Disposable tampons and pads, from the first steps of their manufacture to their bitter end in a landfill, washed up on a beach, or burning in an incinerator, have a direct effect on people, generally people of color and low income communities. Factories and pulp mills where the products are made leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater and the air, causing high incidences of respiratory illnesses and other diseases, especially in children and the elderly. The chlorine bleaching process produces dioxin as a byproduct, a known carcinogen. Factories release arsenic, barium and other heavy metals. from Tampacation.
I’ve been using del.icio.us and haven’t quite yet figured out how to add it to the sidebar of movable type. Anyway, I bring you ladies a special entry.
That my dears, is a Chastity Belt in honor of Chastity Awareness Week it isn’t until May (and only celebrated in Pennsylvania). But ladies I say we celebrate it by inserting a “Diva” or a “Keeper” or the disposable Instead Soft Cup into our vaginal openings. (The Softcup can be used during sex too without getting menstrual fluid everywhere!)
I’ve read that the Diva Cup feels better because it is silicone instead of rubber like the Keeper. I am hoping to buy one in the next couple weeks and would love to hear what you ladies think of them if you have them. I’ll let you know what I think. And then of course there are the re-useable menstrual pads. I think I might get a couple of those too.
Some of you may be wondering what is wrong with pads or tampons you get at the store. First let me address the cultural issue between the two. In general Mexican women (and I am talking about from Mexico not Chicanas) use pads instead of tampons. Using tampons is seen as a “dirty” and “sexually promiscuous”. I had to explain this to some people at the clinic. They didn’t understand why the women didn’t use tampons. I am not saying that it is dirty or reflects promiscuity. I am just saying it is something health workers should be aware of when working with a different culture.
Then there is the hygiene and safety issue. To see why they are unhealthy for you and your vagina check this link.
I wonder if cindy calls this work safe.
A friend of mine was telling me about a friend of his who used these reusable menstrual pads. I think they’re made of cloth or something like that.
So, you go into her bathroom and then there lined up on a shelf facing you while you take a shit are all these jars of cloth menstrual pads in reddish, environmental-friendly cleaning liquid.
He doesn’t go to her house anymore.
When people ask me what they should know before going to Mexico I tell the women that in many places they won’t be able to find tampons and the men and women not to flush the tp down the toilet.
I really like how your gravatar turned out. I’ll be posting a pic of a chastity belt on flickr for you soon.
I spent some time reading about the Diva Cup and a few of the other similar products. They seem too good to be true. The price looks steep too, but I guess it works out once since you don’t have to keep buying them as often as you buy pads or tampons.
Oh yeah, I have a story. When I first went through the class in 5th grade on how my body would change through puberty, the health teacher gave us pamphlets. One pamphlet has a postcard you could fill out for samples of tampons. I signed up and sent it in. When my mom saw what I got in the mail, she took it away from me and said it wasn’t for girls like me.
And yeah, Oso. I think this is work safe.