Cultural views of tampons vs pads - Page 2

[~sweet pea~]

Originally Posted by angelcat

I"m a tampon girl. I tried to stop using them for awhile, but pads leaked so bad. I jusy coudln't leave the house for a few days a month. I'd wear plastic uinderwear, and still leak onto clothes & bedding.

: When I got off the pill, I stopped using tampons for a while, to get a better sense of what my periods were "like" in terms of light/heavy, and how "fresh" or "old" it seemed (sorry TMI) - especially when I had long, endless cycles. While pads are more "informative", I couldn't stand the "diaper" feeling. Then one night, I managed to leak through the pad, my underwear, my bottom sheet, my featherbed cover and featherbed - not a big mess, but small spot through all five layers :. At some point during the following afternoon of cold water rinses, bleaching and sunning all my bedding, I decided to go back to tampons.

[MoonWillow]

For me the issue was never cultural. It was the fact that my period was so heavy that I had to use both a tampon AND a pad. Still do. I wish I could use my diva cup but I just cannot get the postitioning right. Its been a long time too. I've really given it a good college try. I think I've given up. : (Sorry OT).

[Angel_7971]

Yeah, didn't read all replies, but agree with most I read. Tampons were for when you grew up. Then, I hated to wear them and also could never get them to stay up there. I used ultrathins and never notived that they got in my way or felt bulky. However, I now use cloth and won't be going back.

[WeasleyMum]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

I've actually thought about this a lot too. I definitely had an idea when I was young that you "started" with pads, but as you got more mature you would "graduate" to tampons. I think in part it was because tampons were more difficult to use, so the beginner would use the easier pads. But that tampons had lots of advantages (easier to be discreet, more freedom, cleaner, etc) so eventually of course you would make the switch when ready, and pads would become just your back-up.

Yes this. I think it's something like, any eleven-year-old or whomever can use a pad, but it takes a certain sophistication/ maturity to successfully use a tampon! That was seemingly the attitude when I was a teen. Goodness knows I screwed up tampons the first few times... now I'd just rather not use them. I realized at some point that noone else really knows what you're using--unless they need to borrow something!

[Ellien C]

I think this started partly from advertising and partly from culture. Wanna take a trip with me?

I once read this book called The Mercury 13 about the first women who trained as astronauts in the late 50s! At the time, it was hugely expensive to put men in space and there was this theory that women, being lighter and with greater lung capacity compared to weight would be a LOT cheaper to hoist into space - so they trained all these women who had been pilots in WW II. At the time, it was thought that women were too irrational and prone to outbursts during their periods to safely operate the plane controls. They had to be cleared by a doctor. BUT the younger women pilots soon learned from the older once that the answer to when did you last menstruate was that your cycles were HIGHLY IRREGULAR. No sense being grounded for something. So, it became very imporant to hide when you were menstruating less any mistake be blamed on your delicate emotional state.

I think it was this kind of thinking, capitalized by adverstisers that led to hiding menstruation. Ask your grandmothers about sitting out gym class when you had your period. There was a whole host of things - swimming, sports, flying, etc, that you weren't supposed do while menstruating.

I think it's fine for someone to take it easy around their flow days, meditate, get in touch with intuition, emotions, plan for changes, reflect etc, but no one wants that imposed from outside.

[baby_baby_mommy]

I started straight off w/tampons at 11, and the super size at that. I did try pads later but with such a heavy flow, they all just got soaked so quickly and leaked blood on my pants...definitely not cool in 7th grade, and not so fun now either! Also, as a high performing athlete, tampons were far more usable than pads.

[barose]

Growing up, my mother taught me to use pads and thats what I did until my periods got so heavy I started using both (at the same time). To this day, I always wear both or I would bleed through my clothes in less than an hour.

I did "lose" a tampon once a couple years ago : and forgot it was "in" for a few days. Thank goodness I discovered it before it made me ill. I've been scared ever since, but that doesn't stop me due to my heavy periods.

[asoulunbound]

I started with pads, but then when I was 14 or so I traveled to India on a mission trip. My mom said I should try tampons because I might not get to shower every day and stuff like that (which was the case!). I used them for the trip and hated them. I went back to pads, then slowly started adding in cloth until I was all cloth. Last cycle I got a divacup and use cloth on the lighter days.

I think it is a cultural thing. As a sociology major one final from graduating (yay!) I found this thread really interesting!

[the_lissa]

I never thought of it one way or the other.

I used to use tampons because I hated the way pads felt. Now I use a Diva Cup. I will never use pads. When I have to use them for lochia, it drives me nuts.

[heidirk]

I've always hated pads probably because my nose is so sensitive, I always felt like I could smell myself all day. After DS was born and lochia was over I couldn't use tampons. /they were painful, and just would not stay in. So pads were it until I found...(drumroll please!) sea sponges! Love them! Love them! Love them! And now I'm switching to cloth pads as backup. I feel more comfortable already!

[Artichokie]

Honestly, one thing that enforced my viewpoint was the book "Are You There God, Its Me Margaret" by Judy Blume. Is anyone else here of the age that this book was popular when they were coming of age?

I remember clearly that Margaret and her friends were getting a human sexuality lecture at school, and one of the girls asked about tampax (meaning tampons). The teacher informed the class that that sort of "internal protection" was best suited for adults.

Between that, and my baby sitter dying of TSS, the idea that only adults put something in their vagina was definitely reinforced. I recall it being made clear that my baby sitter had been way to young for tampons.

With my mother's encouragement, I experimented with wearing a pad for at least a year before my period started at age ten. I just wore one occasionally when I wanted to feel grown up. I don't think my mom even had tampons in the house, so they were not even on my radar as a option.