Wednesday, May 09, 2007

internal affairs

When I was growing up, my dad couldn't bear to watch tampon commercials. He's not one of those habitual channel flippers, but as soon as a feminine hygiene spiel appeared, click! I don't really understand why. But Daddy, if you happen to be reading my blog, you better skip this one.

Last year, I blogged a lot about the Vagina Monologues. The felicitous combination of being involved with the production here at PTS while being pregnant caused quite a revolution in the way I experienced my body--it was sort of like a wildly positive mind/body feedback loop of feminist consciousness of self. During that time I learned about the Diva Cup from one of the other cast members. She raved about it. The rest of us were astonished that there was even a tertium quid in existence in the unsatisfactory binary world of pads v. tampons. I resolved to try it...that far distant day in the future when I would once again require such things.

Well, so I finally have. And although there's kind of a learning curve involved in using it, it's not that hard. While it does require a familiarity with one's own anatomy that pads certainly don't, at this point I consider that a plus. It's comfortable, better than tampons in that respect; it works; best of all, it is reusable: no more flushing tons of tampons into the sewage system or tossing pads in the garbage. It's simple.

The testimonials on the site are overwhelming in their gushiness. But now I get why. It really is a sort of small revolution in how we experience this natural rhythm of bodily life.

5 comments:

R-Liz said...

A gift idea right in time for Mother's Day!

JTB said...

Ah, I knew that there would be at least one person brave enough to leave a comment on this post!

Seriously, I love this thing, especially now that I've got the hang of it. SO much better than the alternatives!

R-Liz said...

Truly I'm intrigued by this thing.

Currently I'm overseeing a heavy menstrual bleeding study at our clinic. The gals have to bring back all their used tampons and pads, and then we send them away to some place that has special machines that separate the pad/tampon from what was collected in them so we can know if the study med is effective or not. This Diva Cup would probably work a WHOLE lot better for collection.

I'll try to check one out. I tried the store locator on the site, and our little town of population 150,000 has 6 places where you can purchase the Diva Cup. We gotta have one of the best person-to-Diva Cup ratios out there. You gotta love the NW.

Justin Burton said...

I got my diva cup, but I can't figure out how to get it in...I think I might have a dud. :(

Nancy E. Adams said...

Personally, I swear by Glad Rags...