Have you ever seen one of these before? Do you know what it is?
This is a menstrual cup. It's made of medical-grade silicone. It's soft and flexible and designed to be inserted inside the vagina in order to catch the fluid blood leaving a woman's body when she gets her period.
This device came highly recommended to me by a nature-loving friend of mine when I was living in Ubud (Bali, Indonesia) 10 years ago.
I used it once or twice, and it has sat in a drawer ever since.
I loved it in theory since it's SO much better for the planet than the ridiculous amount of plastic waste created through the use of sanitary pads but I actually found it uncomfortable, even bordering on painful despite how small it appears in this photo.
These aren't very well-known. And I can see now why they struggled to become popular:
You need great hygiene habits, as well as access to clean water, because to insert the device you have to put able to put your fingers inside yourself
Many women wouldn't feel comfortable with doing this process because of the amount of shaming so many of us have experienced around our bodies and especially around our sexual organs
If I found it so very uncomfortable no doubt other women have too
And it wasn't cheap. I think this cost me around $50 AUD... which is why I didn't want to chuck it out!
But over the last decade, period underwear, that also used to be 'fringe' has now become far more accepted in the mainstream.And now I have an underwear drawer full of the things.
Which is why it's ridiculous for me to hold onto this menstrual cup any longer.
I don't feel I can give it away. Apparently, I can cut it up into little pieces and scatter it in the garden. Or just pop it in the bin.
All I know,
is that it is time
to let it go.
If you're a woman person who is curious to learn more about menstrual cups, this website looks excellent. This is where I discovered what to do with this no-longer-wanted piece of equipment.
