Mooncups are fucking great.
Just thought I’d throw that out there for
the world to know. After all, as we all know “the personal is political” and
there’s not a lot more personal than talking about PERIODS.
Luckily I have had some amazing friends
over the past few years and now have no qualms talking about menstruation at
all. I think it’s really empowering to be able to talk about it, openly, freely
and proudly. Why not? It’s just a natural function of the human body.
Anyway. So mooncups are awesome. The
generic term is actually menstrual cups, and mooncups are one particular brand.
But like glad wrap, the name seems to have stuck (seriously, who calls it
“cling film”!?). There’s a whole bunch of other brands out there: Me Luna,
Femme Cup, Diva Cup, Lunette, etc. They’re all pretty similar, although they
come in different shapes, sizes, and even colours.
The best thing about menstrual cups is you
only need one, and it lasts up to 10 years. This means they create heaps less
waste, and they are also heaps cheaper than disposable products. They’re also
way more comfortable than tampons (in my humble opinion) and don’t have the
bulky awkwardness of pads. You can leave them in for up to 12 hours, especially
if you have a light flow. Swimming, sports, and all that stuff, not a problem.
If you’re going on holiday, you don’t have to fill up your suitcase with pads.
If you are out tramping or whatever, you don’t need to worry about carrying
around the waste.
But, starting with the basics. Menstrual
cups are made out of silicone. They are a reusable cup which catch menstrual
fluid rather than absorbing it. You empty it out, give it a rise, and put it
back in. Pretty simple right? At this stage you are probably thinking “sounds
great. But like, ew.”
Fair enough.
But really, if you think about it, this
aversion to dealing with our own bodily fluids is actually pretty recent.
Commercial tampons and pads have only been around for about 100 years, so
they’re actually a pretty recent thing. I think we have been socialised to be
grossed out by periods, and actually, I reckon disposable tampons and pads are
all some big capitalist marketing ploy to get us to BUY MORE CRAP.
If we look at these products within the
wider context of global capitalism, we can begin to see their major flaws. For
example: the environmental impact. Can you imagine how many sanitary products a
women uses in her life time? Answer: HEAPS!!! Apparently, up to 150 kgs in a
lifetime. Gross! Why create this unnecessary waste?!
So, I’m pretty sure the reason mooncups are
less popular than they should be is that the big brands have no interest in
them. The reason is simple. You buy one, it lasts approximately 10 years.
Obviously much less profit to be made from them than in something you need to
buy every month. This means that although mooncups are WAY better than tampons
and pads for a bunch different reasons, they have not been widely marketed. So
when you buy a mooncup, you are subverting capitalism, just a tiny bit, and
that feels pretty great.
Sweeeeeet! So why wouldn’t you get one?
Well for some people, there’s still an element of squeamishness, which takes a
bit of overcoming. Taking it out can be messy, especially when starting, and
you have to deal with seeing your own blood. Putting it in can take a bit of
getting used to, and it can be uncomfortable and/or leak if not inserted
properly. I’m not getting into the graphic details here, but if you google it
you’ll find plenty of helpful explanations. Basically the trick is to relax,
and persevere. Totally worth it in the end.
Yay! I want one! Where do I buy it? Well, I
got mine from green girl stuff, a Wellington based online business. There’s
also other online stores which you can find with not much googling, and you can
get them from places like Commonsense Organics.
Of course, another option if you want to
say “fuck you” to capitalist consumption but you’re not quite ready to take the
leap to mooncups, is to make your own reusable pads. I’m not joking! A few of
my friends do this and I think it’s great. A little bit of googling will get
you on the right track with that too.
I’m also happy to answer any questions
people have, so feel free to comment below :)
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