Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Blood Rights

An entire aisle in CVS is dedicated to color-coded pads and tampons. Adorned with pleasant words and phrases such as “pearl” and “carefree,” they are green, yellow and purple. Each box competes for my attention. Expensive name brand products have “no-slip grips,” are thin and comfortable or smell faintly like rosewater.

Interacting with the male cashier is not as alluring. I am struck with a sense of embarrassment after buying feminine products. There is no eye contact. The tampons that begged me to buy them are thrown into a bag and quickly hidden like a Playboy Magazine. I buy them because they are convenient and a necessity, but I maintain a level of discreteness.

In 1995, a copy of the Village Voice featured a woman on the front cover with a string between her legs, (the string was attached to a tampon), for an article on Toxic Shock Syndrome. Besides advertisements for feminine products and PMS medication, the cover was virtually alone in its overt mention of periods in the media. What followed instead were issues of Seventeen! Magazine and phrases like, “toilet paper impromptu” buried deep within the “Embarrassing stories!” section. Why is something so common and natural regarded as shameful? Why are women both expected to shell out money for pads and tampons and at the same time keep them hidden?

Women of the 1800s did not have the option of pads or tampons. They received flack for washing blood out of their clothes and bed sheets. Today, women have more resources but are still baited with fancy boxes and senseless claims. Women in America are expected to go about their days as usual while menstruating, making disposable products like tampons a go-to. Are tampons and pads the only option? If so, should women have to pay for them throughout their lifetimes?

Tapestry Health offers free condoms in its lobbies, but not tampons or any feminine hygienic products. Why do some state institutions also provide one but not the other? Are feminine products not pertinent to a woman’s health and life? Big brand names like Tampax and Kotex recognize the undeniable need for their products. Tampons have a one-time use limitability because it’s more valuable to these companies that women keep coming back for more, rather than being staved off by some sort of cure for menstruation. There are options like birth control pills and hysterectomies, both of which are gaining popularity among women and can cease a woman’s period altogether. Surgeries are not associated with convenience, however, and despite the 600,000 hysterectomies per year, many women are still loyal to feminine hygienic products.

There are enough women, in fact, that the feminine hygiene industry is worth $2 billion annually. Big businesses are making a profit off of women’s needs, which would be easier to understand if they had our health and best interest in mind. They do not. Tampons contain bleach as well as traces of dioxin, and are also linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome – a syndrome which can lead to death.

In truth, scientists still know very little about health associated with menstrual cycles, and only one industry funds research on menstruation: the feminine hygiene industry. Rather than putting money toward discovering the optimal safe and healthy options for women, the feminine hygiene industry (the $2 billion one) uses money and time to develop their personal products such as pads and tampons. Do we have other options?

There are alternatives to tampons, such as the “Mooncup,” one of several reusable, silicone menstrual cups. The “Mooncup” has a lack of presence in the media. It is a small business and does not have the means to advertise on the same scale as Tampax or Kotex. Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930s, yet they are not well-known. They do not possess the convenience of a disposable product, though menstrual cups last for years, which, naturally, is not appealing to the feminine hygienic industry because it doesn’t guarantee that customers will buy again and again.

Young women are not brought up to consider every option during their periods. I was bombarded with advertisements and 12-year-old testimonials before I thought to research eco-friendly alternatives to tampons. The People’s Market on campus sells menstrual cups and biodegradable tampons next to the front register alongside facts about the negative effects regular tampons have on our bodies and our environment. Women need more resources like this to discover safer, cheaper and greener alternatives, ideally before college. Rather than regarding menstruation as something shameful or secretive, we should encourage open conversation and make the alternative to tampons part of the dialogue.

Rachael Roth is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].

 

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  • J

    JayDec 21, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    “They do not possess the convenience of a disposable product”

    No, they are MORE convenient than disposables – you can wear for 12 hours (despite companies claiming otherwise, tampons and pads need to be changed every 4-6 hours), including with any flow, overnight and before menstruation (none of which can be done with tampons, and it also means no need for pads). Cups hold more flow and have light suction so also don’t leak like tampons or pads, so far more reliable too – this makes them essential for women with heavy flow, especially overnight or when active. Cups last for up to ten years, it means no carrying spares or running out either.

    Reply
  • C

    Carolyn HastieOct 26, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Excellent thought provoking article, thank you. Agree with reusable option. Similar principle to the way a woman uses mooncups, the good ol’ diaphragm is useful too. The diagphragm is fabulous as an effective and simple contraceptive and as a menstrual blood container – very eco friendly in more ways than one.

    Reply
  • C

    COct 25, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    Great article! I love it when reusable products get more attention. Check out: http://sizecharts.livejournal.com/ for more info on menstrual cups and http://cloth-pads.livejournal.com/ for info about cloth pads.

    Reply
  • J

    JayOct 25, 2011 at 8:48 am

    A small note – menstrual cups are more convenient than disposables like tampons; they can be worn for 12 hours, with any flow, overnight, and before menstruation – none of which can be done with tampons. With cups there’s no need to buy every month, worry about running out, chang in public, carrying spares, worry about disposal, they also hold more flow and have light suction so don’t leak like tampons. Cups are also better for travel, swimming, hiking, bike-riding, and for heavy flow in particular. They’re safer; no risk of infections, TSS, or dioxin, also may help lessen cramps, lessen flow, may improve vaginal tone, and help monitor flow and cervix.

    It’s all the above benefits, as well as a good few others, that have disposable companies running scared because more and more women are looking into options like menstrual cups. Currently we have 19 menstrual cup brands with various in-brand variations, another is about to launch, and there are also Softcups, diaphragms as menstrual cups. That’s just scratching the surface when it comes to the vast array of reusable options available that offer superior comfort, environmental and health benefits over disposable tampons/pads, and which aren’t inconvenient.

    There is a definite shift towards reusable options, you can even see disposables fighting back – ‘cotton-like’ top sheets, highlighting that their products can be worn for 8 hours even overnight to seem more convenient (legally allowed, even if these both add to health risks), adding colour to their products or ‘design your own pad’, generally making menstruation seem less shameful (while also still subtly undermining this idea) to compete with more fashionable customisable multi-coloured reusable products that push a more body-positive message.

    Reply
  • A

    AliceOct 25, 2011 at 8:36 am

    I love it when people like David Hunt make snide comments which make them look stupid because they read the first paragraph and nothing more.

    But idiots aside, nice article! I’m converted to Mooncup as of this summer and I love it, I’ve posted on facebook about it, got few ewwws from the crowd and that’s OK – interestingly the men were more intrigued than the women! Would love for girls to be told about it at school, would save them years of expense and hassle. And I agree, menstruation is not shameful.

    Reply
  • V

    VezOct 25, 2011 at 8:34 am

    On the Mooncup website, a women left a testimony stating that the Mooncup was “dangerous” because she’d gone from being a quiet, reserved women to suddenly wanted to talk about period and moocups with every woman she met. And exactly the same thing has happened to me – I find myself at the bus stop exhalting the virtues of the mooncup. Be proud of being a woman! 🙂

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt '90Oct 24, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    If you believe there’s such a need, why don’t you go out and invent it yourself?

    Reply
  • W

    WendyBAOct 24, 2011 at 8:59 am

    Rachael, LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this article and your very sage perspective about feminine hygiene. We couldn’t agree more with your overall assessment about social stigmas related to menstruation and hope that our business, in some way, will help to shift mindsets over time. It has taken years to get to where we are today. With the support and voice from young women like yourselves, we can do so much more–in hopefully a lot less time! Keen article…all the way around.

    Reply