Since I last updated this blog, I have bought my first house, left a great job, came back to an even better job, learned to roller skate, got involved with roller derby, broke my ankle, and started the process of (and still am) recovering from an ankle break. As you can see, I have found plenty to keep me busy. I would love to resurrect this blog again someday, but for now, I will be satisfied with being the one who introduced many of you to women peeing standing up, reusable menstrual products, the difference between octopus and squid, and more. Maybe I’ll impart you with useless knowledge again soon. Until then, enjoy the archives!
The results are in: Cephaloblog readers like reusable menstrual products because they are comfortable and convenient.
First, thank you to everyone who entered – I love hearing why women are interested in reusable menstrual methods and the response always impresses me. I have randomly selected five winners and emailed them asking for their mailing addresses. If you entered but did not win, I hope you consider purchasing Greenblooded yourself (for a mere $2, why not?!) – and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Because you ladies ended up being so creative with your one-word answers (which I loved, really), I wasn’t able to offer a list of top 10 reasons, as planned. Instead, I broke down your answers into six basic categories: Comfort, Convenience, Cost, Empowerment, Environment, Health and then an additional Other category to cover answers that couldn’t quite be labeled.
Other answers included, “Adventurousness”, “Bullshit”, “Shalom” and “Understanding”.
As far as age range goes, 35 women from 14 to 33 entered this contest and gave one-word reasons for their interest in reusable methods. See results by age after the jump!
Comment on this blog post with a one-word reason for why you’re interested in, considering switching to, or are already a user of reusable menstrual products
Include your age* in your comment
Include your email**
You have until Saturday, January 23rd to leave your comment on this post. I will then randomly select five valid entries (“valid” in that they include all three of the things mentioned above), contact the winners by email for their shipping addresses, and have a copy of the comic Greenblooded: An Introduction to Eco-Friendly Feminine Hygiene by Cathy Leamy sent to you! (If you win!)
On Sunday, January 24th I’ll post the top ten reasons given by age range, so we can see why women of all ages support reusable options during their periods.
I’m very lucky that I have a sister that doesn’t care that I blog about her (Kel: “Whatever. None of my friends read your dumb* blog.”). Because of this, I get to relay the very exciting news that, on the last day of this past decade, Â my little baby sister got her very first period!!! Of course, I had already prepared her with a stash of cupcake-adorned Lunapads and presented her with My Little Red Book as a menarche present, but needless to say, I was more excited than she. Her words: “I wasn’t that upset when I realized I got it.”
I will admit that I know it’s pretty fricking weird for me to get overly excited about my sister getting her period, but, unlike her, I grew up with a group of friends that pined for their first periods and treated who got it first as a competition. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was our bible, and starting in fourth grade we eagerly anticipated the moment when one of us might find a spot of blood in her underpants.
The new breast cancer screening guidelines came first, with a recommendation to start regular mammograms a decade later than previously recommended, at age 50, and less often, at once every two years. Oh yeah, and they recommended that doctors should stop teaching women to self examine themselves on a regular basis.
Excuse me for the colloquialism of my generation, but – WTF?
The reason for these new guidelines being, of course, that the USPSTF’s research indicates that the benefits of cancer screening before the age of 50 do not outweigh the harms – that is, the anxiety and inconvenience regular testing gives women.
What???
I’m sorry, is this implying that the anxiety caused by awaiting test results that reveal you may or may not have cancer is actually a greater harm than having undetected cancer itself?
And sorry, another question – would you rather examine your breasts yourself regularly, find a suspicious lump, see a doctor about it, and find out it was nothing? Or would you rather never examine your breasts yourself and when you see a doctor a year later, find out you have a malignant tumor in your breast? Which would cause you more anxiety, just out of curiosity? And would you have considered the first scenario an “inconvenience”?
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the world, but it is also one of the most treatable with early detection. To remove the possibility of early detection – even if statistics show that breast cancer is less likely to occur in women aged 40-49 – is completely ridiculous. Throwing the alleviation of anxiety idea out the window (which, by the way, is totally patronizing), what could possibly be the benefits of such a recommendation?
Look, I believe that women should revel in, appreciate, and never, ever be scared of or disgusted by their periods just as much as the next hairy feminist. I think the things I’ve written advocating the use of reusablemenstrual products attest to that.
However, do I feel that life without my period would be easier? Hell yes.
Some women take issue with the fact that newer forms of birth control are being marketed to reduce or eliminate completely the number of periods you get. I can certainly understand the resulting feelings of offense – if you are someone who greatly values your monthly menstrual cycle and feel it really empowers you as a woman, being told it’s not medically necessary may not make you feel great.
But women are not defined solely by their periods, and should not be judged by whether or not they have them. Plenty of women have irregular cycles that limit the number of periods they get in a year, and plenty of women don’t have the internal equipment necessary to generate menstrual blood. This doesn’t make them any less womanly or empowered.
So I guess my question is, why shouldn’t we get our periods?
Congratulations to Jeanna for winning the Lunapads Contest Giveaway! Jeanna, please check your inbox for an email from me asking for your shipping info and fabric choice for your Sampler Pack!
Everyone else who entered, please check your inbox for a small consolation prize from Lunapads!
Let me tell you, you ladies did not make picking a winner easy! Just know that I had to narrow it down several times, and then ask for help judging the final three comments! The top three answers were all so close, I honestly wish I could have given them all a Sampler Pack.
I thank you all so, so much for your amazing responses to my questions. The number of comments I received for this contest overwhelmed me, and reading each and every one of your answers was a personal reward for me. If nothing else, this post will be a great resource for women considering making the switch from disposable to reusable menstrual products! They will find 67 incrediblereasons why from smart, passionate, amazing women.
Of course, all women have the ability to pee standing up. Millions are probably doing it in the shower as you read this. (You know that it happens).
But few have the ability to do so without urinating all over their legs or feet. Or without having to completely remove their pants and underwear. Or without having to stand or squat in an incredibly awkward and unnatural position.
Well, hover over that disgusting porta-potti seat no more, because there are plenty of ingenious devices that have been created for women, by women, to aid in making peeing like the boys do easy and comfortable.
For those scratching their heads, wondering why a woman would ever want to pee standing up, here’s a few reasons:
Dirty, disgusting public bathrooms/porta-pottisÂ
Camping and/or hiking and you don’t want a bear to see your bare ass
Long road trips with no rest stops in site
Boating (because not everyone wants to have to jump in a lake to pee)
Just a reminder to enter the Lunapads Contest Giveaway if you haven’t already – it ends in a week from today, on May 31st at 11:59 PM! it has ended! A winner will be announced by June 5, 2009!
If you haven’t heard already, I’m giving away a Lunapads Sampler Pack (worth $25!) to the woman who leaves the best comment regarding why she wants to switch to reusable menstrual products or why she thinks women should switch to reusable methods.
The responses have continued to be amazing and it will be so difficult to choose a winner – but to make me feel a little less guilty for only being able to pick one of all of the amazing comments, everyone who enters gets a Lunapads-related consolation prize.
The post to leave your comments on, as well as the complete contest details, is here. I’ll be announcing a winner (and non-winners will receive their prizes) the first week of June!
P.S. Don’t forget to check out Lunapads’ fabric swatches so that you can pick your favorite color/pattern if you win!
