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Radical Menstruation
By Kerri Provost
http://www.hartfordimc.org/wiki/index.php?title=Radical_Menstruation

The average menstruating person will toss around three hundred pounds of disposable pads, tampons, and applicators in her lifetime—an amount which is roughly the equivalent of ten thousand of these items. While mothers openly debate the merits and drawbacks of disposable versus cloth diapers, few women recognize that reusable menstrual products exist. This is not surprising since the literature handed out in junior high sex education classes is usually sponsored or produced by the companies that make disposable pads and tampons; thus, it is not in their best financial interest to promote alternatives that are environmentally-friendly, healthier, and more cost-effective. Radical Menstruation is a term used to describe the movement to develop a better attitude towards menstruation in our shame-filled society, as well as a push for alternatives that are not used once and then thrown away to sit in landfills along with other non-biodegradable plastics. Women are being told that it is embarrassing to menstruate, and that it is essentially shameful to be a woman. This has been manifested in inventions like the “silent” tampon wrapper. God forbid the woman in the next stall know you are changing your tampon! Re-educating women of all ages is central to making an attitude adjustment on such a grand scale. If you are not willing to entirely change your menstrual habits, but are concerned about using bleached pads and tampons, then most natural health food stores carry brands that are made from organic, unbleached cotton. To really make a positive impact on your health, wallet, and the environment, reusable products should be considered. Using cloth pads is not complicated or inconvenient, and if you can sew at all, you can make your own rather than buy them. Cleaning them is as simple as throwing them into the wash with the rest of your clothes. They are more comfortable than store-bought pads that rely on adhesives. Recently, some companies have been making menstrual underwear. These are panties with built in pads. Instead of using tampons, sea sponges can be used. These need to be boiled before use, and while they do not last nearly as long as cloth pads, they are biodegradable and inexpensive. Some women use menstrual cups. With proper care, these devices can last for decades. There are other ways to collect one’s menstrual fluids, one of which is simply using nothing. It takes a lot of menstrual fluid to soak through both underwear and jeans. For more in depth information on this topic, write to astridiana@riseup.net or check out the teach-in when the DNC2RNC march is in Manchester on August 10th.

Footnote: For this article, I am using female pronouns for the sake of simplicity, but I recognize that not every woman menstruates, and not every menstruator is female.