Forgive me?
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It’s not necessarily related to religion. My mom grew up in the Thumb of Michigan during the Great Depression, and when she, who was the eighth kid out of nine with five of her older sibs being girls, started her period, she thought she was dying. Nobody’d told her what to expect, and some of those sisters were already married with kids of their own (and because of them expecting kids, a couple of 'em, lol).
It’s a Victorian-era thing, that “ladies never show their underwear in public, even to the point of hanging them on the clothesline in pillowcases to dry” mindset, wealthy or poverty-stricken.
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Something good…
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When I first got my period, my mother – who tried very hard to be progressive and open, and was an atheist to boot – insisted I use pads and not tampons. She said it was “unhealthy” for a young girl who was still growing to use tampons, and I could damage myself. I’m sure concerns about purity weren’t an issue for her (or not at a concious level, at any rate), but it’s one more example of how myths of the inheritant fragility of women are so pervasive.
In the end, I lasted about 6 mo. using those fucking uncomfortable wads of nastiness, and then just quietly started using my mother’s tampons.
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Axlotl tanks for all!
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Axlotl tanks for some, miniature American flags for others!
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Do they still make Supersoakers?
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My Mom also did not like tampons. Literally used the belt until chemo brought on menopause at 49.
She was a strident feminist, and staunch atheist, but she was also just grossed out in general by tampons. It wasn’t a purity thing, I think she just thought they were gross?
She also used to say “I was married and pregnant in 1960, the sexual revolution passed me by” - so perhaps part of it was just timing? (Also English, bodily functions are just not talked about and generally ew.)
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I’m so grateful that I’m a child of the 70’s, sometimes…
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I used something similar to clean my clarinet, back in the day.
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Owls are totally in these days, have been for a few years now. I bet that pullover would make you belle of the ball in 2016. (I know what year it is but I don’t foresee many parties happening in grim meathook 2017.)
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From the picture it seems to be blue. The future promised by feminine hygiene commercials is here!
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More like a soap dispenser
Feeling way too old for this thread!!!
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Was this around the time of the Toxic Shock Syndrome epidemic?
I taught my girls to start with pads until they had a sense of their own cycles. It’s so uneven and irregular at first that you can’t really know what you’re dealing with, and you need to be comfortable with – and fully aware of – what’s happening. Besides, you don’t want a young teen putting in a tampon and then forgetting to change it.
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If I recall correctly, the TSS scares happened in the 80’s; Aunt Flo first came to visit me in 1976 so that wouldn’t have been my mother’s motivation. Plus, she didn’t give me any other info than, “dangerous” and “unhealthy”. She was well-meaning and tried, but it really was just her deep discomfort with all issues around sexuality due to her own repressed upbringing.
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I’m 52…I think it’s hilarious that I can remember this stuff.
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I’m 47 years old and what is this??? I had never even heard of stick tampons until now.
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