Vagina!

Posted by Phoebe

I would warn you that this entry is about periods, but that would go against the spirit of the thing, wouldn’t it?

So Kotex seems to be going in a different direction with their advertising. Namely, they want us all to start talking about menstruation and vaginas instead of using veiled, metaphoric language. I’m so there!

It took me years to figure out the Dreaded Tampon. To be fair, this wasn’t my mom’s fault–she offered to show me how to use one, but, at twelve, and stupid, I was mortified by the idea. It was mostly the applicators that confused me, though I didn’t realize this until I had tampon success with an OB when I was eighteen.

I used tampons (and, a few times, Instead Cups, which kind of sucked) through college. In graduate school, I switched to sea sponges, because I was tired of spending money on tampons. A few months ago, I finally invested in some lunapads and a DivaCup. And I love love love them. I am, in fact, wearing my DivaCup right this very minute.

One thing I wish someone had taught me when I was younger is that it’s an awesome idea to only wear black underwear while you’re on your period–in fact, I have about half a dozen pairs just for that purpose. Maybe that should have been self-evident, but it wasn’t!

What do you wish you had known about periods?

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Permalink | Comments (7) | Mar 18, 2010

7 Responses to “Vagina!”

  1. Jordan Says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 8:51 pm

    I wish I knew when my first one was going to happen. I’m still waiting.

  2. Phoebe Says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    Don’t worry, Jordan! Women are all different–I’m sure the moon goddess will smile on you soon!

  3. Di Says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    I have a Diva Cup and LOVED it when I was still getting periods (not that I miss them). And black underwear was something that all girls have to figure out eventually, but you’re right, no one ever just TELLS you so! =p

  4. Tiff Says:
    March 19th, 2010 at 5:09 am

    If I was to invest in the Lunapads (which I have looked into before but never actually decided to JUST DO), what would you suggest starting with for a normal flow? Also, please explain more of how it works when traveling or out of the house, and how much of a hassle it really is to clean the damn things.

    The DivaCup was something I hadn’t heard of, but it seems delightful. Is it really comfortable? Is it really sanitary? Do I really need to buy something special to wash it with (I am on a budget, as I’m sure you’re familiar with yourself), or can I use cheap stuff like hydrogen peroxide or plain old soap? I don’t want to get an infection or whatever.

  5. Phoebe Says:
    March 19th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    Hey Tiff, I usually use Lunapad liners in combo with the divacup, so I might not be the best source on absorbency. They’re really easy to clean–they’re designed so that you can roll them up and snap them together to throw into your purse, and you just throw them in the wash. I know it sounds odd (and like it wouldn’t clean them out), but it works fine. I don’t soak mine or anything like that, and they’re not stained.

    The wash for the DivaCup is a bit of a rip-off. Since it’s silicone, it’s totally sanitary and okay to just boil it for a minute or two between cycles. During my cycle, I just rinse it in between uses (and since you can keep it in for up to 12 hours, I remove it less in public bathrooms than you’d think; when I do remove it in public bathrooms, I usually just empty it and wipe it out with TP). Keep in mind that insertion/removal is a little more invasive than tampons (I’ve heard one woman on the web describe it as “slimy,” which is accurate) so you need to wash your hands before and after–but overall, these are far safer for things like toxic shock syndrome than tampons.

  6. Inha Says:
    March 19th, 2010 at 10:52 pm

    Huh… so that’s how it works.

  7. Phoebe Says:
    March 21st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    Helpful, right?

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