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Museum "debate" on Warner Brothers airs soon
As I mentioned last week, Warner Brothers
television will broadcast a "debate" between a woman critic of
this museum and me on the new show Moral Court,
which starts syndication 2 October in the United States and airs four "cases"
a day, several days a week. We recorded it in Paramount Studios in Hollywood
last Saturday morning in front of a live audience. It will air in the next
several weeks, according to the producer.
I put debate in parentheses because it turned out to be something totally different. The producer told me he feared
for his job after the show because of what happened (you have to see it),
but his boss decided to keep it. Judge for yourself. I "won" it
and a prize.
After it airs, I will explain what happened.
Having arrived in Los Angeles at 10:30 the night before, I had an almost-midnight
dinner with MUM board member Miki Walsh, who lives in Hollywood, then couldn't
sleep all night. The studio car picked me up at eight the next morning.
I say this because twice during the show the judge had to get my attention
as I drifted into Slumberland. Miki, in the audience behind me, said - I'm
paraphrasing - I looked awfully tired.
Oh, at Los Angeles airport, I visited Bow Wow Meow, a store selling
sculpture of cats and dogs as well as other images. Over the entrance, with
other pets, presided a four-foot sculpture that looked just like my missing
Maine coon tomcat, The Distinguished Service Institutional
Albert Lasker Memorial Pouncer at the Museum of Menstruation, Prof. Minnie
Padd. I sure miss him.
Click to increase breast cancer
awareness
(No money goes to the museum or Harry Finley.)
Letters to your MUM
Tomatoes and o.b.
I was delighted to see two letters
about menstruation causing problems when canning tomatoes! I mentioned
this to you once before - I grew up hearing the same old-wives tale.
I also wanted to comment on the name for o.b. tampons. The company
may or may not admit the connection, but "ob" is an abbreviation
for obstetrician.
I always thought the name was chosen to sound "medical."
Why "o.b." instead of "O.B.," "ob," "OB,"
or even better, "Gyn."? Maybe they just thought it looked better.
"Gyn." might be just a bit too graphic. "ob" is just
obscure enough, but still sounds vaguely "doctor-ish."
[I still think the German expression ohne Binde
is right; why would the company conceal that? And the connection between
obstetrician and tampon is weaker than with "without a belt,"
which is what the German means.]
Praise and a word for menstruation from Pakistan
Hello,
I'm a 24-year-old physician from Pakistan. I believe what you are doing
at mum.org is amazing. [Thanks very much!] Just thought I'd add my two
bits to the "Words and expressions for menstruation"
from around the world.
The period in Pakistan is called "mahwari"
which literally means monthly. Keeping
in view my inexperience, my gender (male) and the conservative nature of
our society, I am unfamiliar with the more slangish/common words. Hope
this helps. [You've started a new section, Pakistan!]
Bye,
Dr [name withheld]
A Spanish woman living in Brussels supports the museum
I don't care about what other people say, I find it terrific. I have
just heard about it in an article in a Spanish paper (El PaÌs http://www.elpais.es/p/d/20001001/sociedad/menstrua.htm).
I hope you manage to make the museum. Go on and thank you very much. [Thank
you! She also contributed a comment to the Stop
Menstruation? page.]
Tomatoes (again), douching, and menstruation
Hello, Harry,
Your Web site (and the museum itself, which I read about years ago
in the Village Voice [read about the book
version of the article]) is absolutely fascinating! It appeals to me
on so many levels! Politically, historically, and even esthetically. Those
old ads just slay me! And, oh yeah, I'm a girl so . . . well, you know.
I get my period.
I'm also a journalist and am working on a small piece about douching.
Have you any idea who invented the douche? [No. I suspect it's been around
for thousands of years.] I know about 3000 years ago there was some business
with cow dung and honey, but the inventor of say, the contemporary douche.
Man or woman? [Probably a man - just a guess.] You say on your Web site
that most feminine "hygiene" products were invented by men but
who were they and why in the HELL did we listen to them? [Hey, you must
ALWAYS listen to m- OOPS! I didn't mean that! I'm just tired!!]
I'm also interested in the superstitions surrounded
menses: my ex-boyfriend and I had a pretty heated argument about Italian women not being able to participate in certain
tomato stewing rituals when they had their periods because they might turn
the sauce sour.
I said this was nothing but negative and oppressive bullshit but he
seems to think that it implied that women were so powerful they could turn
tomato sauce bad and that there was some sort of respect attached to this.
[I can see why he's an EX-boyfriend.]
I said that would all depend on other aspects of their condition, as
well. Did they have a lot of power and were they given a lot of freedom
and respect in other aspects of life? Or was this
just a way of oppressing them and making them feel dirty? My feeling
is when you are told that you can make something turn sour by virtue of
a bodily function, it implies that you yourself are bad. This
is not a positive outlook on the power of menstruation, it is a negative
one and does not give power to the woman, but takes it away. If
they had so much respect for a menstruating woman, wouldn't they want her
making the sauce? Wouldn't that make it extra delicious somehow? He brought
into his argument the superstition that a church elder could sour the milk
of a village, thus making him incredibly powerful. Yeah, but they didn't
get all freaked out by this and try to burn and oppress them, did they?
Never mind the fact that neither of these parables is true!
Sorry to rave on. I really just wanted to ask you about douching. Once
again, your site is fascinating and, as you can see, has sparked conversation.
Congratulations! [Thank you!] This is my standard for being a successful
human being. Well, that and being able to make me laugh. [Someone told
me recently that every time she looks at me, she wants to laugh. I'm not
sure how to take that.] Which you also did. [Great!]
Link with British dykes
Hello,
I saw your site at http://www.mum.org/ and wanted to get in touch.
The women's team at rainbownetwork.com are putting together a directory
of lesbian links for our dykesdomain section.
I like your site and I was wondering if you would allow us to link to your
Web site. [Yes!]
Rainbownetwork.com is the largest lesbian and gay site in the UK.
We've got sections on everything you could ever want - from travel to pets
to cult to the latest UK and world news. We are a mixed site but we also
have a dedicated women-only space called dykesdomain - which is where we
plan to have a comprehensive list of links to the best lesbian sites on
the Web.
All we ask is you link to us.
You can get a preview of the sort of articles we have in dykesdomain
by going to http://www.dykesdomain.com
Thanks in advance,
"Cats" done by the real thing
X-Lydia and "Tom Gill Predicts" take credit for this funny
piece about if cats peopled - um - did the play Cats:
"Cats" just closed on Broadway, setting the record as the
longest-running show to date. The show romanticizes and shrouds in mystery
the lives and habits of America's most popular pet. Yet, even with the
lively dancing and popular songs, "Cats" doesn't seem to capture
the true-to-life behavior of our feline companions. Below
is a list of what "Cats" would have to do to more accurately
portray the true essence of cats.
* Audience members would enter the auditorium only to find their seats
had been clawed and covered with fur.
* The antagonist in the show would be a giant vacuum cleaner.
* Sometimes the cast would perform, but sometimes not - depending on
their mood.
* Performers would leap off the stage and run up the aisles at the
recorded sound of a can opener in the lobby.
* When certain audience members opened their playbills, a cast member
would attempt to lie down on it.
* In the middle of a performance various cast members would curl up
and go to sleep, even in the middle of a song.
* For no apparent reason, cast members would randomly run to the lobby,
and then back to the stage at top speed. They would then continue as if
nothing had happened.
* A special audience member would find a headless bird in his/her seat
after the intermission.
* Snack bar employees would constantly be reprimanding cast members
for walking on the counter.
* Open the stall door and guess who is drinking from the toilet?
* Part of the performance would include the cast climbing and shredding
the theater curtains.
* The stage would be stained from someone coughing up a hairball and
then eating it.
* Performers would find sand in the lobby ashtrays and - well, we don't
have to draw a picture here, do we?
* The show would need to be stopped several times to allow cast members
to "bathe" themselves.
* Most of the final act would consist of the cast just staring at the
audience.
* The big finale would feature a giant ball of yarn, feathers on a
pole, and stray strands of dental floss.
* Theater patrons waiting outside the stage door after performances
would get their legs rubbed, if they were lucky.
* Cast members would never cash their paychecks, just play with them.
Here's more about cats.
Pap art exhibit starts 21 September in
Delray Beach, Florida
I am writing to request your participation and assistance in an exciting
and important project regarding women's health issues.
The world-renowned scientist and lover of the arts Dr.
George Papanicolaou, better known as Dr. Pap, inventor of the Pap smear
test, will be the subject of a special exhibition at the Cornell Museum
of Art in Delray Beach, Florida, beginning September 21, 2000. The
gala opening and artist's reception will be held on Thursday evening September
28, 2000. The foremost patient advocate and director of the Center For
Cervical Health in the United States, Carol Ann Armenti, will be the keynote
speaker.
The exhibition will run through November 12, 2000, and will feature
recent works by international artist Olga Stamatiou,
Dr. Papanicolaou's niece. Stamatiou's works will be available for
acquisition and the profits will go toward:
1. The creation of "PAP MOBILES," vehicles that would be
used to provide testing for under-served women in areas, with the highest
incidence of cervical cancer.
2. The creation of a traveling multimedia art exhibition.
3. The production of a documentary film based on the life, work and
scientific legacy of Dr. Papanicolaou and his wife Mary.
4. The Center for Cervical Health.
5. The Papanicolaou Woman's Corp.
Our organization "PAP" - Prevention and Protection - will
have as its goal to raise awareness about women's health issues, including
the importance of having regular Pap smears and the provision of information
on new and existing methods for detecting cervical cancer.
The traveling exhibition, to be viewed in public spaces and museums,
will be a multimedia environment drawing on and inspired by Dr. Pap's love
of the arts and sciences. This environment will include permanent built-in
units that will provide creative spaces for national and local women's
health organizations to inform women on what is available involving health
care.
The September 28th opening reception will also include international
guest artists and feature a wide range of styles and media. A percentage
of their work will benefit the above-mentioned projects.
Olympus Corporation of America will provide working microscopes and
monitors along with technicians on opening night to demonstrate how Pap
smears are read.
Washable-pad company for sale
Gayle Adams, owner of Feminine Options, wants
to sell the company to someone willing to put time and energy into it.
The Food and Drug Administration has already approved its products.
Call Gayle at (715) 455-1652 (Wisconsin, U.S.A.).
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