February 27th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
Introducing Leak Chic.
Chella Quint celebrates Fashion Week, recently ended in London and New York, with clot couture.
StainsTM. A removable stain to wear on your own clothing as you see fit. A fashion statement that really says something, and that something is, ‘Screw you, Madison Avenue. I’m taking this one back. I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve and my blood on my pants. I’m gonna reclaim the stain, reclaim my blood, and reclaim my period.’ Because people, I’m telling you red is the new black.
Read more at Adventures in Menstruating.
Tags: blood, blood stain, chella quint, fashion, Humor, stain, zine
Posted in Activism, DIY, Humor, Internet, Menstruation, zine | 1 Comment »
January 21st, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
Tags: blood, college students, endometrium, Menstruation, stem cells, uterus
Posted in DIY, Menstruation, New Research, Reusable menstrual products, anatomy | Comments Off
January 10th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
This advert for Tampax appears in the February 2010 issue of Marie Claire, and probably other ladymags as well. It shows tennis star Serena Williams posing in a victory stance with clenched fist in the foreground, while security guards cart off Mother Nature, who is bearing a red-wrapped gift for Serena. The legend printed across the picture reads, “Serena shuts out Mother Nature’s monthly gift”.
As I said previously, I have some ambivalence about these ads. In today’s period-hating cultural climate, it takes some courage for a celebrity to appear in advertisement for a menstrual product. And it’s great to see acknowledgement that an athlete can win contests at any phase of her menstrual cycle (even the Boston Marathon).
But look closely at this ad, and read the copy. What’s missing?
That’s right – there’s no mention of blood or menstruation. The word period, itself a euphemism, isn’t even used. Only the flowery, secretive euphemism “Mother Nature’s monthly gift” represents menses.
And Mother Nature is reduced from the clever, wise-cracking Aunt Flo portrayed here to a kooky sitcom aunt reminiscent of Gladys Kravitz. Who wants to receive her gift?
Tags: advertising, blood, Celebrities, Communication, FemCare advertising, Procter & Gamble, sports, Tampax, tampons
Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, Disposable menstrual products, FemCare, Language, Menstruation, magazines | 7 Comments »
November 14th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Image by Brittany Reed
The FDA announced yesterday that they have approved tranexamic acid tablets for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding, under the brand name Lysteda. According to the press release, approximately 3 million US women experience heavy bleeding, usually with no underlying health condition. The report states that there was a statistically significant reduction in menstrual blood loss in women who received Lysteda, compared with those taking placebo.
As is the case with many newly approved drugs, tranexamic acid is not a new drug but an approval for a new usage: tranexamic acid has been used in injection form more than 20 years to reduce bleeding during tooth extraction in people with hemophilia (a blood disorder in which blood lacks a clotting factor).
Although it’s unlikely that anyone using hormonal contraceptives would also have heavy menstrual bleeding (remember, hormonal contraceptives suppress menstruation), the new drug comes with a big warning: taking Lysteda along with hormonal contraceptives increases one’s risk of blood clots, stroke, or heart attack.
I’m not a biochemist or a physician, but it sounds like Lysteda is a viable alternative for women who are currently taking (or recommended to take) hormonal contraceptives for the management of menstrual bleeding. Continue reading...
Tags: bleeding, blood, drugs, FDA
Posted in Menorrhagia, Menstruation, Pharmaceutical | 1 Comment »
October 1st, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Illustration from Feminist Women's Health Center
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that Mirena® has been approved for use as treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding. Mirena® is an intra-uterine device (IUD) for preventing pregnancy. It combines the technology of old-school IUDs with the hormone levonorgestrel, a synthetic progesterone.
I’m a little puzzled, though, by the apparent limited usage recommended: the press release states,
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Mirena (levonorgestrel intrauterine system) to treat heavy menstrual bleeding in women who use intrauterine contraception as their method of pregnancy prevention.
This sounds like Mirena® is approved for women who already using IUDs. So if you’re already using Mirena® for birth control, congratulations. Now you can use it to reduce menstrual flow.
For those keeping score at home, Mirena® is manufactured by Bayer, also makers of beleaguered birth control pill, Yaz.
Tags: Birth Control, blood, drugs, government agencies
Posted in Birth Control, Menstruation, Pharmaceutical | 1 Comment »
September 29th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Apropos of Chris’ most recent post, the video of Serena Williams’ new ad for Tampax just popped up in my RSS feed. You can check it out at right.
I’m so torn on this. I’m pretty certain that this is the First. Time. Ever. that the word “blood” has been used in an ad for menstrual products. Do you know what a huge step forward for body acceptance and menstrual literacy that is? When I was growing up in the 1970s, pads were advertised by showing how well they absorbed BLUE fluid. (So were diapers, by the way.) Kotex was the first company to use the color red and the word “period” in ad campaign less than ten years ago. So there is a part of me that is delighted when Catherine Lloyd Burns, playing Mother Nature, smiles slyly and says, “Well, there is plenty of blood, but none of it’s bad”.
I also enjoy seeing a powerful woman say that she isn’t afraid of menstruation, and shown succeeding athletically while menstruating. Kinda reminds me of when Uta Pippig won the Boston Marathon while menstruating.
But the core message and most troubling element of this entire “Mother Nature” campaign is the idea that menstruation is the gift nobody wants. Can’t P&G (and Kotex, and every other femcare advertiser) just promote the damn products without promoting shame and body hatred? Women will buy menstrual products without being told that periods should make them feel “not so fresh”. In fact, the ads might be more compelling if they emphasized the absorbency of the product and treated menstruation as a fact of life, rather than a secret disaster. Just spare us the blue fluid, please.
Tags: advertising, blood, Celebrities, FemCare, FemCare advertising, Procter & Gamble, shame, Tampax, tampons, viral video
Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, FemCare, Menstruation | 1 Comment »
September 23rd, 2009 by Giovanna Chesler
Tags: blood, boys/men, movies
Posted in Film, Independent Film | Comments Off
September 17th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Nearly 20(!) years ago, I conducted research for my doctoral dissertation about how and what girls learn about menstruation. I researched the literature and interviewed girls ages 11-16 about what kinds of information about menstruation they received and the sources of their menstrual knowledge. Among my findings, I learned that even girls who had received adequate menstrual education from school and parents did not consider themselves prepared for their first periods. They wanted to know more about what menstruation would feel like – not more about ovaries and hormones (although research and anecdotal evidence suggests their knowledge in that area is not as well-developed as they believe). They had serious questions about whether it would hurt, how often they would need to change their menstrual pads, and other phenomenological questions about the experience of menstruation. This kind of information is seldom part of formal menstrual education, but the girls in my study found ways to seek out this information, often through girlfriends and sometimes through popular culture sources, such as teen magazines.
These issues are even more important to girls with autism or other special developmental needs. This morning I stumbled upon this discussion at change.org about how communication with one’s daughter about what to expect at menarche is even more critical for autistic girls: Continue reading...
Tags: autism, blood, Communication, Menarche, menstrual education, pads, tampons
Posted in FemCare, Girls, Menarche | Comments Off
August 10th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
Tags: blood, Communication, internet
Posted in Media | 1 Comment »
Readers should note that statements published in re: Cycling are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Society as a whole.
RSS 
