Bloody Women
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
In honor of a day SO f*cked up that it appears that the entire world is on their period (or embroiled in the mother ship of PMS), I figured it was a timely moment to share a tidbit about one of my favorite finds of this year.
The Instead Soft Cup looks kind of similar to a diaphragm, with the “cup” part being looser and meant to collect “aunt flow” (My gal pal Brigitta coined the term “friend’s friend” which is actually what I have since used). What makes Instead so appealing though, and different from other forms of feminine products, is its ability to hold twice as much fluid as a tampon and to be worn all day or all night. Which is of course perfect for those of us whose work kicks our arse so much that we literally lack time for a pee break.
(Did I say f*cked up day? Yeah.)
Insertion is surprisingly easy, and once you get used to it, removal ain’t much harder. And there’s something pretty liberating about a product that is more environmentally friendly AND is ultimately easier to use. (TSS? Not an issue.) Supposedly you can even wear it while you have sex, but that’s something I’m a bit squeamish to try out. It’s worn at the very back of the vagina and covers the cervix, so it also provides great protection for even those “extra icky” days.
And here’s today’s first happy news: Two lucky Aly-tude readers will receive a year’s supply of the Instead Softcup, what we here have declared one of the best thing to happen to periods since…well, ever! (Except for maybe chocolate.) Enter today for the chance to revolutionize the way you look at your period (it’s about time). For more information on the Softcup, visit www.softcup.com. And to enter, tell me your biggest time-of-month nightmare ever. Bring out the embarrassing tales - you’ll have the best chance to win! Deadline Feb. 1.
Fun fact! Aly Walansky wrote this story just for you on January 24th, 2008 |
January 25th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Hi Aly,
Ahem, well, this happened to a “friend” of mine and she was so traumatized by the experience, she still suffers post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in the feminine hygiene aisle at the store.
When she was 13 she started her period for the first time while we were at Raging Waters in San Dimas (a major water park with tons o’ water slides). One of us helpfully offered her a tampon in the restroom but she had trouble making heads or tails out of it. Later, when we were going down a giant water slide, the improperly inserted tampon came out and went down the rushing flume at her feet. You can imagine the mortification she suffered seeing that bloody tampon trailing ahead of her until she crashed at the large pool at the bottom. And the floating tampon caused mass hysteria and a mad rush to exit the pool. Good times!
January 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Okay. ::deep breath:: So, it’s the summer of 1998. My brother and are in Texas visiting our Aunt and Uncle and two cousins, both boys. I’m 14. It is the middle of a horrible heat wave. And I get my period. Now, I’d never used a tampon at this point, and I hadn’t even been menstruating a year at this point, so I was like “GOD THIS SUCKS!” It’s scorching hot out, and I can’t even go SWIMMING. I sat around for a week watching TV. This is the reason I love “Discoball World” by David Garza cuz it was on MTV2 like every half hour. Anyway, I think I was using my Aunt’s pads at the time, and I hadn’t really gotten the hang of that whole “bleed for a week every month or so” thing, and I remember specifically that we went bowling, and we got back to the house, and my khaki shorts had blood stains on them, and I was horrified thinking that everyone saw when I was bowling. I still don’t know if anyone saw but I was absolutely HORRIFIED.
Which is right up there with a couple years ago I had this trashy boyfriend that I dated against my own better judgement, and one time we had intercourse (dude it sounds so weird saying it like that) while Aunt Flo was in town, and he, drunk, apparently went upstairs and used the bathroom (he lived in his parents’ basement, ugh), and dropped the period covered condom on the floor. His mother completely flipped out on him and I was like “I AM NEVER GOING TO YOUR HOUSE AGAIN!” Add to this the fact that I worked with both him AND his mother and it was absolutely mortifying.
But yeah, I’ve ALWAYS been interested in this form of period management, but I’ve always been nervous to try them. What if I bought them and didn’t like them? But I’ve heard all of their praises and I’m like, I should really do it, but… yeah. I’d LOVE to try them out!!!! For a year would be FANTASTIC!!!
January 27th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Well, let’s see. Last year, I went on a cruise with my family and my boyfriend. It was an amazing cruise into the Caribbean. So, of course, I started my period in the midst of riding a boat out to snorkel in the Barrier Reef of Belize. I went to the bathroom on the boat, wearing nothing but my cute little hot pink bathing suit. After discovering that Aunt Flo had decided to visit at such an inconvenient time, I tried my best to clean up, but there really was no hope. The toilet wouldn’t flush and it was almost time to jump into the water. So, that was the beginning of all of the problems.
If being on your period during your cruise isn’t bad enough, everything had to go wrong. On one of my last days, my period (I THOUGHT) had gotten lighter, so I had a really cute pair of white and blue plaid shorts on. I went into this nice cabin that my parents had been staying in and sat down on the bed with my boyfriend. The bed was so soft with a huge, white, fluffy down comforter, that I had decided was a good place to plant my ass. Well, when I stood up, my boyfriend announced, “Oh my GOD, what is THAT?” As I turned around, I was mortified to see a giant red stain on this beautiful comforter. My mom followed up with an, “Oh my GOD, why on MY bed?” Not to mention, my dad is VERY VERY weird about that kind of stuff. He embarassingly got up from his seat and scurried out of the room as my mom and I tried to find a way to clean it up. The stain ended up coming out for the most part, but the whole experience truly scarred me for life.
I hate tampons. I hate pads. I would LOVE to try this product. Help!
January 28th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Oh these stories are priceless!!
January 31st, 2008 at 4:14 pm
OK. Well, I have a few embarrassing stories. I got my period early in life (age 10). I didn’t even know what it was - I thought I had somehow cut myself, and when my mom saw, she started crying, so I totally thought I was going to die. She kept saying, “my baby’s growing up,” like it was the worst thing in the world. But, that’s not an embarrassing story. One embarrassing story is awkward pre-teen girl playing softball without any hand/eye coordination and white softball pants. The other embarrassing story is senior prom, all-girls’ Catholic school, white dress, sitting at dinner and then getting up to dance.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[...] She’s got more than a little attitude… She’s got Aly-tude! “A Little Aly-tude,” one of our favorite outspoken female blogs, is singing the praises of the Instead Softcup. Sassy blogger Aly loves Instead and she wants you to love it too! In fact, she’s even giving away a one-year supply of our product to 2 lucky winners! Check out the Aly-tude blog on SheKnows.com by clicking here. [...]
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
So this is not really my embarrasing story, but I was mortified by it anyways! One morning (when I was a teenager and still living at home) I went downstairs to the bathroom (we had only one) and my mom was sitting on the toilet cursing because she had gotten her period during the night and was attempting to “clean up a bit”. We are standing discussing this when my father comes downstairs and starts telling us the following story: He was leaving his bedroom when he saw something on the hardwood floor. Keep in mind that it was still kind of dark out and he hadn’t turned on the bedroom light. He says that there was a blob of what looked like jelly on the floor and that he tried to pick it up but it kept slipping from his fingers. He is actually gesturing with his fingers how he was trying to pick it up. When me and my mom realize what happened we look at eachother with utter dismay. My mom never wore underwear to bed under her nightgown and apparently a blood clot had “fallen out” and hit the floor on her way out of the room. I will never forget the look on my poor fathers face!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Preteen Preteen Lolitas Innocent Preteens…
I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view…
April 15th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Teen Girls Teen Titans Raven Tiffany Teen…
I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view…