Scientific Motherhood
November 26, 2016 11:02 PM Subscribe
A well-stocked and carefully curated medicine cabinet conveyed care and successful home management, while an overstuffed or unconsidered one ran afoul of received ideals of motherhood. Yet while women were responsible for the cabinet’s care and contents, certain products essential to their own health and hygiene were long thought to be inimical to it.A feminist cultural history of the medicine cabinet, an interview with Dr. Deanna Day.
I am all about this, but I have to admit there is SOME simple practicality in menstrual products going under the sink rather than in the medicine cabinet. It just seems logical to me, rather than shame thing, for two reasons:
1. The medicine cabinet is way too shallow to store them (this has been true of every medicine cabinet I've ever lived with.) I'm not even buying costco size packs of pads and tampons, but I can't think of a menstrual-supply package I've seen (short of the ones meant for a clutch) that would fit in there.
2. This depends on bathroom layout, but in 80% of bathrooms I've lived with, I can't reach the medicine cabinet from the position of sitting on the toilet. I can, however, reach the under-sink storage. So it's practical on that level - if I forget to grab a pad as I sit down, I can still reach over and get one. Incidentally, in one of the apartments I lived in with my parents while in high school, this was not true. The sink area was unreachable from the toilet entirely. As as result, menstrual products were "stored" openly, within arm's reach of the toilet. So you can see where I got my lack of shame from, I guess.
There's absolutely about 10 tons of ridiculous cultural baggage regarding menstrual supplies, but I'm not fully convinced that this particular thing isn't just a practical one.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 1:08 AM on November 27, 2016 [20 favorites]
1. The medicine cabinet is way too shallow to store them (this has been true of every medicine cabinet I've ever lived with.) I'm not even buying costco size packs of pads and tampons, but I can't think of a menstrual-supply package I've seen (short of the ones meant for a clutch) that would fit in there.
2. This depends on bathroom layout, but in 80% of bathrooms I've lived with, I can't reach the medicine cabinet from the position of sitting on the toilet. I can, however, reach the under-sink storage. So it's practical on that level - if I forget to grab a pad as I sit down, I can still reach over and get one. Incidentally, in one of the apartments I lived in with my parents while in high school, this was not true. The sink area was unreachable from the toilet entirely. As as result, menstrual products were "stored" openly, within arm's reach of the toilet. So you can see where I got my lack of shame from, I guess.
There's absolutely about 10 tons of ridiculous cultural baggage regarding menstrual supplies, but I'm not fully convinced that this particular thing isn't just a practical one.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 1:08 AM on November 27, 2016 [20 favorites]
Gloriouslyincandescent, that the typical medicine cabinet is too shallow to hold sanitary products, and that they're packaged to be bulky are deliberate decisions that don't prioritise women's needs. The article mentions that the initial cabinets evolved out of medicine boxes but they went on to be deliberately designed - the Popular Science first prize winner in the illustration is pretty awesome. Ikea for example has bathroom cabinets with depths ranging from 10 to 30cm.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 2:02 AM on November 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 2:02 AM on November 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
The bathroom is the worst place to keep medicine; better to do so in the kitchen.
posted by brujita at 5:23 AM on November 27, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by brujita at 5:23 AM on November 27, 2016 [8 favorites]
Most places I've lived haven't had medicine cabinets. Growing up medicine was usually in the kitchen (I think one house had a cabinet in the master bedroom, but not the kids). One place had a cabinet over the toilet where we kept menstrual supplies (three daughters+mom = a lot on hand at all times), but usually it is under the sink because that was the only storage spot.
My husband and I currently keep medicine in a box under the sink, right next to all the tampons and extra toilet paper.
posted by ghost phoneme at 7:51 AM on November 27, 2016
My husband and I currently keep medicine in a box under the sink, right next to all the tampons and extra toilet paper.
posted by ghost phoneme at 7:51 AM on November 27, 2016
I've always assumed medicine cabinets are shallow because they're designed to fit inside the studs, so much deeper than two inches isn't practical.
posted by sfred at 7:56 AM on November 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by sfred at 7:56 AM on November 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
The bathroom is the worst place to keep medicine; better to do so in the kitchen.
Yeah, growing up, we had a meds drawer in the kitchen (with first aid stuff in there as well), and a shelf in the fridge for things needing to be kept cold (and I keep that same scheme up). Either parent advised on appropriate use of the stuff, though I just trusted my mom a bit more on this. (My dad preferred to use folk remedies from his childhood for some things, for himself. Not necessarily for us, but as a North American 80s kid, I just did not fully trust anyone who used whiskey as an antiseptic, or advocated hot wine and sugar for a cough.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 7:57 AM on November 27, 2016
Yeah, growing up, we had a meds drawer in the kitchen (with first aid stuff in there as well), and a shelf in the fridge for things needing to be kept cold (and I keep that same scheme up). Either parent advised on appropriate use of the stuff, though I just trusted my mom a bit more on this. (My dad preferred to use folk remedies from his childhood for some things, for himself. Not necessarily for us, but as a North American 80s kid, I just did not fully trust anyone who used whiskey as an antiseptic, or advocated hot wine and sugar for a cough.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 7:57 AM on November 27, 2016
I have a '40s-50s medicine cabinet that is too small for my many product requirements, but nonetheless fascinates me because of the razor blade slot. How midcentury is that? Out of sight, out of mind! No way this space will ever be filled up or pose a risk to workers in the future.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:38 AM on November 27, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 8:38 AM on November 27, 2016 [9 favorites]
I also have a razor blade slot! It fascinates me, too. The bathroom medicine cabinet contains various toiletries. The medicine is kept in a kitchen cabinet. First aid supplies are in the bathroom closet, which is outside of the bathroom. My house is weird.
posted by Ruki at 11:02 AM on November 27, 2016
posted by Ruki at 11:02 AM on November 27, 2016
When we moved into a new house when I was a kid, I imagined that the slot must surely feed down eventually to hell itself. Our cleaning lady at the time seemed more impressed by the Benzedrine inhalers also found in that cabinet.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:10 AM on November 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:10 AM on November 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Our new apartment has a giant storage unit in the bathroom suitable for pretty much anything you want, including towels. It's nice. My wife still keeps tampons in the usual, highly practical, place: hidden in every available compartment and drawer, like a squirrel burying nuts for winter.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:12 AM on November 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:12 AM on November 27, 2016 [7 favorites]
I've always assumed medicine cabinets are shallow because they're designed to fit inside the studs, so much deeper than two inches isn't practical.
Studs are 2x4 or 2x6 and in a properly-framed home, it's the 2" part that will be facing you, i.e. the longer side will be the depth of the wall.
posted by fraula at 12:01 PM on November 27, 2016
Studs are 2x4 or 2x6 and in a properly-framed home, it's the 2" part that will be facing you, i.e. the longer side will be the depth of the wall.
posted by fraula at 12:01 PM on November 27, 2016
Oh, we also have a cabinet over the toilet, and that is filled with pads and tampons and glorified baby wipes. And also the Q-Tips.
posted by Ruki at 7:27 PM on November 27, 2016
posted by Ruki at 7:27 PM on November 27, 2016
that the typical medicine cabinet is too shallow to hold sanitary products, and that they're packaged to be bulky are deliberate decisions that don't prioritise women's needs.
While the article has some interesting things to say about how these spaces develop, I can't say I agree with you on these points. That sanitary products are available as bulk-buys is a convenience to me as a consumer. That medicine cabinets are the wrong size to hold sanitary products is fine, because medicine storage and sanitary product storage needs are mutually exclusive. To be useful, sanitary products need to be stored somewhere that they can be reached from sitting on the toilet. To be safe, medicines need to be stored somewhere that is beyond the reach of small children. I don't see any way to reconcile these two things in a world where toilets are a thing small children can potentially climb on.
My wife still keeps tampons in the usual, highly practical, place: hidden in every available compartment and drawer, like a squirrel burying nuts for winter.
I'm not even content in just doing this for my own house and have been known to hide "squirrel tampons" in the bathroom furniture of male friends and relatives along with public bathrooms that I use with any kind of frequency. If you've ever removed a bathroom mirror from the wall, only to be mystified by a single tampon falling down from where it was balanced on the hook behind, blame me: the tampon squirrel.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:59 PM on November 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
While the article has some interesting things to say about how these spaces develop, I can't say I agree with you on these points. That sanitary products are available as bulk-buys is a convenience to me as a consumer. That medicine cabinets are the wrong size to hold sanitary products is fine, because medicine storage and sanitary product storage needs are mutually exclusive. To be useful, sanitary products need to be stored somewhere that they can be reached from sitting on the toilet. To be safe, medicines need to be stored somewhere that is beyond the reach of small children. I don't see any way to reconcile these two things in a world where toilets are a thing small children can potentially climb on.
My wife still keeps tampons in the usual, highly practical, place: hidden in every available compartment and drawer, like a squirrel burying nuts for winter.
I'm not even content in just doing this for my own house and have been known to hide "squirrel tampons" in the bathroom furniture of male friends and relatives along with public bathrooms that I use with any kind of frequency. If you've ever removed a bathroom mirror from the wall, only to be mystified by a single tampon falling down from where it was balanced on the hook behind, blame me: the tampon squirrel.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:59 PM on November 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
My wife still keeps tampons in the usual, highly practical, place: hidden in every available compartment and drawer, like a squirrel burying nuts for winter.
It's true! Because of pregnancy/post-pregnancy/IUD I haven't had a period in over a year and yet if you open any piece of luggage in our house it will have a large number of tampons in a variety of sizes many of which have probably been there for four or five years.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:22 AM on November 28, 2016
It's true! Because of pregnancy/post-pregnancy/IUD I haven't had a period in over a year and yet if you open any piece of luggage in our house it will have a large number of tampons in a variety of sizes many of which have probably been there for four or five years.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:22 AM on November 28, 2016
Don't you people keep little supply baskets on or near your toilet tanks?
posted by tangerine at 12:07 PM on November 28, 2016
posted by tangerine at 12:07 PM on November 28, 2016
I've had a couple apartments where on the tank wasn't possible (one had a narrow shelving unit right above, another had the flusher there). Generally the sink has been right by the toilet, so it's convenient enough.
posted by ghost phoneme at 12:06 PM on November 29, 2016
posted by ghost phoneme at 12:06 PM on November 29, 2016
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