :(" [Yup, but see
some fancier washable pads. But read my despised theory of what the majority of women wore -
or didn't wear.]
Comments about translating Czech words for menstruation.
German Carefree pantiliner ads for girls starting
puberty
Stayfree ads and Cathy Rigby radio
spot.
Rely tampon ads and three radio
spots.
"I am sure that you have heard this one before, but when
I was about 16 or so, if someone had their period and didn't want to join
in an activity or whatever with us, we would say, "Oh,
I'm sorry, I have a visitor this week, my Aunt FLOW is here!"
and the rest of us would know right away why. It was a nicer way of saying
it. Instead of "I got pms," plus the boys didn't know what the
heck we were talkin about! Love your site, D in Germany."
Read more Words and expressions
about menstruation.
Hot news!
Calcium pills stop menstrual discomfort
for writer and others.
"Fluctuations in hormones during women's menstrual cycles affect how
their brains respond to rewards, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
Md., said." Read a summary in NewsDaily.
Um, actually, it's farther down, Ma'am. Lysol
ad, 1934
"God, just no more
ANYTHING that has to do with blood!" [More]
"Even with all this, I always welcome
my period, it feels like such a cleanse every month. Plus it sure makes
me appreciate being pain-free and mobile again when it's all over." [More in Would
you stop menstruating
if you could? and Your Remedies]
Calling Brina Katz of Cumbria, England!
The curator of the Jewish Museum of Vienna, Austria, wants
to use your art "Lillith's Cave" in
an exhibit at that museum. Please e-mail me!
I've lost your address.
Marie Claire magazine (Italian edition) featured several of the MUM artists
in an article about this museum and menstruation
in 2003. The newspaper Corriere della Sera (Io Donna magazine) (Milan, Italy)
and the magazine Dishy (Turkey) showed some of the artists in 2005 in articles
about this museum. TV, radio and print have reported
on MUM.
I finally located her and she and the museum are in touch.
Charm-party on!
for Dainty Maid douches and menstrual cups! Personal
ads from four decades.
Listen to Procter & Gamble tell
radio listeners in 1980 not to use Rely tampons because of the danger of
toxic shock syndrome (TSS).
"Menstrual mood swings may have a use after all:
Monthly mood swings experienced by many women may serve an evolutionary
purpose by helping to get them pregnant." Read a report
in New Scientist online of the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences article.
E-mail entitled "Menstruation
as metaphor for social discomfort? (A rating system)"
Dear Mr. Finley,
I was reminded of this when reading the unkind
comment sent in by a reader [actually a staff writer] of Sassy
magazine regarding MUM. ["Stick to jock
itch products, buddy." See more in the column at left. See more
about media coverage of MUM.]
Sassy was my favorite magazine when I was a teenager and it
used to run a column on embarrassing incidents that readers would send in,
rating the severity of the embarrassment in period terms. I thought these
were incredibly funny and was sad when editorial changes at the magazine
did away with the ratings (about this time I also tried to do away with
my subscription). The most terrible of incidents were rated "Prostrate
atop a crimson tide," the least severe or simply amusing ones were
rated something to the effect of "Fertile and in cycles with
the moon" Ahhh, reminds me of the early '90s.
Fertile and in cycles with the moon,
**** (Pasadena, California)
[I got my revenge when the magazine disappeared! Ha, ha, ha,
ha! But it was a good read.]
No one will know you're menstruating!
Ads, 1930 & 1953
Kotex meant not washing your menstrual pads, 1922
New Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"In Croatia, the word 'menstruation' is pretty much obsolete
in everyday language. Everybody just calls it 'things.'
As in: 'I have things,' 'I
still haven't gotten my things.' I've never understood why, though."
"Hi, I just found your website and love it! My contribution
for the German section is 'Tante Rosa kommt'
(Aunt Rose is coming), which would be the Germany equivalent to Aunt Flo.
I loathe such euphemisms, but it is often used in everyday speech. Oh, and
one more thing: The first entry in the German section uses the expression
'Teekesselchen,' which means 'little
teapot.' It is an expression used for two words that are literally the same
but have different meanings, such as 'ball' (which can be a spherical object
used for games or a dancing event). 'Teekesselchen' is a children´s
game where two children each try to describe their word, always starting
with the same figure of speech: 'Mein Teekesselchen ist rund.' ('My teapot
is round' - in this case meaning the ball as a sports utensil) The other
one then would say: 'Mein Teekesselchen findet meist abends statt.' ('My
teapot often talks place at night' - meaning the ball as a dancing event).
The other children have to guess what the word is. The contributor referred
to the word 'Auslaufmodell' as a Teekesselchen, because 'auslaufen' can
mean 'to flow' or 'be discontinued.' I don't think she referred to an actual
teapot. Cheers, **** (35, from Hamburg, Germany)"
"I'm 29 and from Texas and we, too, used 'George'
as the term in high school. I usually just refer to it as 'that
time of the month.' I used to see a guy who used to call it 'a bloody waste of fucking time.' He was 36 and
from South Africa and Great Britain.
****, DVM." [More Words and expressions about menstruation]
New suggestion in Remedies for Menstrual Problems
"[Y]our site and museum are utterly fascinating"
"Mr. Finley,
"Once in a while, I find a web site that makes this whole
crazy thing called the Internet worthwhile, and yours is one of those sites.
Unfortunately, there are dozens and dozens of worthless sites for every
one like yours.
"In any case, your site and museum are utterly fascinating,
and the topic of menstruation is worthy of being studied. Don't let the
naysayers discourage you. Thank you.
"Best regards,"
Words and expressions
about menstruation:
"These are both from Northern Ireland: On
the blob: a male friend used this when he lived with me (because
it blobs out, basically). Up on blocks: Useless
old cars without wheels are propped up on blocks in driveways. Some men think women on their period are not fit for their
primary purpose (sex), and are therefore 'up on blocks' awaiting becoming
usable again!"
"When my mom was in college in the 70s in Minnesota, her
roommate used the term 'push-ups' for tampons.
To me, it's reminiscent of orange sherbet popsicles, and a diplomatic way
to make a supplies request. Love your site.
"You left out 'wounded.' It is decidedly
American. Cheers,"
Read more Words
and expressions about menstruation
"[A] parable of menstruation, a bizarre gothic
fable of a young woman's maturation into womanhood."
"You may be interested in the 1970 Czech film 'Valerie and Her Week
of Wonders' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066516/)
which takes place during the week of a 13-year-old girl's first period.
It involves vampires, but, um, you'd sort of have to see it. Czech films
are notoriously surreal. Here's a good description of the film: http://notcoming.com/reviews.php?id=172
Did Tampax get its idea for its innovative applicator from a Colorado
company that started before 1920?
"My daughter and I say 'In my moon' when we have ours. When
I was young, my own mother and I called our periods 'Ethel.' I
was a big 'I Love Lucy' [television show] fan back then and I guess that
is where that came from. [Ethel played on the show.]"
Read MORE Words and
expressions about menstruation.
Read an interesting story on Slate.com about advertising
for Playtex tampons and the menstrual advertising industry in general.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the two nice links
at the end to this very MUM site! See some British
ads the article doesn't mention - and you'd never see such a thing in
America!
Did you e-mail me recently?
I was just reading e-mail with a Duke University address - she asked about
a Lysol ad - when ZAP!
all mail in the folder disappeared. There were more letters I deleted. Please e-mail me again if you e-mailed me in the past couple
days and I didn't respond!
The complete folder of
"Educational Material on Menstruation
Furnished by the Makers of Tampax" (1966)
So this guy walks into a store to buy tampons and comes out with a . . .
(More here.)
"DON'T WEAKEN, MOTHER"
Modern daughters help repressed mothers in a Modess
ad, 1929
Why did efficiency expert Dr. Lillian Gilbreth send a famous report
about menstruation to Johnson & Johnson with typos?
(A reader solves the problem.)
"I was born to be a reptile . . . ."
(Read what else she - and others - write about
stopping menstruation.)
"We're fairly certain that all of this revolves around scent."
You can predict with a high degree of certainty by histocompatibility if
a woman will cheat on a man, says a study in Psychological
Science (vol 17, p 830)
Sears once sold its own tampons!
And so did Penney's!
From South Africa, Words
and expressions about
menstruation:
Granny came in a red Ferrari "Hi,
there, I'm 19 years old, and currently live in South Africa and have
been suffering since I was 11, but anyway .... My best friend and I started
round about the same time and we were always depressed and of course in
total agony (and the only 2 chicks in our grade who knew what it takes to
be a 'woman')! My friend being the wonderful person she is came up with
the phrase, 'Granny came in a red Ferrari!' It always made me laugh and
we still use it to this day. If it came late she'd say, 'Granny's stuck
in traffic' = P When Granny's Ferrari is at our house my dad always looks
at me and says, 'Sukke tyd?' It's Afrikaans for 'That time of the month?'
I call pads 'those dreadful concoctions of plastic and cotton!' And
tampons are just plain 'thingies' cuz you get the teeny tiny ones that you
can never find in your bag when you need them! And honestly I would skip
the whole shlep if I could! *SIGH* Regards, Granny's favorite grandchild."
Strange: there's another South African phrase: "My
aunt parked her red Porsche outside." Read
more Words and expressions
about menstruation.
Puberty booklet Growing up and Liking it, 1970
Contributions to Words and expressions about menstruation:
Red fairy
Phew!
"I didn't see this one but then I may have missed it. That
is quite an impressive collection! 'Red fairy'
(my friend in England uses it). I always say 'phew'
In other words, thank whomever that I am not pregnant. I have enough kids!"
(Read more words.)
Old ads for non-menstrual suspenders.
Ad for Violet Page: All you needed for douching
in the 1920s & 30s - plus a sex information book
for women and MORE!
Why are these guys smirking? "Menstrual pad" is in the answer.
She contributed to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?:
"First of all, as a registered nurse, let me say that
I think women should be able to do whatever they want with their periods."
(continued)
Puberty booklet, 1963: Growing Up and Liking It
"Inside Britney's Underpants" by Joal Ryan
Ms. Ryan asked me for a history of underpants for her story
on E! Online about Britney Spears' lack of
same while exiting a car last week. (See the MUM underpants
history and read more about the
media and this museum.) So it's apt that an e-mailer sent this contribution
to Words and expressions
about menstruation:
Underwear time
"My husband has always affectionately called my period 'Underwear Time'
or U.T. because that is the only time of the month that I wear underwear
to bed. Great website! I'm from Canada by the way."
An American contributes
"In the Abyss"
"My husband has coined the phrase when I am on my cycle, 'In the
abyss.' (You should look up the definition of the abyss in dictionary.com.
It's pretty fun and so true.) On a side note he also usually bon voyages
me there because just before that time I seem to be more amorous. I
wonder if this is true for most women?" [Almost 100 years ago famous
Scottish doctor Marie Stopes showed on a chart
- bottom of page - that it was true for many women.]
The writer's Iranian wife says
"Indians are visiting"
"I actually found your website because I was googling for the origins
of a 'code word' my Persian (Iran) wife and her cousin use. I didn't realize
this 'coding' thing was common either, but several others have told their
stories below, so here's another 'code': My wife and her cousin refer to
their periods as 'Indians are visiting' or just 'Indians' - she says they
picked this up from watching bootleg American westerns in Iran as kids.
Scenes when the 'red Indians' would usually be bloody! So in our house it's
'Not tonight dear: Indians again.' Thanks for the collection, it's pretty
hysterical (uh, that wasn't really supposed to be a pun. [Hysterical comes
from the ancient Greek word for uterus.])
See also his contribution to humor as well as another guy's use for tampon tubes.
Two writers contribute their stories
to
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
"The 28 Day Year"
Poem by Dr. Betz King
Finally, a friend sent this:
"Jesus embraced the unclean ...
even including menstruating women! So said Garry Wills today, being
interviewed about his new book, What Paul Meant, on NPR's Bob Edwards'
Weekend show. This fact must make Jesus a very early 'bleeding-heart liberal.'"
(Read more about religion and menstruation.)
Years ago as a sophomore at Johns Hopkins I took Dr. Wills's
"Greek Poetry" course, which was mostly ancient Greek tragedy
- he had a Ph.D. in Greek and Latin. (My paper was on Greek scholar Friederick
Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music - yes,
that Nietzsche.) Today Dr. Wills covers the world and beyond in writing
about God - he's a fervent Catholic - and society. He won the Pulitzer for
a book about the Gettysburg Address.
Ad for very early menstrual cup
Additions to menstrual pad disposal bags
They're borated and you would have been too!
Same strange tampon in two different boxes.
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