tamponblog

Greatest. Applicator. Ever.

2006-08-04T15:12:00.000-04:00

Over at Tampon Crafts, they have created the most amazing thing.
Okay, I'll ruin the surprise: It's a Tampon Shooter.
Now With Bandolier!!

Die, Already.

2006-06-25T22:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was driving behind a fairly nice looking automobile. But I spotted a bumper sticker and suddenly it didn’t seem so nice anymore.

“Don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die.”

Well, I have heard this joke before, usually amongst women talking about “anything” as being the period itself, not a woman in her entire glory. Usually it is phrased as a question, “What bleeds for five days and doesn’t die?” with no mention of trustworthiness. As distasteful as it might be, it is about a bodily function, not the gender itself.

But next to the text on this sticker was a buxom silhouette.

Clearly, the message was “Don’t trust women.”

As I pondered this, a hairy arm reached out to tap a cigarette.

I read the second bumper sticker, “Give U.S. jobs to U.S. Citizens!” it read. Huh. But do you value the tobacco farmers?

The cars with multiple bumper stickers don’t usually set me off. I figure they have every type for every thought, and why bother getting offended because of one particular message in the sea of many? Besides, if someone is going to trash their car with messages, then that person isn’t particularly someone I am trying to impress.

But this car was fairly nice.

And the two messages this driver had chosen were xenophobic and misogynistic.

Oh well, I guess he isn’t the type of guy with whom I’d want to socialize. But I admit that I thought about his bumper sticker for awhile. I don’t want to get into a huge rant about objectification of women and all that, but I hate being portrayed on a mud-flap, or next to words that make fun of the unfortunate-to-deal-with, yet extremely-useful-for-producing-children aspect of our cycles.

I know a few women who wish they could bleed for five days so that they could eventually become pregnant. Inconvenient? Yes. But something about which to mock? No.

Similarly, another blog for which I write was recently linked to by a group of male women-peeing-in-their-pants enthusiasts. I wondered why my daily hits were suddenly elevated by 700%.

To their credit (?) one of the posters wrote something about not wanting to offend me by linking to my blog. He warned the group members to not email me offending messages privately. (Thankfully, I have a spam filter.)

I had written a post in which I revealed that I hadn’t made it to the restroom in time that day. Twice. The post was meant to convey desperation and also the “huh-I-gave-birth-so-I-can’t-hold-it-anymore” reality of having children. Of course I didn’t write it thinking men would masturbate to it.

Like menses, loss of bladder function is a non-glamorous aspect of what is supposed to be the beautiful sex.

Rather than rant on either on the women-wetting-their-pants website or on my own blog, I simply removed the post.

But, their sudden interest certainly got me thinking. I imagine that anything out there can be considered a turn-on or offensive, or special or what-have-you. I suppose men can mock periods, or the unfortunate accidents that happen with a weakened bladder. But, I can’t pee in a jar like those men, nor can I go tampon-free all month, so it feels like an unfair “fight.”

Not be trusted because my body is working properly? Or be idolized because it isn’t?

Now that is something to think about.

A Regular Post

2006-05-04T07:51:00.000-04:00

I want to share my excitement with the internet. For the past few weeks, I've been taking one Metamucil pill a day, and holy carp*, it is so awesome. I am so amazingly regular. I didn't know it could be like this. Everyone should have it this good. Tell your friends.

*the fish

More on cell phones & marketing to women

2005-12-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

I just saw two back-to-back commercials:

The first had a young, sexy guy waking up a laundromat owner in the middle of the night, so he could get his sexy, perfectly-fitting jeans, which slip on like a dream. Of course, the woman doesn't mind being woken up, because he's just so cute in those jeans.

The TV went immediately to a young woman with a perfect figure grunting and gasping as she struggles to pull on jeans. Then she has to choose between two cell phones, and she picks a pink one, which easily slips into her back pocket. The tag line says "Here more phone fits in less space." Levis sells jeans that make men irresistable, and Motorola had to make a phone extra tiny to fit in the teensy tiny jeans even skinny women have to torture themselves into.

Gzeesh. The sad thing is, I probably wouldn't have even noticed that there's something wrong here if the commercials hadn't happened to play back-to-back.

More on Rape...

2005-12-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

I just read the following post from a woman, Zube Girl, who was raped, impregnated, and then had an abortion. As unluck would have it, she is now trying to conceive a child by her husband, but has suffered several miscarriages. That is something peripheral to the story, however heartbreaking.

The meat and bones of her post Sunday is a heartfelt defense of being pro-Choice. Before the rape and termination of the resulting pregnancy, she had been pro-Life. (She even once said "I think it would be healing for a survivor of rape to give birth to the resulting child." Such irony, she points out.) It has often been said that the most convincing arguments come from those who used to be on the other "side."

Of course, I wish there weren't "sides" but instead an understanding that some women may CHOOSE to have an abortion while some women may CHOOSE to raise the child resulting from an unintended pregnancy. Some may view abortion as being immoral, some may not, but that it remains legal. I wish that people weren't killed by those who believe in "life" or that those undergoing a procedure wouldn't be heckled.

(One friend of mine had a late stage miscarriage and had to have a D&C to remove the already-deceased fetus. One of the medical assistants gave her the cold shoulder and at one point made some snide remark about hoping she was happy. Clearly, said assistant didn't realize the procedure was cleaning up an incomplete miscarriage, but even so, such a remark was out of line.)

I am tired of people who say they are of a religious persuasion that practices "love" to be showing so much "hate" to those who have made difficult choices with regard to their reproductive organs. Some of those choices have been necessitated by health of the mother or child, by poverty, or in the case of Zube Girl, by rape. These aren't choices being made lightly, and to complicate matters by damning them is disgraceful.

Zube Girl does a great job of addressing some misconceptions about proposed compromises such as limiting abortion's legality to victims of rape (how to prove the rape before the child is born in our innocent-until-proven-guilty society?)

I must admit that having carried two children and seeing their little heartbeats on the seven week ultrasounds has made me doubt that I could ever terminate a pregnancy. But if I were raped? Or if my health were in danger? Or if it wasn't me but instead a fourteen year old incest victim? Or a desperate 30 year old low-income woman with eight children? Sure, I don't think abortion should be done lightly as a secondary form of birth control, but I can certainly see many scenerios in which it would be the best choice for all involved.

I am outraged at pharmacies who won't stock the morning-after pill. I don't even think of it as an "abortion" since the egg hasn't implanted itself yet. (IUDs prevent implantation; do people think of IUDs as abortion-causing devices? Possibly, but we don't hear about it often.) I could go on a tirade about how pharmacies taking away choice in this manner can result in harder choices down the road.

Zube Girl's post didn't change my stance on abortion. After all, I was already pro-Choice. But it definitely made me think nonetheless.

Why rape is the most underreported crime.

2005-12-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

Holy freaking crap. Thanks to Feministing for writing about this one:

A Beaverton, Oreg., teenager was convicted Friday of filing a false police report after she claimed to have been raped by three teenage boys. She faces up to 30 days in jail and $1,250 fine. The D.A. will not be pursuing a case against the young men, who claim the sex was consensual.

After a day-and-a-half trial, Municipal Judge Peter A. Ackerman on Friday convicted the woman of filing a false police report, a class-C misdemeanor. Ackerman explained his decision, saying there were many inconsistencies in the stories of the four, but that he found the young men to be more credible. He also said he relied on the testimony of a Beaverton police detective and the woman's friends who said she did not act traumatized in the days following the incident.

Right. Because everyone reacts the same way to trauma. This comes on the heels of a British Amnesty International poll that found that 1 in 3 Brits think that a woman is at least partially to blame for her rape if she was flirting or drunk, about 1 in 4 think she's to blame if she was dressed sexily. And if a woman is known to have had an active sexual history? 15% think she'd be partly to blame for being raped and a full 8% think it would be completely her fault.

The Guardian article here, the Amnesty International U.K. press release here.

Barbie's Dream Phone

2005-12-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

Samsung's E530 mobile phone is really pissing me off today. I've long bemoaned the fact that technology seems to be designed by men for men, and when software and gadget designers try to tap the female market, they do it in incredibly insulting ways. I'm thinking here of dress-up/make-over/dream date computer games for young girls that are supposed to help them realize their potential as computer users and science students.

But this phone, man (er, women). Wow. From Samsung's press release:

The new Samsung E530 pink mobile phone is a girl’s best friend, equipped with calorie counter, megapixel camera, shopping list…oh and it even tells the ladies when they’re ovulating!

Sydney, 10 November, 2005: Samsung Australia today announced the launch of the chic Samsung E530 pink mobile phone. Combining all the stylish features you need in this fashion age, this sexy little number will be a valued addition to any handbag.

Where looks are concerned, the Samsung E530 sets the scene. The attractive compact clam-shell style mobile comes in a unique ‘lavender pink’ and silver design, which is sure to make heads turn.

Proving it not only has the edge in design, Samsung continues to lead the way in digital convergence too. Reminiscent of the popular diamante encrusted Samsung T500 mobile, this phone has the looks and intelligence to make things happen!

Want to know the real bit of fun with this feminine phone? A sub-menu in the applications section called ‘Women’s Life’. As you would expect to find, there are all sorts of things for the ladies in there – everything from the things you might like to know (such as the fragrance that best suits your personality) to things you’d prefer to forget (like your percentage body fat).

The Samsung E530 ‘Women’s Life’ includes:
Fragrance type: Are you lovable and soft? Then the sweet, fruity scent is for you.
Biorhythm: Find out the status of your physical, emotional and intellectual being on a daily or monthly basis. It even predicts how you’ll look and feel tomorrow!
Height/weight ratio: Simply plug in your height and weight to find out how you rate…if you dare.
Calories: Now that the Atkins is out, keep count of your calorie intake with this tracker.
Pink Schedule: This phone will even keep track of your cycle, telling you when it’s the best time to conceive…or when to avoid it.
Shopping list: Let your phone keep record of what you need to buy, how many you need and how much it’ll cost… but you will have to actually do the shopping yourself!

I appreciate a design that accommodates long fingernails and has an antenna that won't get snagged on things in my purse. But come on, a height/weight ratio calculator? If you're going to include such a so-called "feature" at all, at least use BMI, which is harder to calculate and more medically useful. A food diary is a useful tool for anyone who is trying to make any sort of change to their eating habits, but calling it a calorie tracker makes me feel terrible. I don't even know where to begin with the biorhythm tracker and perfume advisor.

But a PINK SCHEDULE? Since when is "pink" a euphemism for menstruation? I wish I could laugh at the thought of people being stupid enough to use their cell phone as a rhythm method tool, but I just can't.

I wonder if you can program it to change your ringtone during PMS into the Wicked Witch of the West theme?

Thanks to Feministing and Broadsheet.

More on environmentally-friendly periods

2005-11-30T14:37:00.000-05:00

From Grist Magazine (online environmental news, humor, and commentary):

Pad Influence: On composting feminine products

But on to menstruation! What's not to love about the discarded uterine lining? Pair that with composting, and we've got a one-two combination sure to be a hit at every dinner party from Seattle to Waterbury. If people say, "What's new?" you say, "I'm experimentally composting endometria." They'll have no idea what you are talking about.

While I'm at it, here's the same advice column's run-down on environmentally responsible feminine products. Nothing new here for long-time tamponblog readers, but just in case you can't get enough of the Keeper:

Menstruation Innovation: On that time of the month

SNL Bitchfight

2005-11-08T17:22:00.000-05:00

I've been adoring this season's all-woman-anchored Saturday Night Live Weekend Update. My favorite SNL skit of the season so far was in the October 29 episode (Lance Armstrong):

And now, it’s time for our “Weekend Update” Bitch Fight News Quiz.

[Music Over: “I Know What Boys Like,” The Waitresses]

[Show title graphic. Dissolve back to the “Weekend Update” desk]

Alright, so of course you all know how this works. I read Amy a quote, and she has to guess whether it is Lindsay Lohan talking about Paris Hilton, or New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd talking about fellow New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Alright, ready Amy?

Amy Poehler: Yeah, let’s do this! [dramatic music plays in the background]

Tina Fey: Alright, Quote #1: “She came up and told me to get out of her seat, and it was such an outrageous move, I just had to laugh.”

Amy Poehler: OK, I’m gonna say that’s Lindsay Lohan talking about Paris Hilton at Fashion Week. [buzzer]

Tina Fey: No, that was Maureen Dowd writing about Judith Miller, in the venerable New York Times.

Amy Poehler: OK.

Tina Fey: Quote #2: “I often wonder what Evelyn Waugh or William Makepeace Thackeray would have thought of her.”

Amy Poehler: Uh, Maureen Down on Judith Miller? [buzzer]

Tina Fey: No. Weirdly enough, that was Lohan talking about Paris Hilton.

Amy Poehler: Wow!

Tina Fey: She’s a reader. #3: “She thinks she’s so great, ‘cause she has a pink razor phone.”

Amy Poehler: Oh I’ve read this one. Maureen Dowd. [ding] Yeah, she hates that.

Tina Fey: Correct. Maureen Dowd, in an Op/Ed piece on Judith Miller. Quote #4: “I hear that one time, she had sex with Moammar Kadaffi.”

Amy Poehler: Wow, this one could go either way. I’m gonna say, Maureen Dowd? [buzzer]

Tina Fey: No, that was a trick question. That was actually Paris Hilton, talking about Paris Hilton.

Amy Poehler: OK, she does that a lot.

[display title graphic once again]

Don Pardo V/O: This has been “Weekend Update’s” Bitch Fight News Quiz. When bitches be fighting, “Weekend Update” is there.

Amy Poehler: Thank you, Don.

Full Weekend Update transcript.

This came right on the heels of Rachel Dratch's impression of Harriet Miers, in a skit that made me feel my first sympathy for Miers. Sure, they portrayed her as drunk and a shameless exploiter of the crony system, but they had one excellent point:

Miers: But then I thought, you know what? Wait a second. A man wouldn’t second guess himself like this! I mean, Donald Rumsfeld never says, 'Hey! I can’t be Secretary of Defense! I’ve never even served in the Army!' Right? Porter Goss doesn’t say, 'I can’t run the CIA! I don’t have any intelligence experience!' [some applause] And Mike Brown didn’t say, 'Hey, I can’t run FEMA! I’m the head of the Arabian Horse Society, for pete’s sake!' I mean, we’re ALL unqualified! Why am I the only one who has to admit it?

Just when I think it's time to stop watching SNL. . .

I'll post more on Maureen Dowd soon. I want to respond to the feminist blog critiques of the NY Times Magazine excerpt of her new book, but first I want to do something a little unconventional, and actually read the book.

Tampon History

2005-10-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

A history blog rounds up links on the history of tampons:

Fascinating History

Just a thought.

2005-09-05T15:17:00.000-04:00

It occurred to me how tough it would be to be out there in the midst of Katrina without any tampons. The relief effort is asking for food, blankets, diapers, formula, but not one mention of sanitary products. Not to play down the tragedy or what it must feel like to be starving, but I can't imagine being wet from the water, hungry, searching for loved ones, in pain, AND having my period. Some of the women must be in this predicament, and I can't even imagine what they are going through.

Here is a list of resources for taking donations

The Blog Been There has several posts for those who have items to donate to match up with those who are in need of said items.

I guess designer vaginas really do look frivolous now.

Thoughts/prayers to those in the midst of the disaster.

Before and After: Silence is Golden Showers

2005-08-16T19:40:00.002-04:00

I work in an office building where each floor has a few office suites. Each suite shares the building facilites: parking lot, stairwell, elevator, bathrooms.

Let's talk about the bathroom.
There is a woman in the building - every female co-worker in my office talks about her. We think maybe she works for the real estate company.
She talks on her phone in the bathroom
If you're already in a stall when she comes in, it's like a radio play - you hear her talking, stall door locking, peeing, talking, toilet paper rolling, talking, clothing shuffle, talking, Okay, good to talk to you *click* flushing, door closing.

Oh, did you notice she doesn't wash her hands?
Anyway, today I kind of felt she crossed the line. Today's radio play involved me listening to her conversation as she changed her tampon.
I never thought about it before, but I don't usually HEAR people changing their tampons. I guess it's usually covered by all the other myriad noises. But I was the only one in a stall when she came in, and. as usual, I was paralyzed with interest in the latest installment. How would she get off the phone before the flush? How loud would she get in the stall before she had to end the call?
Well, she wasn't loud.
And this made me wonder how many times I've talked to someone on the phone while they were changing a tampon. I'm hoping for zero. Not because of the sound of it. It's an etiquette issue.

Parental Notification and Vaginal Wands

2005-08-07T21:03:00.000-04:00

For those in CA or who have relatives/friends in CA, please check out ”No on Proposition 73” which outlines some reasons to defeat the Parental Notification initiative on the November Special Election Ballot.

As I attended an event to raise funds for Planned Parenthood’s Campaign for Teen Safety, which supports the aforementioned site, I started feeling what would usually be considered menstrual cramp pain, but isolated on my left side in a specific location on my upper pelvis that has been bothering me for about five years, ever since I was pregnant with my first son.

Each time I mentioned the pain, I got a different excuse for its cause, all minor things, all things which didn’t seem quite right. The pain didn’t track my cycle, nor was the quality of pain the same. It could be a “twinge,” a “stab,” a “squirt,” a “cramp,” or just “pressure.”

I finally got it checked out. But it took several hours: first at the “Minor Injury” clinic, then the ER (because Minor Injury doesn’t have an OB/GYN.)

When I had an ultrasound, the lady doing the procedure allowed me to insert the vaginal wand myself. She said it was less invasive that way. This was an interesting way of making the patient more comfortable. I had two previous vaginal ultrasounds, both of which the nurse had inserted the wand herself. So, doing it myself was a new experience! They also did an external ultrasound, and it was in the same room where I had learned that my second child would be a boy.

This time, instead of seeing a penis, we saw an ovarian cyst. But the cyst was located on the right side, instead of the left, where I had been having pain! Go figure.

So the good news is that it isn’t ovarian cancer, or something else obvious on an ultrasound, but the bad news is that the cause of the pain is not yet determined. In the meantime, I’ll get the right side checked out during a normal OB/GYN appointment.

At least I now know the probable cause for the 4 days on, 3 days off period that I’ve had the past month or so.

Female Blogging

2005-08-04T00:58:00.000-04:00

There was much talk of the “stigma” of “MommyBlogging” over the weekend at the BlogHer conference. I would venture to say this would translate in part into other female related blogs, such as TamponBlog.

I went to an obscenity-in-blogging discussion group and met people such as Melissa from sacredwhore who explained that although her blog doesn’t use profanity per se, having the word “whore” in her title meant that it was censored from iTunes.

On an amusing note, the searches used that (erroneously) lead surfers to mommy blogs included all kinds of fun words, since “breast,” “nipple,” “poo,” “penis,” and other terms are mentioned “innocently” in the natural course of discussing parenting through breastfeeding, potty training, and so-forth. (I know I’ve made posts here with several of these terms.)

“Where are all the female bloggers?” was the question that BlogHer originally sought to answer, but it went much farther to produce debate, discussion, and tools for female bloggers. Interestingly, I didn’t think there was a paucity of female bloggers. 99% of my daily reads are women. Therefore, I didn’t realize there was an issue.

In the midst of the “blog hierarchy” discussion that somehow put “Mommy Bloggers” at the bottom of the chain (“she’s a good writer for a Mommy Blogger,”) someone made the comment that “Hey, one of the top female bloggers is a Mommy Blogger,” referring to Dooce.

But I never really considered her a “Mommy Blogger.” Dooce is Dooce. She started writing long before getting married or having a child. Same as the other women I read: I never really labeled them in a specific term, because to me their blogs were about many aspects of their lives, not just the motherhood role. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the term “Mommy Blog,” but in the case where the woman writes about other things, it isn’t exactly accurate.

And for women who write exclusively about their kids, I love that there is a witty, entertaining record of these kids’ lives. These women are fabulous writers, and it is terrific that they have shared their anecdotes with the Internet World. (Shouts out to the leaders of the Mommy Blogging Panel: Meghan, Jenny, and Jen. Plus The Mommy Blog, of course. And special mentions to Mandajuice and jenandtonic, both fabulous “Mommy Bloggers Who Also Post About Other Things”)

"Female" issues such as tampons, childbirth, childrearing, female sexual empowerment, and so forth should be talked about without lowering the credibility of the speaker. Period. (so to speak.)

(Technorati tag blogher)

Back... with a vengeance

2005-08-03T23:22:00.000-04:00

I am lucky to have kept my period away for nearly a year after giving birth. This is probably a combination of breastfeeding (until my son was 10 months old) and the mini-pill, which is a low-dose birth control pill given to breastfeeding mothers.

About two months ago, I had a little spotting, but three weeks ago, the flow returned for good. Then I figured it was over for another month. But then a week ago, I had a couple days more. And then yesterday I started again. So it looks like I am going through that fun regulatory period (so to speak) where I am hormonally batty and spot-unpredictable. Too bad, because August is the time to wear bathing suits and go commando under white jeans (well, maybe I am not that bold!)

The upside is that I finally got a chance to try the ditties I won "ditty bowling!" Unfortunately, I was so crampy and what-not that I didn't notice when I didn't insert it correctly and it subsequently fell out. So I thought I had lost it up there. It was a teenaged fear that I thought had come to pass. But then I realized that it had probably just fallen out during one of those multiple trips to the restroom (if I didn't know better, I'd think I was pregnant again with all the peeing going on!) At any rate, I never have learned to insert tampons correctly, or maybe it is just my strange anatomy that produces "sunny side up" babies, but I remain an o.b. gal. (Incidentally, I found this o.b. ad from the early 1950's while searching around for that lounge-chair Always ad.* I guess o.b. stands for the German "ohne Binde", meaning "without [a menstrual] pad" )

In a way, I am relieved that I started anew yesterday because I was so weepy over the weekend, and inexplicably shy at BlogHer that I really did feel possessed.

*Two things:
1) That Always lounge chair looks pretty comfy to me.
2) A Google search for "Always" yields first the site I wanted, then second, the WALMART site, because their tagline is "Always Low Prices!"

Salon on heating pads

2005-07-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

This "object lust" essay on Salon.com (subscription required, or you can watch an ad to get a one-day free pass) pays homage to those ThermaCare disposable, adhesive hot pads that can stick to the inside of your underwear to ease cramps. The essay is a little irritating ("I am telling you, it's enough to make you look forward to that time of the month." uh-huh, sure.) but it's always nice to see menstruation get a mention in the press.

Cup-size Couture

2005-07-03T16:16:00.000-04:00

Awhile ago, in the comments of this post, we were discussing the sad state of finding shirts to fit the large-chested. JJ then posted the brilliant solution that shirts could be sold by cup size.

It has happened!

Rebecca & Drew (via Neiman Marcus) now includes a collection by bra size.

Also, Bravissimo is an entire site devoted to large-chested women, and Uniquely Woman is a site celebrating all body types.

What Shall We Do?

2005-07-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

I know this is old news by now, all the panic over Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, but given the subject matter of this blog, I felt it important to mention. Female rights issues are going to be a major concern for many women during the nomination and confirmation process for a potential new Justice.

Let's move forward instead of backward.

Interestingly enough, today's Parade magazine newspaper insert had a story about prominent women who are making a difference in their respective countries.

"Dr. (Massouda) Jalal ran for Afghanistan's highest office twice... against no-President Hamid Karzai... Dr. Jalal only got about 1% of the total but earned votes in all of Afghanistan's major cities. She hopes to run again - and win."

We don't have any women in the U.S. who have run for President obtaining 1% of the vote and earning votes in all of our major cities.

It concerns me that the U.S. hasn't had a female President, when so much of the rest of the world has had female major leaders. And now we are losing a female Justice, and may be losing much more.

Cross your fingers. (And maybe your legs.)

Empowering Clothes

2005-06-04T18:20:00.000-04:00

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants just came out last Wednesday about a group of four young women friends who each can magically fit into a single pair of pants despite their differing body types. The movie chronicles their adventures in said pants.

The author writes:
"I've always liked the idea that clothing can hold emotions and memories or connections to other people, so it wasn't a stretch to imagine a pair of jeans could be a physical repository for a living friendship."
- Ann Brashares

So, 'fess up: Is there a single piece of clothing that makes you ready to take on the world? Or an article that conjures up fond memories?

Hot, Hairy, and Horny

2005-06-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

Just now in my inbox, I received an email from a mom's club friend asking if anyone has had any success with products such as Nair, Neet, or any other non-shaving type of hair removal (I guess laser?) because she says that it is now too hot out to shave all the time. So now I pose the question to the internet audience -- What types of hair removal have been most successful for you?

While looking around for an English version of the Neet website (why isn't one readily available? And why is it that googling "Neet" results in many non-hair-care-removal websites, yet the Google Ads are all about hair removal?), I came across a wealth of information. One question that I have had, but have been reluctant to actually ask anyone regards the "bikini area." I honestly don't know what "most people" do to be adequately groomed. For example, when younger, I took it all off, later to read that is usually not what people do. Is it safe to use chemicals "down there" or must one shave very, very carefully? I think most people probably have someone wax it professionally, but I am not comfortable enough to have a stranger do this. At any rate, I just found the Pubic Shave website which claims to have tips about hair removal for all areas. (I am a little nervous about the sex toy ads and so forth because I am not looking for porn, but it looks like there is some actual advice.) And then a skin care product website includes a Guide to Hair Removal that I might look at.

When I went through adolescence, my mom told me to wait as long as possible before shaving my legs. She said that once I started, I could never stop. (Presumably because when the hair is shaved off, the tip is blunt cut and is therefore rougher to the touch than a hair that hasn't been cut.) The whole "darker and thicker" myth still was in abundance. Thankfully, I still have blonde leg hair. For one of my birthdays or Christmases, she gave me an electric razor only for me to tell her I had been shaving for awhile. However, I had only been shaving from the knee down (most people do the whole leg, right?). And nobody ever told me to shave the "bikini area!" Yes, I knew to shave my armpits, but that was because it was pretty obvious who had and hadn't. Nonetheless, my first "down there" experience was when I was at a pool party and realized that my suit was cut high enough to necessitate some grooming. So I quickly excused myself and improvised. The resulting rash wasn't pretty!

Female Bloggers Unite!

2005-06-02T19:09:00.000-04:00

For anyone who will be near Santa Clara, CA at the end of July, the BlogHer 2005 Conference will be held July 30 at the TechMart Meeting Center. This is a great opportunity for seasoned bloggers as well as newbies to join together for networking and ideas, but most importantly, to encourage the female bloggers! Male attendees are certainly welcome, but "cultivating the female blogging community" is part of the goal for this gathering.

I am particularly excited because some of my favorite bloggers will be in attendance, so I hope to actually meet them in person, groupie that I am!

Registration can be found HERE, and an overview can be found at www.blogher.org.

Hope to see you there!

(Oh, and for those of you who aren't convinced, the
TechMart Meeting Center is next door to Paramount's Great America Theme Park, so you can ride roller coasters when you aren't attending conference sessions.)

Spotlight on Health Care

2005-06-02T18:50:00.000-04:00

WOMEN'S HEALTH, I:

In today's Dear Abby, a reader explains that the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Women's Health and the Federal Citizen Information Center have teamed up to create a free Women's Health Information Kit, which covers a multitude of different health-related concerns.

There are three ways to obtain the kit:

1) Order online at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov

2) Send your name and address to Women's Health Information Kit, Pueblo, CO 81009

3) Call toll-free 1-888-878-3256 weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) and ask for the Women's Health Information Kit.

WOMEN'S HEALTH, II:

Avon's Walk for Breast Cancer is coming up in my area. I must admit that when I set out to post information about this, I was erroneously under the impression that all the "walks" would take place in July, not just the one in my location. So, unfortunately, there are several geographic locations for which the walk just passed. However, this gives you a whole year of preparation for the 2006 walk! But for those of you near Denver, San Francisco, L.A., or New York, consider either walking, or sponsoring a friend.

Size matters

2005-05-08T12:52:00.000-04:00

At my gynecologist appointment last month, I asked if it would be possible to get a diaphragm. She said sure; we could do a fitting right away. There are, apparently, 5 standard sizes for diaphragms, and to fit you for one, they start with the middle size and work up or down from there. So she started by trying to fit me with the M. Then the S. Then the XS. Turns out my cervix is so small, no diaphragm will fit me. But, she assured me, this will not affect my fertility. (Like it's my fertility that worries me about having a small cervix, not the 5-letter L word.)

To add injury to insult, well, let's just say that having a pap smear as well as three succesive attempted insertions of overlarge diaphragms can leave one with a somewhat uncomfortable sensation for the rest of one's day.

This blog's discussion of menstrual cups is certainly interesting, but I fear that it may prove purely academic for folks like myself. I added the links people suggested to the sidebar, by the way.

If my mother ever reads this post, I'm a dead woman

2005-05-03T12:08:00.000-04:00

My grandmother had a really impressive collection of costume jewelry. It felt like she had a beaded necklace, pin, and set of earrings for every outfit she ever owned, not to mention all of the secret society jewelry she accrued, both as a member of Eastern Star, etc., and as the wife of a 33rd degree Mason, Shriner, member of the Rotary, etc. This collection was divided up among four granddaughters. Her two daughters in law might also have some. My sister and I both have a mason jar full of beaded necklaces, enough pins to fill a shadow box, and a whole bag of other jewelry.

One of the necklaces in my collection is spectacular. It's two strands, with big huge round beads in the middle. Many shades of cream, rose, and pale mauve. Gold spacers, and big wacky beads of gold, cream, white, and black.

I've been wanting to wear it forever, but wanted to have a jeweler inspect the string first, because it is half a century old. I also meant to take some digital photos first, in case it needed to be restrung, so it could be returned to its exact arrangement.

This morning, on an impulse, I wore the necklace. I've gotten many compliments, and I was pleased that the necklace didn't overwhelm me with the aroma of Avon's Skin So Soft once it warmed up on my body, as happened to me the last time I wore one of the necklaces.

A few minutes ago, one of the strings broke. And as I listened to my grandmother's beads bouncing off the floor, rolling under my desk, and getting stuck in the cracks between floorboards, I remembered that I never did take that photo.

On the plus side, the string has black stains where the spacer beads went, so I can at least extrapolate the pattern based on the size of the unstained spaces. Also, a mechanical pencil with the lead pushed out about an inch makes a great tool for fishing tiny beads out of a keyboard. And, as a coworker pointed out, at least it broke in my office, and not on the subway or the sidewalk.

Cloth pads

2005-05-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

I just thought this deserved its own thread. "S" wrote:

Hello!
I'm wondering if you are going to post any information on cloth menstual pads.
I went to my OB-GYN because every time I got my period, my vulva would become really irritated. He told me that I was probably allergic to my pads and that it's actually pretty common.
Once I started using cloth menstral pads, all that went away. And they are so much more comfortable.
Thanks!

So, S, are you talking about something like Luna pads?