See the American "Sylvia" comic strip episode about this museum and some cartoon-style
ads for menstrual products, here, here
and here.
And see my own comic strip
about the future of this museum.
See early tampons and a list of tampon on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)some
 
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"Now, what's the matter, are we going
to pee?"
"I'm not ready, nurse." |
"PEE! NOW!"
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"The whole ward peed in their beds!"
"I'm terribly indisposed. [I'm having
my period]" |
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"Single," comic strip, the Netherlands, 31 October 2005,
by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit
"Single," which appears in some publications in the Netherlands,
including the national newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, deals with the lives
of three single nurses. Two men create the strip.
Above, Nurse Nienke has menstrual period problems not only in this episode
but in several others, in one case causing the traffic on a main highway
to be rerouted via a broadcast through car radios - she got not only her
own lane but her own side of the highway!
The Dutchman who sent me the strip wrote, "As in your country [America]
menstruation is mostly not openly discussed and is also rare in daily mainstream
strips!!"
The contributor, who has generously sent scans of many ads and other
items from Europe and America (like here) dealing
with menstruation, wrote that "Ik ben ongesteld" - "I'm indisposed"
- is the common way for a woman to say she's menstruating - similar to the
German expression. See more at Words and expressions about menstruation. And the Dutch, like the Germans, call nurses "sister,"
("zuster," above, and see a German "Schwester") which is how Americans address Catholic nuns. But
nurses and nuns and hospitals all have roots in Christianity.
And how about the English word as title? Many
countries use bits of English in advertising and elsewhere, for example
Germany (the Germans
call it "Denglish," combining Deutsch and English, Deutsch meaning German in German) and Japan ("Engrish," since
the Japanese don't have an L sound in their language and usually can't pronounce
it). English speakers of course use their words too, like verboten and tsunami.
The "Single" Web site is at http://www.s1ngle.nl.
Note the number 1 instead of an i. Otherwise you get a dating site - um,
OK, but do you write Dutch?
If anyone knows of other comic strips anywhere
dealing with menstruation please write
me! Can you imagine an American strip in a national
publication dealing with, um, er, peeing?
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See the American "Sylvia" comic strip episode about this museum and some cartoon-style
ads for menstrual products,
here, here and here. And see my own comic strip about the future of this museum, the Museum of Menstruation
and Women's Health.
And a German comic strip about menstrual synchrony.
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