Our Bodies, Our Tampons
This week, Feministing interviews Madeline Shaw, the founder of Lunapads, a company that makes and sells "natural" menstrual products.
When Shaw, who holds a Women's Studies degree, read an article about the dangers of tampons many years agao, she developed an environmental consciousness to go with her feminist one. Shaw said goodbye to commercial disposable pads and tampons and created a washable menstrual pad.
It sounds pretty straightforward, but judging by the comments Shaw's language left a lot of readers seeing red. Shaw sees her products as a way for women to get in touch with their bodies. For me, why are people weird around the [menstrual] blood? They are weird around blood because our blood is a literal symbol of women’s power. It really is, because it’s basically saying, 'Hey, you can have a baby.' Women’s power is the most feared thing by women and men alike in our whole society. And so menstruation, to me, is a reminder that you are an extremely powerful being. That you are connected to the cycles of the moon and the tides, and the great Mother Earth and nature. What’s more powerful than that? But then it’s like, uh, I can't touch that. I can't deal with that. It’s gross. It’s disgusting. No, man, this is really something amazing.
I have so many problems with this.
First, when will people stop defining womanhood with reproductive fertility? Yes, we may reproduce if we can and if we choose to. Where does Shaw's attitude leave post-menopausal women, those who've had a hysterectomy or can't have children for other reasons, or simply don't want to?
Menstruation has no power. In fact, it can leave some women feeling quite the opposite. Many women experience various unpleasant symptoms such as significant menstrual pain, abdominal pain, migraine headaches, breast tenderness, depression and irritability. Menstrual blood has no power either; it's waste. It's what our body gets rid of because we don't need it.
It's true that tampons, pads, disposable cups and their packaging generate tons of bulky waste per year, much of which is not biodegradable. I act consciously here. I'll recycle, I'll eat organic, and drive less, but I'm not giving up my tampons.
All menstrual products are artificial means to absorb or catch menses to prevent soiling including your Lunapads, Ms. Shaw, so please get off your high horse. If you want to talk about what's natural, let's revisit this discussion when you allow your menses to flow freely.
I'm not somehow repressed because I choose disposable products rather than washable ones. I'm taking control of my body, a body that I'm very aware of since I live in it. I'm not crazy about those pills that women take where they get their periods just once or twice a year, but it's a woman's choice, like contraception or abortion. Being in control of your own body is empowering, not washing soiled pads or cleaning up a bloody gore fest at 4 in the morning.
I'm a feminist. I'm Pagan. I buy Tampax.
2 comments:
Have you condsidered sponges? Lunapads sells them also.
I was a devout tampon user for many years. I would put one in, change it when necessary, but basically kept my vagina plugged up because, well, I thought the whole process was gross.
See, that's what I was taught. To be ashamed, to be embarrassed, to never speak of it in front of others. Men needed to be protected and shielded from my periods to the point where i would be screamed at my my mother for not wrapping my tampons up enough (one of her husband's sons caught of glimpse of one in the trash. You can't flush them if you have a septic system). And every month I had those painful periods you describe. Most months I would have to be dismissed from school because of the bloating, cramping, diarehea, nausea.
When I was in my mid twenties I read Cunt<: A Declaration of Independce by Inga Muscio and was impressed by her ideas, so I tried one. I got myself a nice towel and made that my "menstrual towel." Slowly I moved away from tampons, first with sea sponges, then to face clothes I stole from the hospital I worked at. Eventually I got myself some Lunapads, which I love dearly.
And you know what? The painful periods went away, slowly like my use of convential menstrual products. Every now and again they come back but now I can tell why: stress, poor eating, or both.
Now that I've gone Lunapad, I'll never go back. I don't even like to use the sea sponges unless I have too; I just don't want anything stopping my Moontime from flowing freely.
Nio: You're absolutely right in that most girls are taught to be ashamed of their bodies and menstruation. Anything that helps women overcome this conditioning is good in my book. I'm glad you like Lunapads and yes, Cunt is a great book. Thanks for your comments.
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