New this month (in addition to the letters, etc., below):
"Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome," by Lynn Dunning - "Colposcopy," by Dr. Nelson Soucasaux, Brazilian gynecologist -
Humor
Kaylee Powers-Monteros is writing a book about women's periods called "Bloody Rites."
"I consider a woman's period her rite of passage. . . . My book is focusing on the language we use about periods and how that impacts our perceptions of it," she writes.
She has a chapter about men's first learning about menstruation and would like to hear from men in response to the question, "When was the first time you ever heard anything about a period and what was it?" I already sent her mine: when I was in sixth grade the kid next door said his sister had started bleeding from you-know-where. I didn't know anything about you-know-where, actually, having grown up in a prudish military household with two bothers, no sisters and a mother who must have felt very alone.
E-mail her at bloodyrites2003@aol.com
Click on the SMCR Web site for conference information: http://www.pop.psu.edu/smcr/ (look at the contents on the left side of that page, two items down).
See my report, with photos, about the 1997 conference. Two of the stars from that proceeding were Prof. Martha McClintock, the first person to scientifically describe menstrual synchrony (read her article), and Dr. Susan Love, surgeon and author of popular books about women's health.
Researchers at the Emory University School of Nursing are conducting an Internet-based study looking at the experience of migraines in women between the ages of 40 and 55. The study includes completion of online questionnaires and participation in an online discussion group with other women who also have headaches. For more information, please visit the study Web site at http://www.sph.emory.edu/migraine, or call the research phone line at 404-712-8558.
Thanks so much.
Peggy Moloney
Seeking paper proposals that explore women's health in popular culture for possible presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., November 7 to 9, 2003.
Popular culture offers a multitude of representations of women's health, women's relationship to healthcare products and to the healthcare industry, as well as of women's care of others, both formally and informally. What meanings are attached to print advertising, Internet ads, television commercials, television dramas, situation comedies, film, poetry, short stories, novels, or photography on the linkage between women's health and popular culture? Papers that explore the U.S. healthcare industry, women as medical professionals, and the medicalization of women's bodies in terms of race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality are particularly encouraged.
Send an email submission (NO ATTACHMENTS) with paper title, 250 word abstract, short CV, full address and audiovisual needs by June 15 to Dr. Katie Hogan, Area Chair, Women's Studies Panel, MAPACA, EMAIL: wsmapaca@aol.com
Hi,
My name is ****. I have been trying for years to find the Red Books that taught me about myself. My mom gave them to me when I was around the age of eight years. I have never forgotten those little red books. Now I have two nieces that need those books. I have not been able to find them anywhere. Do you know where I can find them? It would be a great help. My Mom has been looking also. Please help. Auntie in need.
[If you can help, write me and I'll pass it on. Look at some other booklets for girls.]
When I was 10, the nurse showed the girls a video where two girls are camping in the backyard. One girl wakes up in the middle of the night with her period. She wakes up the mom and is then shown how to put on a pad. The next morning both girls and a little boy are treated to a uterus-shaped pancake that lets you know about menses. After they learn all about our womanly cycle they eat. I saw this video in the 80's in New York State. [Write me what you know and I'll pass it on.]
Mr. Finley,
I previously wrote to you about getting info. on the history of the menstrual cycle in other cultures. [The book] "Blood Magic" was perfect. I have one more request: where can I find humorous scenes from movies dealing with the menstrual cycle or "women's" issues? If you could send me some titles of movies I could find at the rental place, I would be truly grateful!
Thanks,
[Write me what you know and I'll pass it on.]
Dear Harry,
Hello from the UK! I have been on your Web site many times over the past year and have found it to be very interesting and funny in some parts.
I am a undergraduate studying environmental management and geography. I am currently gathering information for my dissertation project with a topic close to your heart (well sort of). I am looking for women's attitude towards the use and disposal of sanitary products and disposable nappies (diapers).
I would appreciate if you could suggest any literature, essays, contact names (Web sites) - anything that would help in my search for information.
Thanks for your time and I do hope to visit the museum in the future and maybe have the pleasure to meet you. I am an American who has lived in England for 25 years!
Betty
bettywhittaker@yahoo.co.uk
Sir,
I was fascinated to find your Web site with all of its information on the history of menstruation. I wanted to pass on a small piece of information. My grandmother, who will be 105 this year, said that all the women in her family braided rags together for pads, and boiled them after use. She grew up in Colorado.
[From a German e-mailer]
Dear Harry Finley,
I read your articles on underwear [here] with great interest, and can add support to your thesis that some women in Germany did not use any protection other than their chemises as late as 1920 at least:
From my great-grandmother I own several chemises of classical cut, and know from my grandmother's telling that the former owner used to make a knot of the ends between her legs at times of menstruation. This was her only concession [to menstruation], which my grandmother obviously found revolting (to guess from the way she told me, I must ask her what she did!). My great-grandmother lived from somewhere around the turn of the century, giving birth for the first time in 1920, into the 1960's. She lived in rural Lower Saxony, and as far as I know her husband was working with the national railway company, so we are not talking about a purely agricultural background here.
Maybe this is a little piece of the puzzle.
Kind regards,
[See washable pads from Almora, Uttar Pradesh state, India and Rajasthan state, India; nineteenth-century Norwegian washable pads; Italian washable pad, probably from the 1890s; instructions for making Japanese pads, early 20th century?; German, about 1900; and modern pads: snap-on style washable pad and washable pad with belt. See how women wear a belt with a pad and see a Swedish ad showing a belt and pad. Top it all off with a German pattern for washable pads, probably before 1900. Then look at a menstrual sponge.]
The Tassaway menstrual cup, from the 1970s in the U.S.A. Read more about it and other cups. Illustrations © 2000 Harry Finley Dear Ms. [Um, your MUM's a man.] Finley,
I was talking to my sister and we were laughing about our teen daughters and their experiences with the coming of age ordeal ... periods! I decided to do a search on the Web for Tassaway [menstrual cup] just for fun and I found your Web site! I had remembered trying a Tassaway many, many years ago and still remember the horror I experienced using the thing. [One museum visitor told me she actually cut herself on the ridges circling the cup.] I don't know if you are still looking for articles for the Web site [I always am!] but I would be happy to put in my two bits. Perhaps you're only looking for positive experiences; in that case you would not want my article. [No, I want the good with the bad - the truth - just as you readers do.]
Thank you for an interesting Web site for women of all ages.
Just thought you might like to add the "Divacup" to your list of menstrual cups on your site. It's almost identical to "the Keeper,"but made of silicone. Lots of women who have a latex allergy might be interested in this. There is a Web site: www.divacup.com
[Here are the sites for the cups that I know about:
http://www.thekeeperinc.com (The Keeper)
http://www.softcup.com (Instead)
http://www.mooncup.co.uk/ (Moon cup)
http://www.divacup.com/ (Diva)
And read about an . . .
Article about menstrual cups in the New York Times
Illustration © 2000 Harry Finley The excellent "Menstrual Cups, at Age 66, Begin to Make Up for Lost Time," by Donald G. McNeil Jr., appeared in the Science Times section of the February 4, 2003 newspaper. [You can retrieve the article from the Times Web site.]
I liked seeing an authoritative, main-stream publication write about this important help for women; they seldom do. The article, which discusses The Keeper and Instead, quotes menstrual products safety expert Dr. Philip Tierno, Jr., who is a MUM board member, and others (including me), and basically is very positive about cups.
But contrary to the photo cut line, the picture of The Keeper cup in the article sure looks as if it came from this MUM site (here), not from Health Keeper Inc.
Read a short and incomplete history of menstrual cups here.
Buy Instead at http://www.softcup.com and at some drug stores in the U.S.A., the rubber The Keeper at http://www.thekeeperinc.com, among many Web sites, and the silicone Divacup at http://www.divacup.com/ . And there is now the silicone (British) Mooncup, similar in shape to the Keeper, at http://www.mooncup.co.uk
A woman's story about The Keeper cup and her latex (rubber) allergy:
Hi! I've frequented the MUM Web site often over the past few years and sent many people to the site for information.
I wrote you in 1998 and told you a story (http://www.mum.org/olnews54.htm) about my first day wearing The Keeper. In that e-mail I said, "I haven't had any of the problems that a lot of people have had with The Keeper, nor has it irritated my latex allergy!"
I have to amend that statement. My keeper DOES now irritate my latex allergy, and has for some time. I've now had my Keeper for about 6-1/2 years and have used it for almost all of my cycles since then (excluding 10 months of pregnancy and 14 months of lactational amenorrhea). I started experiencing latex irritation when I returned to the Keeper after my lactational amenorrhea ended, in September of 2000. I began shortly thereafter using sea sponges [read about sponges] during my cycle except for my very heavy days or when I must be out of the house for a long time, as I have trouble with the sponges being sufficient. (I also have trouble with the sponges catching urine when I go to the bathroom, and I have talked with other women who have the same problem - but I didn't find anything on the MUM site about this, which I find interesting.) I just put up with the irritation (or take a Benadryl), but I find it very frustrating.
FINALLY this week I found the Divacup information on MUM! I will be ordering one at the end of this week, and can't wait to try it out with my next cycle! Thanks!
And hints about cutting the "tail" of The Keeper from a happy user
I have been using the Keeper for two cycles now, and I love it. I have had very minimal problems with leakage, and I used to always have problems with leaking pads and tampons. I do, however, have a flannel panyliner that I use when my flow is heavier.
One recommendation for women who are starting to use the Keeper - before you trim the tail at all, insert it and wait a little while. I inserted it, measured the amount I was going to cut, and cut it without waiting. In retrospect, I wish I had waited because I think I didn't insert it quite far enough the first time, and though it felt fine, I think that the first time I wore it for a longer period of time, it worked its way a little further into my body, and my Keeper experience might be a little better with a longer tail.
No matter, though, I love my Keeper for environmental, economic, philosophical, and comfort reasons, and I will keep using it.
Cheers
And - finally - about the Keeper from a frequent contributor
Hi, again, Harry,
Hey, here's probably the best-written review of The Keeper I've ever seen :) http://www.livejournal.com/community/the_keeper/29774.html
Hi,
I found this Web site in the course of searching for colloquialisms for menstruation [here] for a fictional story I am in the process of creating and felt compelled to say thank you, Mr. Finley, for the MUM and this wonderful Web site. I found not only what I had been looking for, but at long last had the questions answered that have plagued me for years regarding the mysteries of menstruation. I just finished reading the FAQ about you and now feel bad about admitting that I, like so many others, initially wondered just what kind of "freak" you might be, since most men (and many women) have such an aversion to the topic; however, I concluded that you are an intelligent, creative and well-rounded normal guy with a great sense of humor (why that ended up sounding like every ad from the "Personals" section I have no clue) who has the respect and gratitude of at least one cranky, 40-year-old perimenopausal woman. Keep up the great work!
Hello!
I would just like to say the notion of a public museum of menstruation is very appealing to me. I have visited your site periodically over the past few years, and have referred many people to it.
I find the topic of human reproduction and cultural responses to women in particular very interesting. Although I live in Toronto, Canada, I would consider taking a trip into the U.S.A. if you managed to open your museum.
Perhaps Sue Johanson would be interested in visiting your home museum if she hasn't already. She is a famous and much-loved sex educator, a registered nurse who hosts a television call-in show about sex and relationships. Her show has recently begun airing on the Oxygen Network in the U.S.A. if you would like to contact her. The web site for her American program is http://www.talksexwithsue.com/ and in Canada, she can be reached through http://www.wnetwork.com/ .
Good luck in your endeavour, I look forward to hearing of new developments in the project.
Dear Madam/Sir,
Your Web site is add to Exploratorius (http://www.exploratorius.com)
Category:
> Museum of Menstruation & Women\\\'s Health
Discover the rich history of menstruation and women\\\'s health on this Web site - MUM for short - devoted to menstruation and selected topics of women\\\'s health!
http://www.mum.org/
See: http://www.exploratorius.com/links//index.htm
You can help us by making a link to Exploratorius on your site.
Best regards,
Bas Jobsen (bas@emailcommunications.nl)
Women's Universal Health Initiative
Women's Universal Health Initiative is by women for women - if you have ideas, events, information, or comments to share, send them to Info@wuhi.org
In these difficult times, all advocacy groups are struggling financially. WUHI is no exception. Please consider becoming a member to support the continuation of the web site and our work on universal health care.
You become a member of WUHI with a tax-deductible donation of any amount. Go to the WUHI website to join online, or send your donation to WUHI, Box 623, Boston, MA 02120.
Health Care Reform: a Women's Issue
Anne Kasper
Anne Kasper, a long time women's health activist, discusses why health care reform is a women's issue. Anne is an editor, with Susan J. Ferguson of Breast Cancer: Society Shapes an Epidemic, a powerful and informative book on the politics of breast cancer.
To read the complete article: http://www.wuhi.org/pages/articles.html <http://www.wuhi.org/pages/articles.html%A0>
Health care reform has long been a women's issue. Since the beginnings of the Women's Health Movement in the late 1960s, women have known that the health care system does not work in the best interests of women's health. When we think of the health care system and its component parts doctors, hospitals, clinics, and prescription drugs, for instance we are increasingly aware that the current system is not designed to promote and maintain our personal health or the health of others. Instead, we are aware of a medical system that delivers sporadic, interventionist, hi-tech, and curative care when what we need most often is continuous, primary, low-tech, and preventive care. Women are the majority of the uninsured and the under insured as well as the majority of health care providers. We are experts on our health, the health of our families, and the health of our communities. We know that we need a health care system that must be a part of changes in other social spheres -- such as wage work, housing, poverty, inequality, and education -- since good health care results from more than access to medical services.
Featured Site
UHCAN - Universal Health Care Action Network
http://www.uhcan.org/
UHCAN is a nationwide network of individuals and organizations, committed to achieving health care for all. It provides a national resource center, facilitates information sharing and the development of strategies for health care justice. UHCAN was formed to bring together diverse groups and activists working for comprehensive health care in state and national campaigns across the country.
Their annual conference, planned for October 24-26, 2003 in Baltimore, MD, is one of the best grass-roots action conferences available. They consider universal health care justice from many perspectives.
Visit UHCAN's website for resources, analyses of health reform issues, and more information on their campaigns for health care justice.
Proposals, Policies, Pending Legislation
Health Care Access Campaign - the Health Care Access Resolution
http://www.uhcan.org/HCAR/
Health care in America is unjust and inefficient. It costs too much, covers too little, and excludes too many. As the economy deteriorates, it is rapidly getting worse.
One in seven Americans, 80% of whom are from working families, lack health insurance and consequently suffer unnecessary illness and premature death. Tens of millions more are under insured, unable to afford needed services, particularly medications. Health care costs are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. Communities of color endure major disparities in access and treatment. Double-digit medical inflation undermines employment-based insurance, as employers drop coverage or ask their employees to pay more for less. State budgets are in their worst shape in half a century. Medicare and Medicaid are caught between increases in need and a financial restraints.
In the 108th Congress, the Congressional Universal Health Care Task Force will introduce the Health Care Access Resolution, directing Congress to enact legislation by 2005 that provides access to comprehensive health care for all Americans. Legislators, reacting to the urgency for health care reform, will likely introduce several proposals in this Congress.
Check out the link to learn more about the resolution and how you can contribute to it.
Proposed Health Insurance Tax Credits Could Shortchange Women
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/insurance/collins_creditswomen_589.pdf
Commonwealth Fund report, reviews federal policies designed to help low-income adults buy health insurance, which have focused on tax credits for purchasing coverage in the individual insurance market. This analysis of premium and benefit quotes for individual health plans offered in 25 cities finds that tax credits at the level of those in recent proposals would not be enough to make health insurance affordable to women with low incomes.
Time for Change: the Hidden Cost of a Fragmented Health Insurance System
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/insurance/davis_
An excellent overview by Karen Davis, President of The Commonwealth Fund, of factors in the US health care system that lead to it being the most expensive health system in the world.
A Place at the Table: Women's Needs and Medicare Reform
By Marilyn Moon and Pamela Herd
http://www.tcf.org/Publications/Order.asp?ItemID=199
This book, published by the Century Foundation, shows that women have different retirement needs as a group than men. Women are more likely to require long-term care services because they live longer and are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases. Suggests guidelines that would make Medicare reforms work for women, including how to deal with comprehensiveness, affordability, access to quality care, and the availability of information.
Women in the Health Care System: Health Status, Insurance, and Access to Care
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/PrintProducts/PrintProd_Detail.asp?ID=78
Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) focuses on women in the United States in 1996. Health insurance status is examined in terms of whether women are publicly insured, privately insured, or uninsured, and whether insured women are policyholders or dependents.
Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2001 Data Update
http://www.kff.org/content/2003/4070/
Although not specific to women, this resource contains valuable information about women and health insurance coverage and provides valuable information and facts for general presentations on universal health care. The chart book provides year 2001 data on health insurance coverage, with special attention to the uninsured. It includes trends and major shifts in coverage and a profile of the uninsured population.
Resources
Health Care Links
http://www.pnhp.org/links/
Links to state, national and international organizations working for single payer health care and universal health care. A resource of Physicians for a National Health Program - check out the site for many other resources and excellent factual information on a single payer health care system [ http://www.pnhp.org/links/ <http://www.pnhp.org/links/> ].
Universal Health Care Organizations in Your State
http://www.everybodyinnobodyout.org/index.htm#regnl
A list of state organizations working for universal health care. Resource of Everybody In, Nobody Out [EINO: http://www.everybodyinnobodyout.org ]. Not all states represented.
Families USA New Online Service
http://fusa.convio.net/site/R?i=6d26XZDs_24DRYvcWDDmjg .
Families USA online service to provide registered users with the following benefits:
Free bimonthly newsletters with articles on health policy issue.
Announcements about organization events.
Discounts on publications
Kaiser Network for Health Policy - Publications and Reports
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=links&hc=806&linkcat=61 <http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=links&hc=806&linkcat=61>
Reports and publications on health policy, access, uninsured and insurance. Supported by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Good source of information.
Calendar
May 8 - 9 2003
Health Policy and the Underserved
http://www.jcpr.org/conferences/event_description.cfm?conid=124
Sponsored by the Joint Center for Poverty Research, looks a social, economic, and outcomes of policies for the underserved.
May 14-16, 2003
2003 Managed Care Law Conference
Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.healthlawyers.org/programs/prog_03mc.cfm
Co-sponsored by American Health Lawyers Association and American Association of Health Plans. Presents legal issues facing health plans and providers.
October 24-26, 2003
National Universal Health Care Action Network [UHCAN] Conference
Baltimore, MD
http://www.uhcan.org/
One of the best grass-roots action conferences available. Considers universal health care from all its perspectives. Check out their website for an overview of their orientation.
November 15, 2003
Physicians for a National Health Program Fall Meeting
http://www.pnhp.org/action/?go=events
San Francisco, CA
November 15 - 19, 2003
American Public Health Association Annual Meeting
San Francisco, CA
http://www.apha.org/meetings/
Meeting of professionals in public health. Has many sessions on health care reform and women's health, including universal health care.
January 22-23, 2004
National Health Policy Conference
Washington, DC
http://www.academyhealth.org/nhpc/
Wide-ranging discussions of health policy, including health care reform and universal health care.
Women's Universal Health Initiative
PO Box 623
Boston, MA 02120-2822
617-739-2923 Ext 3
www.wuhi.org <http://www.wuhi.org>
info@wuhi.org
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY presents
THAT TIME OF MONTH
Four Female Artists Bridge the Personal and the Universal
MARCH 8 - MAY 4
Opening Reception, Saturday March 8, 2003, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue at 10th Street; call (212) 475-0108 for information
Gallery Hours M-Sat 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sun 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Diane Apostolacus
Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, Diane Apostolacus graduated from Alfred University with a B.F.A. in 1987, afterwards making her artistic life in Brooklyn, N.Y. Throughout many creative interests such as book carvings, box constructions, collages, printmaking and photography, Diane has remained most devoted to painting in encaustics. She was awarded a residency at Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, N.Y., in November of 1999 where she focused exclusively on her encaustics works. Since then, Diane has exhibited in various galleries and functions in Brooklyn and was accepted into "Encaustic Works 99," a juried International Biennial in Kingston, N.Y.
On exhibit will be four paintings by Diane, reflecting her unique perspective on everyday things.
Zenzele Browne
A native of Philadelphia, Zenzele Browne distinguished herself at the renowned Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. For the past 19 years, she has made New York City her home, particularly the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where she lives, loves, laughs and paints paints paints paints paints! Zenzele's work was recently featured in the traveling exhibit "The Politics of Racism" at ABC No Rio, Lowe Gallery at Hudson Guild and Fire Patrol #5 Gallery. Other recent exhibits include " Erotic Art of Black Women" at Satta Gallery in Brooklyn and "Mumia 911" at Rush Fine Arts Gallery. To view more of Zenzele Browne's artwork visit www.inthelightfinearts.com.
Five large-sized exuberant interior landscapes by Zenzele will be on exhibit.
Barbara Ann Slitkin
Barbara Ann Slitkin has won numerous awards and grants including memebership in the National Mural Society and art residency from the Friends of the Library in 1992. She has also been invited to exhibit numerous one-person shows at the Tompkins Square Gallery.
From 1992-2001, her work has been shown widely at many group exhibitions including "Wheel!" juried by A. Aiches, chief curator for the Bass Museum in Florida, and "Tool" juried by Ms. Bonnie Clearwater, chief curator for the Museum for Contemporary Art, also in Florida. The artist's work is in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Last year, she was archived by the Museum of American Folk Art as a 20th Century Folk Artist.
On exhibit are four paintings from Barbara's Paint My Flowers Black series.
Tamara Wyndham
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Tamara studied traditional drawing and painting at California State University, Long Beach; and more experimental drawing, book works, and performance at the University of California at Irvine. She moved to New York City in 1979, where she continued to explore different methods of art making. She became involved in the feminist movement, organizing consciousness-raising and study groups, and attending numerous demonstrations and actions. She also became involved in feminist spirituality, and has led meditations. She traveled through Mexico and Central America for one year in 1984-1985, painting and learning about the different cultures and languages. More recently Tamara has been influenced by her travel and work in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.
She has been awarded artist residencies at the Henry Street Settlement, the Kate Millett Art Colony, the Vermont Studio Center, the Mariz Ceramic Workshop in the Czech Republic, and the Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain.
Tamara will give viewers a whole new way to look at bodily fluids with six mixed media pieces from her series Blood on My Hands. [See her performance and paper art here.]
Read more about it - it includes this museum (when it was in my house) and many interesting people associated publically with menstruation. Individual Americans can buy the video by contacting
Films for the Humanities
P.O. Box 2053
Princeton, NJ 08543-2053Tel: 609-275-1400
Fax: 609-275-3767
Toll free order line: 1-800-257-5126Canadians purchase it through the National Film Board of Canada.
If so, Lana Thompson wants to hear from you.
if I die before establishing the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health as a permanent public display in the United States (read more of my plans here). I have had coronary angioplasty; I have heart disease related to that which killed all six of my parents and grandparents (some when young), according to the foremost Johns Hopkins lipids specialist. The professor told me I would be a "very sick person" if I were not a vegetarian since I cannot tolerate any of the medications available. Almost two years ago I debated the concept of the museum on American national television ("Moral Court," Fox Network) and MUM board member Miki Walsh (see the board), who was in the audience at Warner Brothers studios in Hollywood, said I looked like a zombie - it was the insomnia-inducing effect of the cholesterol medication.
And almost two years ago Megan Hicks, curator of medicine at Australia's Powerhouse Museum, the country's largest, in Sydney, visited MUM (see her and read about the visit). She described her creation of an exhibit about the history of contraception that traveled Australia; because of the subject many people had objected to it before it started and predicted its failure. But it was a great success!
The museum would have a good home.
I'm trying to establish myself as a painter (see some of my paintings) in order to retire from my present job to give myself the time to get this museum into a public place and on display permanently (at least much of it); it's impossible to do now because of the time my present job requires.
An Australian e-mailed me about this:
Wow, the response to the museum, if it were set up in Australia, would be so varied. You'd have some people rejoicing about it and others totally opposing it (we have some yobbos here who think menstruation is "dirty" and all that other rubbish). I reckon it would be great to have it here. Imagine all the school projects! It might make a lot of younger women happier about menstruating, too. I'd go check it out (and take my boyfriend too) :)
Hey, are you related to Karen Finley, the performance artist?? [Not that I know of, and she hasn't claimed me!]
Don't eliminate the ten Regional Offices of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor
The Bush Administration is planning to propose, in next year's budget, to eliminate the ten Regional Offices of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor. This decision signals the Administration's intent to dismantle the only federal agency specifically mandated to represent the needs of women in the paid work force.
Established in 1920, the Women's Bureau plays a critical function in helping women become aware of their legal rights in the workplace and guiding them to appropriate enforcement agencies for help. The Regional Offices take the lead on the issues that working women care about the most - training for higher paying jobs and non-traditional employment, enforcing laws against pay discrimination, and helping businesses create successful child-care and other family-friendly policies, to name only a few initiatives.
The Regional Offices have achieved real results for wage-earning women for eighty-one years, especially for those who have low incomes or language barriers. The one-on-one assistance provided at the Regional Offices cannot be replaced by a Web site or an electronic voice mail system maintained in Washington.
You can take action on this issue today! Go to http://capwiz.com/nwlc/home/ to write to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and tell her you care about keeping the Regional Offices of the Women's Bureau in operation. You can also let E. Mitchell Daniels, Jr., Director of the Office of Management and Budget, know how you feel about this. You can write a letter of your own or use one we've prepared for you.
If you find this information useful, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to sign up to receive Email Action Alerts from the National Women's Law Center at www.nwlc.org/email.
Thank you!
Book about menstruation published in Spain
The Spanish journalist who contributed some words for menstruation to this site last year and wrote about this museum (MUM) in the Madrid newspaper "El País" just co-authored with her daughter a book about menstruation (cover at left).
She writes, in part,
Dear Harry Finley,
As I told you, my daughter (Clara de Cominges) and I have written a book (called "El tabú") about menstruation, which is the first one to be published in Spain about that subject. The book - it talks about the MUM - is coming out at the end of March and I just said to the publisher, Editorial Planeta, to contact you and send you some pages from it and the cover as well. I'm sure that it will be interesting to you to have some information about the book that I hope has enough sense of humour to be understood anywhere. Thank you for your interest and help.
If you need anything else, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Margarita Rivière
Belen Lopez, the editor of nonfiction at Planeta, adds that "Margarita, more than 50 years old, and Clara, 20, expose their own experiences about menstruation with a sensational sense of humour." (publisher's site)
My guess is that Spaniards will regard the cover as risqué, as many Americans would. And the book, too. But, let's celebrate!
I earlier mentioned that Procter & Gamble was trying to change attitudes in the Spanish-speaking Americas to get more women to use tampons, specifically Tampax - a hard sell.
Compare this cover with the box cover for the Canadian television video about menstruation, Under Wraps, and the second The Curse.
An American network is now developing a program about menstruation for a popular cable channel; some folks from the network visited me recently to borrow material.
And this museum lent historical tampons and ads for a television program in Spain last year.
Now, if I could only read Spanish! (I'm a former German teacher.)
Irregular menses identify women at high risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which exists in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is a major cause of infertility and is linked to diabetes.
