Spinoff: Menstrual cups "gross"?

[minkajane]

Why do people think menstrual cups are gross? Because you reuse them? But it's not gross to stuff a cylinder of bleached and chemically treated paper into your vagina?

[solidcitizqueen]

Originally Posted by minkajane

Why do people think menstrual cups are gross? Because you reuse them? But it's not gross to stuff a cylinder of bleached and chemically treated paper into your vagina?

I have had that response from many when I openly talk about cups. Most are intrigued, especially when I tell them how people once thought tampons were gross when they first came out (and that thinking should have kept on!), and what is gross is all the waste on our shorelines from disposable products and harm to our environment. I tell them "unfamiliar" doesn't have to be gross and ignorance is NOT bliss!
My 13 year old DD runs around talking about her cup to her friends too. She's a lonely soldier, but standing tall in the bloody mess!!!!

[hubris]

I just discussed this with my sister a couple of weeks ago. She was surprised to find out that I have a cup - actually, she was surprised at the whole idea of menstrual cups. I think the objection is to the mess. American women are pretty squeamish about the whole vulvar/vaginal area when they're *not* menstruating, so when there's blood in there, no way do most girls want to insert fingers! And the idea of washing something out grosses them out. This is why tampons are constructed with that little shell and the plunger stick.

I have to admit, I have heavy periods and it can get a little messy, especially if I have to dump the cup in a public restroom. I've learned to take some baby wipes in there with me for cleanup (of my hands and body, not the cup). At home I have a minishower on the toilet, which is bliss.

[phroggies]

Long, long ago, when I was just a little phroggie, I heard of menstrual cups and was a little freaked. If I recall correctly, part of it was the context--this was in a whole "celebrate your menses" kind of vein. I don't know if that makes any sense. It didn't help that my sources included my somewhat psycho boyfriend who wanted to use the blood to help his plants grow (just to clarify, that's not what made him psycho).

Tampons, when you think about them, are grosser, but I think they also encourage people not to think about them.

Anyhoo, I'm a big Diva cup fan now and I've seen the error of all my past ways. Just trying to dig up some of the past to shed some light on this question.

[motheringforme]

I really want a Diva Cup. However, figuring I use only about four tampons per period, I have two and a half years left of tampons. I don't want to just throw them out. Any suggestions?

[meco]

Prior to using one and loving it, I assumed it would just get all over my hands. Which would be inconvient if you are in a stall and cannot wash them. In a bathroom with a sink, I would not care. However, once I used one, I realized I never got any on me. It had nothing to do with touching my parts or anything.

motheringforme: I donated boxes of tampons to a woman's shelter. You could give them to a friend. Lots of places would take sealed boxes-just check around.

[ledzepplon]

Before I got my Diva, I always used the OB tampons with no applicator. A few of my friends thought that was really gross, too, because you have to (eek!) touch your vagina. So I think it's the idea of touching those regions that freaks people out.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

: the gross factor for me came when i had to change it. having to dump out the very thick clotted blood then duck walking to the sink to wash it out then go back usually to find that i had gotten blood on my clothes has really put me off using my diva cup.

I will try again in future because i paid so much for it but it is gross to me.

[minkajane]

nak...

Melissa, you don't have to rinse it every time. If you're in a public restroom, just wipe it out with toilet paper.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I knew I could just wipe it out but I have a really hard time with the idea of putting it back up in there with left overs in it. For me it is gonna take time to come to terms with using it

There is still the ick factor when pouring out the blood tho.

[MissLotus]

I don't have one, but never say never...

It's not dealing with my body parts that grosses me out, but yes, the blood and guts part of it.

[Sharlla]

SOme people just get squiggy about dumping out a cup full of blood esp chuncky blood ewwww. I do have one and love it though, talked 3 of my friends into getting them and now my SIL is too

i've never had to empty mine out in public, I do it in the morning when I wake up and at night before bed only.

[minkajane]

The only time I ever had to empty it in public was when I had a miscarriage and was bleeding through my cup and an overnight pad in two hours. Normally, it's twice a day - one of the absolute BEST parts of the cup! No remembering tampons when I leave the house, no making do with toilet paper if my period shows up unexpectedly, no crunching when I sit down wearing a pad. It's great!

[nonconformnmom]

I am a committed Diva cup user and have been for years, but I think it's gross. That doesn't stop me from using it. Tampons are gross, too, IMO, but perhaps less viscerally so.

[Potty Diva]

I'm a little early with this as my daughter is only 5, but I would like to introduce her to cups instead of tampons. I don't use cups now, but would like to transition. Can anyone help?

Where can I get cups?

[EnviroBecca]

On my page about where to buy cups, I suggest that people who think reusable menstrual products are gross should collect all their disposables in one bag, instead of throwing them in the trash wherever they happen to be, and at the end of their period look at how much garbage they've created--THAT's gross!

I think a lot of people, at least subconsciously, believe menstrual flow is dirty and therefore must be contained and disposed of very carefully to avoid some unknown-but-horrible infection.

Personally, I've found the cup to be less gross than tampons because the flow is completely unexposed to air, so it stays nice and red and healthy-smelling, and the cup itself doesn't change appearance much when used. A used tampon looks kind of like a dead mouse. And I have much less clotting with the cup than with tampons or pads, so there's less "chunky blood" to deal with.

Melissa, try wiping the cup a bit even if you are going to wash it in the sink, and wedging some TP into your labia while you do that to prevent drips.

[Sharlla]

What's gross is when you are at your friends's house and she makes you feel her keeper

[Maple Leaf Mama]

I only got blood on my clothes once. But that was b/c I made the mistake of taking it out standing up, rather than sitting down. I won't make that mistake again
The first 2 times I took it out, it was messy b/c I was squeezing it too hard and squashing the stuff out as I removed it.
I had to laugh at the duck waddle comment. I do that often :
I think the issue is that you can be more removed from the whole preocess when it's contained in a tampon. But reaching in and removing it can get eeek blood on your hands and that scares people.
My DH is grossed out by it too. He always seems to walk in as I'm removing it, shudders, and runs out.
He also hates that when I flush, some is still on the bowl. So I have learned that if I place some tp in forst and empty it onto the tp, it won't stick to the toilet bowl.
Does that make sense?

[Amys1st]

I am used to doing gross things, I cloth diaper and use my mini shower to clean the poop out.

That being said, I just bought the keeper and my mense appeared today. No wonder dd didnt want to nurse duhhhh.

But, any keeper users or all diva? I just bought mine off the frontier coop and I also got a glad rag which I have on now since its really light right now.


as far as people thinking gross, I think its gross to get your period and then drag your a$$ to Target or another big box, get tampex in a hurry and then I pass the candy aisle and I remember my cravings this week...., so I grab the big bag of snickers and hey- theres dh's favorite bag of candy so grab that too so I dont look like a total pig w the candy and tampex. Then in line- hey there is that DVD I want...ok, so now my period has cost me $40 bucks. The keeper on frontier was like $17.

[mommaduck]

I've never been a tampon fan. I tried the cup and hated it...it was "gross". And didn't seem healthy keeping that blood up there to settle till I could empty it. I use mamacloth.