This is not a women's issue. Don't try to make it a women's rights thing
October 21, 2015 7:56 AM   Subscribe

Periods? Risqué. Women in bikinis selling plastic surgery? Not in the slightest.

Thinx panties are leak-proof panties you can wear to replace your tampons.
posted by jeather (53 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
While not terribly keen on trying leak-proof panties, I think this whole rigamarole about women's periods being UH SO GROSS AND YOU SHOULD BE QUIET ABOUT THAT SHIT LADIES mentality that we've been beaned with our entire lives needs to DIAF. Listen, I hate my period like every other women, but I am sick it of feeling like a dirty secret I should be ashamed of.
posted by Kitteh at 8:00 AM on October 21, 2015 [41 favorites]


any plus size reviews of thinx out there (or in here)? they look great for the small hip/belly set, but i wonder how they fit in their 123X sizes.
posted by nadawi at 8:06 AM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


Having used cloth diapers for a couple years with my kid, I'm not super jazzed about wearing cloth diapers myself (I've used reusable pads, but the undies kind of turns the whole enterprise into too much of literally-a-diaper for my particular needs), but I completely agree with Kitteh. And there seems to be very little room between EW GROSSSSSS YUCK and I Am An Earth Goddess And I Paint With My Menstrual Blood. I'm really on Team Meh. It's not superfun good times but it's just a bodily function like any other, not any more or less gross than having to take a leak several times a day.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:12 AM on October 21, 2015 [21 favorites]


Kids might ask their parents about periods? Good lord what is this world coming to? Heaven forbid boys and girls grow up with accurate, non-shameful ideas about the elements that led to their very existence.

I know that's pretty much the gist of the article, and the anger about it, but ugh.
posted by shenkerism at 8:12 AM on October 21, 2015 [10 favorites]


she suspects that the double standard might have something to do with the fact that all of Outfront’s sales representatives and five of seven members of its leadership team are men.
...
According to Agrawal, the rep also asked what a nine-year-old boy might think if he saw the ads, and how his mother could explain them to him.


the sooner 9yo boys learn not to be a bunch of women's-bodies-fearing dbags like you turned out to be the better bro. you're embarrassing and you should feel embarrassed.

(same Kitteh, not interested in these products, hate my period which i am on right now--but no surprises or accidents this month yayyy, enraged at the general stupid stupid attitude.)
posted by twist my arm at 8:17 AM on October 21, 2015 [26 favorites]


Just an anecdote, but twice within the last week or so I've seen stickers slapped over keys areas of those breast enlargement ads reading "This degrades women".
posted by JaredSeth at 8:19 AM on October 21, 2015 [18 favorites]


Kids might ask their parents about periods? Good lord what is this world coming to? Heaven forbid boys and girls grow up with accurate, non-shameful ideas about the elements that led to their very existence.

As with most things people find "icky", your kids will be bored halfway through your explanation, will listen to you finish it up, will wander away to find a snack and will spend the rest of their lives wondering why people make a fuss about stuff. It's the final step that angers people. They want their kids to have all of the same prejudices and opinions that they have. Why would they want to make something seem like a normal human bodily function when that's not how they think of it?

People need to be confronted by their prejudices more often, especially when they are inane. And their kids need to realize sooner that their parents are idiots.
posted by Seamus at 8:20 AM on October 21, 2015 [11 favorites]


In case anyone is curious, the latest MTA Advertising Standards (last revised in 2012) can be seen on this page. The NYS law regarding obscenity it references (Penal code Article 235) is here. Those ads clearly don't violate anything in either document.

Thanks for including the Mic article link. I liked this quote:
"Just as New York City is potentially about to pass legislation to scrap the tax on feminine hygiene products, the MTA is not letting the word 'period' appear in the subway," Agrawal said. "We can objectify women in their lingerie, but the minute we acknowledge that they might be bleeding in their underwear, it's no longer acceptable.
Also, it's interesting that this isn't the first time Outfront's ridiculous double standard has been noted.
posted by zarq at 8:20 AM on October 21, 2015 [4 favorites]


Me, I've always wistfully wished that a period-blood brand would market/advertise itself along the lines of Blackbeard's Rugged Tampons--there's got to be some room for talking about this stuff for those of us who neither swoon in womanly embarrassment at the thought of openly acknowledging periods nor do the delighting-in-womanly-mystery painting-with-my-moon-blood thing. Right? Because I find it really hard to find any brand of anything related to periods that isn't uber-femme, frequently in the most annoyingly ethereal style humanly possible.The closest I can think of to an exception is this old kickstarter, and that's just regular underwear with a fairly bloody print.

Where's the period marketing with some sense of humor?
posted by sciatrix at 8:21 AM on October 21, 2015 [30 favorites]


snort that is awesome sci. "Fer pluggin' the bloody hole afore th' smarks smell ye!"
posted by twist my arm at 8:25 AM on October 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


We have TV commercials where a british woman harasses people coming out of the bathroom about the quality of their toilet paper. If we can talk about shit why not discuss periods?
posted by photoslob at 8:26 AM on October 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


Goddamn, those ads are GREAT.

According to Agrawal, the rep also asked what a nine-year-old boy might think if he saw the ads, and how his mother could explain them to him.

No idea, I guess we should probably give up!

I mean, how does a mom explain that men would get the vapors if women openly acknowledged their periods on TV, so commercials for menstrual products need to use translucent blue liquid or clever metaphors to hide it from them? (My parents told us the blue stuff was a stand-in for pee and signed us out of health class in school, so we all grew up thinking women simply became embarrassingly incontinent in adulthood. Whee!) Doesn't she already have to explain to her kids about how it's perfectly OK that women's bodies have long been dehumanized, objectified, and used to sell every kind of product and service (NSFW) imaginable, but that ads about stuff that might be able to make our own lives a little easier need to be couched in layers of indecipherable mystique that make our bodies seem even more like weird, gross secrets than they already do?

I'd buy the hell out of some Thinx if I didn't already have a perfectly good set of cloth menstrual pads, which are basically the same thing except interchangeable between pairs of underwear and like $5-7 each instead of $30something.

Where's the period marketing with some sense of humor?

Does this count? (Previously.)
posted by divined by radio at 8:27 AM on October 21, 2015 [14 favorites]


everyone i've seen who has thinx underwear aren't using it as the sole method, it's the back up. one of the women from the-toast was very happy the other day to have them on when there was some sort of malfunction with her menstrual cup.
posted by nadawi at 8:27 AM on October 21, 2015 [4 favorites]


I have to admit, I don't actually understand the point of the egg ad. But the rest of them seem pretty harmless, especially relative to the bullshit breast augmentation ads.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:29 AM on October 21, 2015


jacquilynne, the article states that the the (unfertilized) egg in the ad is akin to the unfertilized egg that is a part of menstruation. The aesthetics of the thing--Why is it sliding off of a ledge? Is that supposed to be suggestive as well?-are a little lacking in my opinion.

The whole "he said it looked like male ejaculation or female fluids" Rorschach moment made me giggle. Hey Outfront dude, you're bringing that to the table. (And if your ejaculate is the yellow of an egg yolk, or contains an egg yolk, see your doctor.)
posted by tummy_rub at 8:47 AM on October 21, 2015 [6 favorites]


Does this count? (Previously.)

Linked it myself! ;) Although I linked to the defunct kickstarter and not the current company page, so thanks for digging that out!
posted by sciatrix at 8:48 AM on October 21, 2015


You know, I have two nieces who are nowhere near menstruation age, but given the sort of embarrassed way my mom dealt with it for me and my sister, I plan on being the aunt who says, "That shit is normal and natural. Anybody, especially guys, who are grossed out by what your body does needs to get gone out of your life until they can be grown-ups."
posted by Kitteh at 8:51 AM on October 21, 2015 [4 favorites]


Quite a few of the women on a list that I'm on have these and have liked them; some use them alone, some as back up. Not sure about plus sizes (but on the list they recommend sizing up one).

Agreed that it would really be lovely if early education around menstruating was aimed at "here's a normal thing that happens."
posted by n. moon at 8:53 AM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


I wish we could grow up as a society and tampon/pad/cup/etc commercials could just be straightforward. We have ads for boner pills, we have ads for toilet paper involving bears inspecting each others' butts, why can't there be menstruation commercials (I dislike 'feminine hygiene products' bc not everyone with a vagina identifies as female or even feminine) that are just like "Yo, bleeding happens, this will soak it up."
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:53 AM on October 21, 2015 [8 favorites]


Just an anecdote, but twice within the last week or so I've seen stickers slapped over key areas of those breast enlargement ads reading "This degrades women".

That's great and, of course, true and I fucking hate those ads with the grapefruits and the tangerines. But I love whoever is running around reclaiming them by scrawling "LOVE YOUR TANGERINES!" across them in black sharpie.
posted by The Bellman at 8:59 AM on October 21, 2015 [16 favorites]


We have ads for boner pills

Yeah, that was my first thought. I've been watching a lot of baseball lately (Let's Go Mets!), and every commercial break has at least one dick pill commercial, often two in a row. How many kids are watching baseball games? Lots. If it's okay to talk about getting and maintaining an erection (!!!), putting the kibosh on ads that reference menstruation is pure horseshit.

(And yeah, those boob job subway ads should all be vandalized until they disappear.)
posted by uncleozzy at 9:00 AM on October 21, 2015 [15 favorites]


the rep also asked what a nine-year-old boy might think if he saw the ads, and how his mother could explain them to him.
Ha, I can answer that! In at least one case, the ultimate outcome would be that the boy would find out what the ads were about, and then find himself, later in life, utterly unfazed by menstruation and witty ads for related products, instead confused and kind of squicked out by other men's horrified reactions to discussion of same.

Then again, since (thanks in part to Outfront, it seems) the reactions are more common than the ads, perhaps this is not the best grounding for that nine-year-old, and the rep was right to be concerned...
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 9:04 AM on October 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


Linked it myself! ;) Although I linked to the defunct kickstarter and not the current company page, so thanks for digging that out!

D'oh! I'm sorry, I had no idea they came from Kickstarter, so I assumed I wasn't about to do my most-hated "hey, here's a link... that you just linked" thing. Gonna go ahead and blame my lapse in judgment on the fact that I just started my period. ;)

I plan on being the aunt who says, "That shit is normal and natural. Anybody, especially guys, who are grossed out by what your body does needs to get gone out of your life until they can be grown-ups."

Ditto. The quotidian nature of menstruation aside, I want to encourage girls and women to talk about what they experience when it comes to how their cycles are in general, to help more people realize what is and isn't within the range of 'normal' menstrual side effects. So many of us are totally unaware that our symptoms (extremely heavy bleeding, unusually painful cramping, depression, etc.) actually need to be addressed medically because we're taught (and doctors will often adamantly echo back to us) that women are hysterical and tend to exaggerate our pain. Among other things, that's how we wind up with thousands of women who suffer through untold years of endometriosis and PMDD without even trying to get a diagnosis or treatment.
posted by divined by radio at 9:09 AM on October 21, 2015 [10 favorites]


I plan on being the aunt who says,

my aunt who made a menstrual prepper basket for me was a life saver in so many ways.
posted by nadawi at 9:16 AM on October 21, 2015 [4 favorites]


In at least one case, the ultimate outcome would be that the boy would find out what the ads were about, and then find himself, later in life, utterly unfazed by menstruation

You mean like this guy?
posted by zombieflanders at 9:27 AM on October 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


You mean like this guy?

Or these guys? (K&P, NSFW)
posted by fuse theorem at 9:51 AM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


...the rep also asked what a 9-year-old boy might think if he saw the ads and how his mother could explain them to him.

The "it might make a child ask an embarrassing question" standard of decency is a poor one, but it's common enough and unsurprising.

But the banal old assumptions baked right into the statement, even leaving aside the larger worldview problems it suggests, pile on so fast it's breathtaking. Of course we're worried about what goes on in a boy's head. Of course we doubt a woman's ability to explain anything about her own body without becoming helplessly flustered. Of course we exclude the possibility that a father might be called upon for the same explanation.

It's poetry, really, so dense with meaning that the unpacking of the statement takes far more words than the original statement.
posted by Western Infidels at 10:01 AM on October 21, 2015 [25 favorites]


How is it that the ad I find the most suggestive is the grapefruit?
posted by maryr at 10:24 AM on October 21, 2015 [6 favorites]


According to Agrawal, the rep also asked what a nine-year-old boy might think if he saw the ads, and how his mother could explain them to him.

"well son, for starters, you personally came slithering out of a vagina, mine actually, covered in blood and snot and screaming like a fucking banshee, and so did pretty much everyone else you know. that's just one of the many exciting things that vaginas can do! also sometimes they bleed." how's that.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:41 AM on October 21, 2015 [35 favorites]


I don't specifically remember being briefed, but I recall thinking "oh, so that's what they meant by 'spotting'," went into the master bedroom and took a pad from my mother's supplies, which she'd shown me before, and I went about my day. I figured I knew the drill and there was no reason to bring it up. The next day my mother asked me if I'd started my period (presumably because she'd noticed the missing pads), and I confirmed. She then proceeded to make what seemed, to me, at the time, a ridiculous huge deal of the whole thing. She told my father and brothers that I had started menstruating (they didn't seem surprised or confused, so apparently they, too, were clear on the concept and mechanics) and she was taking me out for lunch and to buy a new outfit. She said that it was part of growing up and deserved to be observed as a rite of passage. So I got lunch, a new outfit, and a gentle suggestion to let my mother know if the pad supply ever got low, because my cycle might be a little uneven at first, so we might need to adjust the shopping pattern.

Having heard stories from my peers about the many ways one can have a rude surprise, I now really appreciate the education I got, silly (to my adolescent perspective) rite of passage and all.

[Years later my mother told me the story of how she'd had a closed hymen and that she'd needed surgery to have her first period and the whole thing had been kind of traumatic for her. I am not at all surprised that she waited until I'd settled into a rhythm before bringing up that story, even though theoretically that was good information to know was a possibility.]

I also remember being in the junior high school health class where they put the girls in one room and the boys in another and we saw the short film on how terrible it was for a girl to have to go out and buy her own pads one day, because her brother might see and that would be mortifying. I spoke up to say that if a brother or friend had a problem it was their problem and the proper response was a contemptuous eye-roll, and besides, boys had to deal with some embarrassing and gross things themselves. "Like what?" the girls challenged. I backed down because if the health teacher whose job it was to teach this stuff wasn't going to explain nocturnal emissions and random erections, given the prompt and my pleading look, then neither was I. It was very annoying.

I had problems later as a senior girl scout because I'd occasionally want to inform or reassure one of the younger girls, and would have to worry about whether the girl's mother would be angry at me for passing on "secrets" too early.

Why are they "secrets"? Aaargh! There is no reason for this stuff to be secret!
posted by Karmakaze at 10:55 AM on October 21, 2015 [19 favorites]


I think these are a cool idea but seem impractical for me, as I am bleeding an ungodly amount at the moment (bled thru my pad last night - changed pad and undies at 4 a.m. and checked bedsheets for blood with a flashlight as to not wake my hubby, omg not fun). I can't imagine I'd be able to easily change my underwear at work.
posted by agregoli at 10:58 AM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, the statement made that this is not a women's issue is so enraging. No, not to certain men, I suppose.
posted by agregoli at 11:05 AM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm really upset about the grapefruit though. I don't want highly acidic fruit juice and pulp oozing out of my vagina. I don't want anyone to have to use a special serrated spoon to extract the discarded lining of their uterus.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:09 AM on October 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yeah, that was my first thought. I've been watching a lot of baseball lately [DELETED], and every commercial break has at least one dick pill commercial, often two in a row. How many kids are watching baseball games? Lots. If it's okay to talk about getting and maintaining an erection (!!!), putting the kibosh on ads that reference menstruation is pure horseshit.

OK, now this edited version of your comments, I can totally get behind.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:32 AM on October 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


This seems like the perfect place to tell one of my favorite little-kid stories:

My wife and I (both women) have three kids; 2 girls and a boy. We have been quite open about this kind of stuff from very early on and it's treated like just any other bathroom function. When they asked, we showed them how tampons and pads work (with a cup of water), and we've emphasized how utterly normal this is. Our son is 2 years younger than the girls and it appears that he missed a few of the finer points during our talks - one day when he was about 5 he said to my wife: 'mommy, when I grow up I don't ever want to get my period.' My wife chuckled and said 'because they cause cramps sometimes?' and he said 'no, I just don't want to bleed out of my butt!'
posted by widdershins at 12:01 PM on October 21, 2015 [7 favorites]


I do not say these sorts of things lightly, because people need their jobs, but the people who would even raise a question about the appropriateness of those ads should be fired and replaced with adults. This is a violation of child labor laws.

I used to have a trolly account on Slashdot inspired by common trend there where people would complain about tampon commercials for some reason. They'd all turn into little hothouse flowers the minute anything even hinted at periods, and some of them advocated full or partial bans on advertising for ladies' necessaries. So I made an account where I discussed technical topics with menstruation analogies, and I'd be as graphic and detailed as possible while still being relevant. Network security topics are especially ripe for that sort of thing.

I didn't manage to shoehorn many things in to my satisfaction, so I posted pretty rarely no that account, but when I did, I relished getting buried, especially when I was posting on a topic where I had specific expertise, because a) ha ha, grossed you out, you big baby, and b) that information might have actually been valuable to them professionally, but it had this built-in security system that made it unavailable to misogynists.
posted by ernielundquist at 12:15 PM on October 21, 2015 [28 favorites]


ernielundquist, I swear you have talked about doing this before and all I want today is to read those explanations.
posted by jeather at 12:21 PM on October 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


As with most things people find "icky", your kids will be bored halfway through your explanation, will listen to you finish it up, will wander away to find a snack and will spend the rest of their lives wondering why people make a fuss about stuff.

Aww. This reminds me of a close female relative who had a miscarriage a few years back and, after steeling herself to explain the situation to her eight-year-old, was interrupted halfway through by "Mom, I'm hungry."
posted by psoas at 12:33 PM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


Two things:

1) As the single father of a teenage girl, I find it really, really sad how many women I know that are completely amazed that I go and get pads/tampons for my daughter when she needs them, rather that recruiting my GF (or some other person without a penis) . For that matter, I always got/get them for my GFs as well.

I mean, it is cool that I get "awesome guy cred" , but come on. It isn't a big deal.

I mean, menstruation is a huge deal; It is instrumental in the whole continuation of the species thing, affects ~ 50% of the population 1x/month. But buying them as a man? I don't have a problem buying toilet paper, why would i have a problem buying tampons?

Why is blatant sexuality (Viagra and breast implant ads) allowed, but these ads are to scandalous?

The only thing I can think, is that having a period is something that is"gross and human", and that interferes with the dominant narrative that women's bodies are "to be kept attractive and clean and available to the men that own them" rather than "their own"



2)
"[...] kids need to realize sooner that their parents are idiots."

I could not agree more.
posted by das_2099 at 12:51 PM on October 21, 2015 [8 favorites]


I am so damn sick of this bullshit and how much time and energy I have spent over a lifetime either being ashamed, or fighting being ashamed, of my body and it's perfectly normal processes. I'm doing what I can to stop apologizing about existing and I can totally recommend #LiveTweetYourPeriod for talking about your period like the normal thing it is.
posted by Space Kitty at 12:57 PM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


ernielundquist, I swear you have talked about doing this before and all I want today is to read those explanations.

You and me both. I've tried to find that account, but I think I used a one-off username, which I totally forget, and I posted from that account at work so I wouldn't even have artifacts or drafts lying around on my system. Also, I was working in a pretty specialized field at the time, and most of my actual technical knowledge has been obliterated, so I don't even remember the core topics very well.

I do remember that napkins were firewalls in one example, and I think that tampons were blacklists/whitelists, and hormonal birth control was some sort of heuristic. And a DDOS was a light but steady flow that required consistent but relatively hands-off protection, whereas targeted attacks were more like clots, which would need to be addressed with greater vigilance and more concerted containment.

I'm not even sure I'm remembering those correctly, but that was the gist, anyway.
posted by ernielundquist at 12:59 PM on October 21, 2015 [8 favorites]


I just went through this yesterday! My husband has back issues which require the use of pain medication, which causes constipation, which I get to hear about.

I started my period yesterday and I can't remember what I said but his response was "Gross!". Gladly, I replied about all the gross body issues he shares with me so he can shut it. He's otherwise totally fine with picking up anything I need so I was kind of shocked.

(We haven't had much interaction about this because until a few months ago I had an IUD and didn't have a period. Now that its back, I can't wait to be done with it again. Ugh).
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:04 PM on October 21, 2015


I spent much of yesterday in a groggy haze because, the night before, I woke up at 3 AM with period cramps, staggered to the bathroom in the dark without my glasses, and took what I thought was ibuprofen but turned out, in the morning, to have been melatonin-- same size bottle, same shape pill.

Is there a product available to prevent that?
posted by nonasuch at 1:22 PM on October 21, 2015


How many women would buy hemorrhoid cream, or jock itch cream for their husbands, or pick up their boner pills prescriptions, without even thinking about it? Or clean up if he throws up? Or do the million other caring things a spouse might have to do for their partner?

The least a guy could do is be ok with picking up an emergency pack of pads/tampons/whatever when she needs him to. I know most of you guys here wouldn't hesitate to do so, but clearly there are lots of men out there who just Cannot Deal.
posted by emjaybee at 1:41 PM on October 21, 2015 [4 favorites]


Perpendicular to the "yeah, this is sexist" nonsense of periods being somehow a Bridge Too Far in Media (and with many men) - it is very diaper like, but I swear by urinary incontinence pads during really heavy periods. I get the full kit and caboodle, and I've had a lot fewer blood stains overnight ever since.

My favorite "boy explores period stuff" story is about a male friend who... for some reason he interacted with my pads when I bought them and was curious, so I let him have one and he opened it up and asked questions of me and the other two women there at the time, and it was interesting because the three or us had slightly different ways of placing in underwear, so I got some tips.
posted by Deoridhe at 3:22 PM on October 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


How is it that the ad I find the most suggestive is the grapefruit?

I thought that as well, but I'm not sure if I was supposed to get an O'Keeffe vibe or if it is supposed to provoke thoughts of dripping juice or something.

The ads seem entirely family-friendly and appropriate for public display. If the plastic surgery and other ads shown are what is considered ok for display on the subway, I can't see the slightest reason to not show the period underwear ads.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:58 PM on October 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


The first Period Panties Kickstarter also recently had a followup Kickstarter with boyshorts. You can also get the panties on his website. As a proud backer of both Kickstarters (and expecting the boyshorts this month) I have to say they're wonderful and totally worth it. (My fave are Cunt Dracula.)

Also, I guess I can see why people might think some of these specific ads are "gross" because the thought of a runny egg in my undies grosses ME out and I openly discuss periods. I dunno, the slimy egg in any context would feel icky.

That said, saying that it's just because it's about periods or you can't have ads about periods that are more straightforward is bullshit. There's way more straightforward ads about tons of other shit out there. You can explain to your kid what goddamn periods are. Or, did anyone maybe think that a 9 year old kid isn't fucking paying attention to an ad like that OR ignores it if he doesn't get it? I can't even tell you all the ads I probably ignored as a kid.

And speaking of dudes, I am lucky to be around such great guys. My dad taught me to shave my legs and helped me pick out tampons. "Let's try the slim fit plastic ones first." He also routinely picked up my birth control from the pharmacy on the way home from work and was baffled when the ladies there thought it was "thoughtful." Like, it's just a pill. When I would pick it up they literally said, "Are you the one that your dad picks these up for you?"... Yup. Also my husband has NO qualms about picking up period products or Monistat. I usually send a photo of what I need just because he gets overwhelmed by the selection.
posted by Crystalinne at 8:24 PM on October 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


OK, now this edited version of your comments, I can totally get behind.

I never thought I would be gloating over sports in a thread about menstruation, but here I am.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:04 AM on October 22, 2015


nadawi: my aunt who made a menstrual prepper basket for me was a life saver in so many ways.

Thank you for this great idea. We have a few years before our daughter might need one, but last night I mentioned the concept to my wife and we'll put one together when it's time.
--

I know some of these links have been covered on Mefi before, but they turned up when I googled "menstrual care package." Perhaps someone else might find them helpful?
* The Period Store
* HelloFlo
* Le Parcel (Despite the big "Tampons Delivered Monthly" text on the front of the site, they also send panty liners and pads.)
* Bonjour Jolie. Their "First Period" box is here.
posted by zarq at 8:18 AM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


was interesting because the three or us had slightly different ways of placing in underwear, so I got some tips.

anything to share?
posted by twist my arm at 9:17 AM on October 22, 2015


I have really wanted to try The Period Store because why not support a Canadian business with my vagina needs?
posted by Kitteh at 9:19 AM on October 22, 2015


anything to share?

Reversing a pad so that the long part goes to the top instead of the bottom works a lot better. Overnights are a godsend - I buy pretty much nothing else. Wings are good for anchoring - tear off the back panel but leave the wing panel in place until the end.
posted by Deoridhe at 11:58 AM on October 22, 2015


My husband now knows that tampons and pads make excellent large-wound packing material and bandages till you can get to a health-care center. Combine with an Ace bandage for pressure and you're good to go.

Protip for the boyscouts out there.
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 7:34 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


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