Aggressive promotion of menstrual cups

[everywhere and nowhere]

Since this stuff has become an option, producers are pretending that it's an option for absolutely everyone and aggressively push their products. They try to guilt people into using cups through enviromental concerns. They always use the language of "why you should switch to a cup". I feel a need to rant, but generally, does anyone else feel that it isn't right? Does anyone feel shamed for using pads?

The discourse around mentrual hygiene products is also very often sex-normative, equating "anatomical virgin" with "teenager" and "mature woman" with "someone who can't possibly be a virgin".

To be honest, I haven't even tried mentrual cups, but I have all reasons to believe that I would fail. I have tried a tampon once and couldn't use it. I have even, as a libidoist asexual, experimented with sex toys and found myself unable to insert anything above 2 cm in diameter. It doesn't even hurt much, but it feels like my vaginal corona is too thick to break. And I'm extremely nudity-averse, so a surgical solution is not an option. I won't let anyone see or touch my private parts and that's final. I feel that I'm considered Unthinkable, I'm considered a case which can't possibly exist.

Do others have a problem with infantilisation of virgins, with implicitly being told that a virgin is not a "real woman"?

Sorry - again, I needed to rant, I find the menstrual cup propaganda horribly one-sided.

[MakeupJunkie4]

Yeah, I get annoyed at those ads, too...I don't mind insertion personally, but I just can't get behind the "put this inside you for up to 12 hours!" thing. I agree, infantilizing virgins is an ancient notion - it should have no place in modern times. Pads are usually seen as "teenage" options, and insertion methods are seen as "grown up"...again, I don't get it either. Society can really suck.

[Guest]

I've not really seen their ads, but I've seen plenty of people talk good about them. I have the same "issue" as you and would never even try to insert something as big as a menstrual cup. I like the sustainability of it, since I am interested in zero waste, but I'd be way more inclined to try cotton pads or period underwear that I wash. Now, I haven't had a period in years, so I don't have to bother at all (wonderful side effect from the pill I take to prevent overbleeding), I have considered quitting it since I dislike the idea of taking it until I hit menopause, but getting my period back isn't really something I look forward to.

[abandoned-account]

I infantilize people who use "virgin" like it's supposed to be a degrading/insulting term. If someone does that they've already proven they have nothing to say worth listening to in my book.

 

also I've never heard of these menstrual cup things but even the thought of anything going in there makes me feel physically nauseated (yes, even as an adult). If you can show me a way to get rid of the damned period altogether then I won't have to use anything and we can all be happy.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Since this stuff has become an option, producers are pretending that it's an option for absolutely everyone and aggressively push their products. They try to guilt people into using cups through enviromental concerns. They always use the language of "why you should switch to a cup". I feel a need to rant, but generally, does anyone else feel that it isn't right? Does anyone feel shamed for using pads?

The discourse around mentrual hygiene products is also very often sex-normative, equating "anatomical virgin" with "teenager" and "mature woman" with "someone who can't possibly be a virgin".

To be honest, I haven't even tried mentrual cups, but I have all reasons to believe that I would fail. I have tried a tampon once and couldn't use it. I have even, as a libidoist asexual, experimented with sex toys and found myself unable to insert anything above 2 cm in diameter. It doesn't even hurt much, but it feels like my vaginal corona is too thick to break. And I'm extremely nudity-averse, so a surgical solution is not an option. I won't let anyone see or touch my private parts and that's final. I feel that I'm considered Unthinkable, I'm considered a case which can't possibly exist.

Do others have a problem with infantilisation of virgins, with implicitly being told that a virgin is not a "real woman"?

Sorry - again, I needed to rant, I find the menstrual cup propaganda horribly one-sided.

I haven't seen any of the ads but I've had a lot of sex and had two kids (c-sections) and know I could never get a menstrual cup up me. I can't even get a tampon up there! The idea that females can just automatically use that sort of thing really pisses me off.

 

Fabric sanitary products (pads made of cotton) are actually the best way to go for comfort and for the environment. You just wash them after use and they feel so much better than the synthetic pads. Inserting things up there can be painful and uncomfortable so definitely isn't an option for all females. I'd be mad if I saw those ads too!

 

(Edit: I'm also unable to insert sex toys up the hoohaa. It hurts and feels disgusting even if I'm really aroused. And that comes from someone who isn't asexual, isn't a virgin, and loves ...ahem.. 'male parts').

[guest-member-0100356]

It seems like they're saying "this is the one way! for everybody!" when really... no... And it's not even the only "best way" for the environment. Take the knickers that also function as pads, or the cotton stuff. They're both re-useable! And I'd rather be wearing flashy knickers that no-one would ever see than something in me, because yay biology! Not to mention if people cannot insert anything (for medical reasons, &c &c). On the virgin = teenager thing... come on. You'd expect this mindset 200 years ago. Older, even. Why is this still prevalent in the West(?)?

[Skycaptain]

I assume that these marketeers are aware of conditions like toxic shock which can be brought on by the insertion of foreign bodies, especially if they aren't 100% sterile 

[everywhere and nowhere]

2 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I assume that these marketeers are aware of conditions like toxic shock which can be brought on by the insertion of foreign bodies, especially if they aren't 100% sterile 

They even used to claim that, unlike tampons, cups don't cause it... which has already been proven untrue.

[everywhere and nowhere]

5 hours ago, Marian the Herbalist said:

I've not really seen their ads

 

5 hours ago, PanFicto. said:

I haven't seen any of the ads

These are not really ads, just pretty much every producer claiming on their website that cups can be used by absolutely everyone who has a period and using a bit of environmentally shaming rhetoric.

And I still think I can't switch to reusable pads either. I can't wash clothes by hand with my allergy, and they say that oh, but these pads can be washed with underwear in the washing machine... except they should be washed in 40 degrees, and I use 95 for washing my underwear, 40 is way too little...!! And reusable pads are made of polyesther, a very harmful fibre for me.

It's the n-th time I'm considering some ecological alternative and finding that it won't work for me. I wish there was something similar to a menstrual cup - but worn outside the body...

And I'm a little upset, also because now I don't use public transit due to epidemic concerns - and I can't cycle during my period. At lest on 2nd-4th day it means an almost certain leak, I have already had a bloody bike saddle over twenty years ago and since then I know that nope, not everyone can cycle during period...

[Janus the Fox]

A common marketing strategy these days.  I see the tactics used a bit for many health products, why their products are better than the leading competitor and so on.

 

A bit off topic from Menstrual Cups, this same tactics is used for rather strange exercise contraptions.  Anyone able to tune into a shopping channel that sells these could see how ridiculous some of these are.  Anybody with an interest in health and exercise could see what’s wrong there in that market.   

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Nowhere Girl said:

And I still think I can't switch to reusable pads either. I can't wash clothes by hand with my allergy, and they say that oh, but these pads can be washed with underwear in the washing machine... except they should be washed in 40 degrees, and I use 95 for washing my underwear, 40 is way too little...!! And reusable pads are made of polyesther, a very harmful fibre for me.

The ones I use are cotton, you can wash them in any kind of temperature you want  I'm not saying you should switch (I was just stating what I believe to be a better alternative than a cup before) but yeah, the cotton ones are the best. I wouldn't use polyester as it would probably cause me issues. Heck I even have ones I made myself out of cotton nappy liners from when my kids stopped wearing nappies. They're still holding up after 8-10 years of use and can be washed in any temperature of water (and have saved me so much money over the years). I also don't get itchy with them the way I do with synthetic pads, they're amazing!! (just my personal preference though, not saying anyone else has to use that sort of thing)

 

2 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

It's the n-th time I'm considering some ecological alternative and finding that it won't work for me. I wish there was something similar to a menstrual cup - but worn outside the body...

Oh I hadn't read this part of your post before typing my response to the sentence before it. Would you consider cotton if you could get your hands on cotton alternatives? Something else I love about the cotton ones is they don't have that weird odor like the synthetic ones.

 

2 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

And I'm a little upset, also because now I don't use public transit due to epidemic concerns - and I can't cycle during my period. At lest on 2nd-4th day it means an almost certain leak, I have already had a bloody bike saddle over twenty years ago and since then I know that nope, not everyone can cycle during period...

http://www.mamacloth.co.nz/cloth-pads?product_id=3211

 

Here's an example of the kind I'm talking about. Heck the wash instructions say not to wash them in a machine, but I just chuck them in anyway. Or you could just throw them into hot water at the temperature you desire then soak them or whatever. I don't know, it's worth it for the extra comfort but that's just my personal opinion. Synthetic pads cause me so much discomfort, I love the cotton ones (and my homemade alternatives) so much  

[Cee Fox]

I'm glad to see more people who don't use tampons. I've been feeling self-concious recently about the absolute struggle it is for me to keep using pads. I have really, really heavy flow so even with max absorbancy there's a lot of changing and to prevent leakage I have to use extra stuff. I bought a box of tampons to try and realised they will not work for me at all. Cloth pads and specific period underwear are the way to go.

 

I agree there is a weird stigma about being a grown person and not wanting to insert during your period. I am positive that it would be less convinient for me to change a tampon every couple of hours especially since I will undoubtedly forget and end up really harming myself. I actually kind of wish I could use the seemingly more convinient products, but I'd rather not be insulted because I can't.

 

19 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

The discourse around mentrual hygiene products is also very often sex-normative, equating "anatomical virgin" with "teenager" and "mature woman" with "someone who can't possibly be a virgin".

THIS! The assumption that since you've had your period for a while, you must at this point be sexually active, so using invasive products won't be such a big deal to you. 

 

10 hours ago, Janus DarkFox said:

A bit off topic from Menstrual Cups, this same tactics is used for rather strange exercise contraptions.  Anyone able to tune into a shopping channel that sells these could see how ridiculous some of these are.  Anybody with an interest in health and exercise could see what’s wrong there in that market.   

I've seen straight up lies. The whole advertising industry is incredibly dodgy, but I get shocked by what you see in the health and lifestyle markets. Multivitamins are a scam, but that's a whole other rant.

[ThatLonelyBookworm]

I get ticked off about this, not just because it's invalidating us and trying to blame us for not having sex just to use their stupid products, and invalidating our choices for what we stick up in our private bodies, but the invention of the menstrual cup is being used as an excuse for pink tax and taxes on other feminine hygiene products. "Why not just use a menstrual cup? You only have to buy it once." and "You're just coddling your vagina." 

Like what??????

I got my period when I was 10! Are you gonna tell a 10 year old to stick a 3 inch plastic cup up her vagina??? 

Uggggghhhhhhhh

[Alejandrogynous]

I use a cup and while I can wholeheartedly say it changed my life (even though I also have insertion trouble and it took me a long time to even try it because I was sure I'd never get it in), yeah, it's unreasonable to expect one product to suit everyone.

 

It also hasn't completely eliminated tampons for me, like if I know I'm going to be away from home for 10+ hours, the cup isn't something you can just pull out, empty, and stick it back in in a public restroom. That's not very sanitary. So yes, menstrual cups help with sustainability and cost but it's not like they eliminates waste completely even for people who use them regularly.

[Karst]

I don't normally get too much bodily dysphoria, but periods, and the related items, really set it off for me.  I prefer pads, since I don't feel them as much as tampons.  A cup would be a definite no for me.  I keep meaning to get reusable pads/absorbent underwear, but I have this semi-conscious habit of trying not to think about my period when it's not actually going on, so I keep forgetting to.

[Tea_Time]

I haven't seen the adds for them, but here's the thing - my period is something I have to deal with every freaking month. If I find something that works, then it's going to take a lot to get me to try something else (I found a pad that works really well for me, even on my bad days). I like the idea of items that are reusable due to environmental concerns, but if it's a product that isn't going to work for me personally, then it doesn't matter. I've never used tampons - they do not appeal to me at all. When it comes to dealing with my period, peer pressure and advertising does not move me. Though since I've been working at home due to the plague, and probably will be for the foreseeable future, I would consider giving cotton reusable pads a try - if I'm going to experiment, I would rather do so when I'm not at work all day. Something like that is much more appealing to me than a cup when it comes to reusable options.

[henshin]

I think we all have a moral responsibility to use the least amount of disposable products we can, and that means looking at switching to reusable pads, period knickers, or menstrual cups.

 

The only ads I've ever seen for the predominant UK brand (Mooncup) have been fun and lighthearted so I dont think the makers are trying to guilt trip anyone. 

 

The whole narrative around pads being a teen thing and adult women wearing tampons is a cultural narrative and has nothing to do with menstual cups per se. I don't know why you're more angry at them than then much more prevalent tampon industry. 

[RandomPotato02]

Um, I just wanted to throw in the perspective of a virgin menstrual cup user to clarify a few things.

 

So, I haven't been using it for a long time yet (just one period), but anyways. I read a lot of positive opinions in a different forum and an irl friend also recommended them, so that's why. Also that ecological aspect is nice, but I wasn't guilt-trapped or anything.

 

Now that that's out of the way:

 

On 6/14/2020 at 4:46 AM, Nowhere Girl said:

The discourse around mentrual hygiene products is also very often sex-normative, equating "anatomical virgin" with "teenager" and "mature woman" with "someone who can't possibly be a virgin".

I actually haven't seen this a lot. The criteria I saw were typically whether you have a high or low cervix, whether you have given birth, whether your pelvic muscles are strong or weak, whether you're very sexually active, stuff like that. But some companies might be like that, I don't know.

On 6/14/2020 at 4:46 AM, Nowhere Girl said:

I have even, as a libidoist asexual, experimented with sex toys and found myself unable to insert anything above 2 cm in diameter.

I haven't ever tried sex toys, but I wouldn't be able to either. And I think this really is a problem, but you can work around it.

A lot of people say they have problems with inserting the cup, but after a few tries, that wasn't much of a problem for me. With the right fold, at least. I heard the C-fold was very popular, but no way that'd fit for me. However, the punchdown fold works really well for me. Taking it out is more of a problem.

(Spoiler: it gets graphic)

Spoiler

To take it out, you have to pinch the base of the cup, it says everywhere, but at least for my cup you have to squeeze at least halfway to the top. And that means you need to insert two fingers at once, next to the cup, which is just very uncomfortable for me. I suppose sexually active people don't have that probplem, but they are advertising it as "for everyone", even young virgins, small people etc., and I don't think I could've handled it for my first periods. Also that's not very comfortable for ppl with a nudity aversion as you HAVE to touch your private bits and stuff your fingers in there.

Also if you don't remove it quickly or if there's still a vacuum, it can create VERY painful suction. I had that happen the first times of removing it, but I got better after a few days.

Aand it's not as clean as advertised if you have a small vagina because you have to take it out folded and blood can easily spill over, especially if you hold it in a weird angle to prevent painful suction. So always take it out over your home toilet if you're unsure.

 

On 6/14/2020 at 4:46 AM, Nowhere Girl said:

Do others have a problem with infantilisation of virgins, with implicitly being told that a virgin is not a "real woman"?

again, never happened to me, especially in context of menstrual cups.

On 6/14/2020 at 6:03 AM, Marian the Herbalist said:

I have the same "issue" as you and would never even try to insert something as big as a menstrual cup.

Same thought here, but it's easier than it looks and once it's inserted (properly), you don't even feel it a lot. Taking it out is more problematic (see above).

On 6/14/2020 at 6:23 AM, Veezle said:

also I've never heard of these menstrual cup things but even the thought of anything going in there makes me feel physically nauseated

can't say anything against that, and it kind of annoys me that most companies only compare cups to tampons. (There are some who do mention pads, but only the negative aspects like waste and so on.)

On 6/14/2020 at 6:39 AM, PanFicto. said:

Fabric sanitary products (pads made of cotton) are actually the best way to go for comfort and for the environment.

Agreed, though I wanted to get away from pads because I often spilled blood at night. Cups can be spill-free and more comfortable than tampons, but they won't work for everyone.

23 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

They even used to claim that, unlike tampons, cups don't cause it... which has already been proven untrue.

Nowadays, a lot of cup copanies state that it can happen, but very rarely. True point though.

22 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

I wish there was something similar to a menstrual cup - but worn outside the body...

Me too.

10 hours ago, ThatLonelyBookworm said:

 

I got my period when I was 10! Are you gonna tell a 10 year old to stick a 3 inch plastic cup up her vagina??? 

Similar to what I stated above, I don't like that either. As in, I actually support menstrual cups despite all the disadvantages and yucky experiences, but not for the first periods or something. I wouldn't want that, at least. And I'm always weirded out when companies say it's possible.

10 hours ago, Alejandrogynous said:

the cup isn't something you can just pull out, empty, and stick it back in in a public restroom. That's not very sanitary. 

Have done that before, but I agree, that's yucky and unsanitary. I just didn't have anything else with me.

 

So, to cut it short:

You don't feel cups as much as you'd expect, but you have to be comfortable touching your bits to get it in and out. Also you're gonna see a lot of blood.

What I can agree to is that most companies expect everyone and any child to be comfortable inserting something for their period and that's simply not true.

The ecological aspect is nice, but reusable pads are just as friendly.

I think they're a great alternative to tampons (even if you're not comfortable using tampons, these might or might not work for you), but if you prefer pads, don't make anyone pressure you into using cups if you don't want to.

 

I hope to have clarified some things that I wish someone had told me (e.g. the painful parts), I understand why y'all don't use cups, but I like them and I wanted to defend them a little.

 

- Potato

[everywhere and nowhere]

11 hours ago, Cee Fox said:

THIS! The assumption that since you've had your period for a while, you must at this point be sexually active, so using invasive products won't be such a big deal to you. 

I've had my period in a long while, 28 years... At least it means that I'm definitely getting closer and closer to menopause. I've known someone who has had menopause at the age of 35 and was in fact upset about it, why can't I have it? I'm not going to reproduce or to have sex ever, so I don't need periods!

Anyway, I'm just one year and a few days away fom being "a bona fide 40-Year-Old Virgin".

[everywhere and nowhere]

8 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

And that means you need to insert two fingers at once, next to the cup

Impossible for me. More than one finger just won't go in, particularly since I have rather thick fingers.

8 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

but they are advertising it as "for everyone", even young virgins, small people etc.

Just mentioning that virgin =/= young person. A person at any age can be a virgin.

Actually, I think it's more of a problem for at least some older virgins. The vaginal corona can rupture during many completely non-sexual activities - for me it didn't happen because I was always a very physically unfit person. For example, splits are said to particularly endanger unsuspecting hymens , but a split was always WAAAAAY outside the range of movement possible for my body. (My lack of flexibility in comparison: I have also never been able to perform a basic exercise in which you need to bend down with straight legs and touch the ground. Sure, it's about flexibility of the spine, and a split rather about flexibility of the pelvic joints, but still it shows how stiff has my body always been. Even my knees have a smaller range of movement than in a fully healthy person, particularly the more damaged right knee.) And an intact vaginal corona can get thicker with age - I suspect that's what happened in my case. Especially judging from my autoerotic experimentation: if I try to insert something bigger, there's not even any sharp pain, but a very strong resistance, as if I was pressing against a wall.

 

I'm sex-averse anyway, and romantically uninterested in men, but when reading for example this:

19 hours ago, ThatLonelyBookworm said:

trying to blame us for not having sex just to use their stupid products

- I feel some kind of ironic triumph when I think that at this point I would anyway be probably even physically unable to have PIV sex...

[RandomPotato02]

25 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Just mentioning that virgin =/= young person. A person at any age can be a virgin.

I just wanted to call out the 'extreme' as young person -> smaller vagina and stronger pelvic floor muscles and virgin -> smaller vagina, so for a young virgin, using a menstrual cup can be very difficult to impossible.

Sorry if that sounded wrong.

27 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

I have also never been able to perform a basic exercise in which you need to bend down with straight legs and touch the ground.

me neither, lol.

 

hope that clarifies what I wanted to say.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

However, the punchdown fold works really well for me.

That's the name? O_O Punching a vagina (inside) is an extreme BDSM sex move some people enjoy, so that name is... horrific.

 

12 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

And that means you need to insert two fingers at once, next to the cup, which is just very uncomfortable for me. I suppose sexually active people don't have that probplem, but they are advertising it as "for everyone", even young virgins, small people etc., and I don't think I could've handled it for my first periods

I HATE the way they never take pain disorders into account. They act so high and mighty like they know everything about women's reproductive health etc, but they completely overlook vaginal pain disorders and almost act like they don't exist (tampon companies are the same). These kinds of products should ALWAYS come with a warning that if it hurts too much, you may have a pain disorder.  With a pain disorder, that kind of action you mentioned (two fingers up there at once AROUND the cup???) is literal agony no matter how much sex you've had (sadly many women with pain disorders still suffer through sex because they feel they have to). And on top of that, you can FEEL anything inside, and it hurts. So imagine a young woman who doesn't know about these disorders, and this company is insisting if she just gets it in right she won't feel it. And she's suffering just trying to get it up there because it hurts so much and confused as to why it's not working. Makes me so mad (and I was in that position myself with tampons). It infuriates me 😕

 

12 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

Agreed, though I wanted to get away from pads because I often spilled blood at night.

I just wear maternity pads to bed at night, or just wear nothing and sleep with a towel between my legs. I couldn't bear the agony of having something up me all night, and the pain of getting it out in the morning would be indescribable. Plus I don't think there's any way a cup could hold my flow unless the damn thing was massive. Glad it works for you though!

 

12 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

You don't feel cups as much as you'd expect

Some don't. But those with a pain disorder will DEFINITELY feel them, and it will feel awful. And the idea of people forcing these on young girls especially (because they're much more susceptible to pain down there even if they don't have a disorder) just really upsets me. Inserting things into yourself shouldn't be seen as this totally normal and fun alternative to pads that anyone can use (it's that aspect that gets me the most). They should ONLY be advertised as alternatives for adult women who seek something different than a sanitary pad if that's their preference. 

 

Anyway I totally understand that you were just trying to give a different perspective, and I agree if someone WANTS to try them then they totally should. I just massively disagree with the lies the companies tell about how "anyone can use them" and "you don't feel it once it's up there". Those things just aren't true for all women yet the companies fail to give warnings because all that matters to them is profit 😕

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

I feel some kind of ironic triumph when I think that at this point I would anyway be probably even physically unable to have PIV sex...

I would be physically unable as well I think. The doctor managed to push me into getting one of those pap smears a few years ago. She tried the adult speculum first and couldn't even get it in (it's about the same size as an average penis) and I was screaming so she stopped trying. Then she used the young teens one (which I HUGELY disagree with as no young girl should be having something like that shoved up her). It was much smaller and thinner, but still hardly went in at all and I was screaming and crying so she just gave up. And that's coming from someone who was sexually active for years and has two kids (born by c-sec thank god). That's why i get so angry when tampon and cup companies act like anyone can get those things inside them painlessly. This is a massively under-represented issue that affects many more women than one would think 😕 Yet the problem just goes on being ignored.

[everywhere and nowhere]

14 minutes ago, PanFicto. said:

sadly many women with pain disorders still suffer through sex because they feel they have to

Let me link to a very enlightening article. Someone already suspected it of being anti-male without reading... no, it isn't, but even if it was... I have again found an Obligatory Sex Scene in a book (you can see one of the reasons why I prefer non-fiction and higher quality literature... but every now and then I also feel interested in reading a criminal/spy novel and there it is, disgusting romanticisation of a young woman's first time. Arrrrgh, zero times should really be shown as an equally valid option) and I feel so disgusted with what men do to women... at least I know that exactly why the world is the way it is, I have a right to be proud of putting up Resistance to compulsory sexuality instead of treating my sexual inactivity as an insignificant aspect of my life.

 

The female price of male pleasure

[RandomPotato02]

8 minutes ago, PanFicto. said:

That's the name? O_O Punching a vagina (inside) is an extreme BDSM sex move some people enjoy, so that name is... horrific.

Lol. Didn't know that. But it's really called like that and probably the second most common fold.

9 minutes ago, PanFicto. said:

I HATE the way they never take pain disorders into account. They act so high and mighty like they know everything about women's reproductive health etc, but they completely overlook vaginal pain disorders and almost act like they don't exist (tampon companies are the same).

I didn't even think about that (don't have the disorder myself, luckily), but that's very true as well. Learned something new today, thanks!

 

6 minutes ago, PanFicto. said:

The doctor managed to push me into getting one of those pap smears a few years ago. She tried the adult speculum first and couldn't even get it in (it's about the same size as an average penis) and I was screaming so she stopped trying. Then she used the young teens one (which I HUGELY disagree with as no young girl should be having something like that shoved up her).

oh my God this makes me so afraid of ever being forced to get pap smears taken. I hope it's not necessary for everyone?

[everywhere and nowhere]

1 minute ago, RandomPotato02 said:

oh my God this makes me so afraid of ever being forced to get pap smears taken. I hope it's not necessary for everyone?

It's not even recommended for people who have never had sex, at least not officially recommended by these experts who acknowledge the existence of sexually inactive adults. And even then, regardless of medical factors, I believe that bodily autonomy must include the right not to undergo such examinations if someone finds the distress too extreme. I would rather die than let a doctor see and touch my inimate parts, and feel that I would die anyway out of horror. I have never visited a physician of that specialisation and I hope than in a (hopefully never to happen) extreme case I will be ready to dignifiedly sacrifice my life for my inviolability.

[MakeupJunkie4]

16 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

I've known someone who has had menopause at the age of 35 and was in fact upset about it, why can't I have it?

A relative of mine went through it a couple years ago - she says IT SUCKS. BIG TIME. NOT a pleasant thing to go through at all (even though the upside is no more periods). Just saying.  

[Alejandrogynous]

5 hours ago, PanFicto. said:

That's the name? O_O Punching a vagina (inside) is an extreme BDSM sex move some people enjoy, so that name is... horrific.

 

Haha, it just means to fold one side of the cup down and in to create a small angled tip for easier insertion. It has nothing to do with punching you inside! (Unless I guess you count the little fwip of it opening inside you, but that's just a momentary weird sensation and I think happens no matter what fold you use. It might be painful for someone with a pain disorder but normally it's not at all.)

 

Now the REAL punch is when

Spoiler

you lose your grip before the tip goes in enough and the cup flips open and smacks you in the clit. That one definitely hurts.

 

[Alejandrogynous]

This thread reminds me of a video someone made about the sustainability rhetoric surrounding things like plastic straws and pre-cut packaged fruits and veggies, etc. because it's trendy to be outraged and judge anybody who uses those things, but some people are disabled and legitimately need them. It would be wasteful for me to buy pre-cut apples wrapped in plastic because I can cut my own fruit, but not everybody can and it sucks that disabled people have to deal with backlash for something they can't control and is probably already hard enough. 

 

Sustainability is obviously a good thing and everybody should be doing what they can to reduce the amount of waste they produce, but not everybody has to do it in the same way and doing so shouldn't make your quality of life worse. You don't have to be zero waste to make a difference.

 

(This is not to equate virginity/not having sex/pain disorders/insertion aversion/etc. with being disabled, just that we all have different needs and levels of accessibility that need to be taken into account when talking about sustainability. The message should be to reduce where you can, not to give up things you genuinely need.)

[Guest]

6 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

oh my God this makes me so afraid of ever being forced to get pap smears taken. I hope it's not necessary for everyone?

 

6 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

It's not even recommended for people who have never had sex, at least not officially recommended by these experts who acknowledge the existence of sexually inactive adults

Here it's recommended yearly for all females, and pushed once you're over 30. Apparently cervical c-word can be caught very early from the pap and it's saved a lot of women, but I've heard whispers that the smear itself can contribute to cervical c-word due to the internal damage it does 😕 So I don't frikken know. Never getting another one though!!

 

6 hours ago, RandomPotato02 said:

But it's really called like that and probably the second most common fold.

Yeah the person who made that name probably didn't know about the punch sex move, lol.. I think it's just an unfortunate naming mishap!

 

1 hour ago, Alejandrogynous said:

(Unless I guess you count the little fwip of it opening inside you, but that's just a momentary weird sensation and I think happens no matter what fold you use. It might be painful for someone with a pain disorder but normally it's not at all.)

O_O yes my pain disorder extends all the way up to my cervix (just having a cotton swab over it for an STI check hurt like a bitch, I screamed and the person doing freaked out because you're apparently not meant to be able to feel it) so yeah that just reinforced that the only cups I'll ever be using are the ones that hold my alcohol coffee :P