The Trials and Tribulations of a Pad-Hater…
Here’s one thing to know about me: I hate pads. I’ve hated them since my first period. That’s over a decade of dislike! But, I think, with good reason. I hated the bulkyness. I hated how they would shift at the least opportune times. I hated the crinkley unwrapping noises that let all the other girls in the bathroom know you were on your period. I hated the times one end would spontaneously flip over and decide to stick to you (ow!) leaving your poor underwear unguarded. I hated the panicky feeling when you know it’s leaked, but you won’t be able to get to a bathroom and survey the damage for another 20 minutes. And I really, really hated that freakin’ “dri-weave” stuff. What “weave”? It’s so obviously die-cut plastic! And “dri”? If you’ve got clots, forget it! In grade school, though, I never questioned their inevitability. In fact, the video they used to teach us girls about menstruation was produced by Stayfree!
College, I think, was the start of the change of the status quo for me and my menstruation. In college, practicality led me from pads (grrr) to tampons, and feminism led me from applicator to non-applicator tampons, and then (along with environmentalism and a grad-school paycheck) from tampons to a menstrual cup. Which was way cool, for all the reasons I’m sure readers of the Lunapads blog are familiar with, but not perfect - I still got leaks from time to time, that became more prevalent over the last few years. (I think my flow is getting heavier as I get older, bleah.) Finally, after enough times mentally willing my boss to get to the point already/the meeting to be over/the bus to get to my stop/to find a spot on the trail with enough trees for privacy if I couldn’t make it to the trailhead/to be able to make it back through the crowd to my prime spot in the concert venue afterwards beacuse I really, REALLY need to check the state of my Keeper NOW! I decided that I was going to have to go back to pads (grrr) as backup.
There was no way- NO WAY- I was going back to disposables. Not if I wanted to be able to look myself in the eye again. I decided to bite the bullet and try some cloth pads (grr) after 4 years pad-free. I looked on the web at the various brands and styles, and decided on Lunapads for 2 reasons: the liner-on-top design, and the fun patterns and attitude that was less “hippie” and more just plain hip. So, I emailed for more info and product recommendations and got a very nice reply back from Suzanne. I ordered a set of Mini Pads on her recommendation, with a pair of Lunapanties for good measure. I was very excited upon receiving my order, and impressed by the actual pads themselves. They are super soft, and very stylish, as advertised. I couldn’t wait to show them to my husband. (Who then said,”ummm… that’s… cool? How do those work?” I guess he never saw the Stayfree video.) I tried them on my first heavy day after that, along with my Keeper. And guess what?
I still hate wearing pads.
Why, then, you might well ask, am I still surfing the Lunapads website, emitting little chortles of glee? Why am I greedily calculating the amount I can justify spending on kitty-print pantyliners? Why am I writing a testimonial?
Because there is WAY less to hate about Lunapads than their disposable cousins. No stickies, no plastic “weave”, no crinkley noises, no waste. Far less shifting around when you move, and none that compromises the protection provided. Far softer and more comfortable (Especially now that the weather is getting cooler. Who wouldn’t say no to extra fleece and flannel to keep your sensitive bits snug and cozy?). And they work.
After grumbling all day the first day I used them about the bulky pad, I decided to stop by the library on my way home from work. Normally, I might avoid something like this on my heaviest day, and sure enough, while I was browsing the new fiction section, I felt the usual panic at realization I was entering Leak City. This time, however, the panic only lasted a split second before I remembered I had back up- that wonderful, wonderful leopard-print pad I’d been grumbling about all day. I ended up taking home a new book by Francesca Lia Block about Weetzie Bat, one of my favorite characters from high school. At home, I curled up on the couch with Weetzie Bat and a glass of chocolate milk, wearing a pad, just like I used to over a decade ago, and was hit by a wave of nostalgia. That got me thinking about the customer testimonial printed on the Lunapads brochure, the one about a “second, healed version of menarche”. I still prefer not wearing pads to wearing pads, but maybe, just maybe, it’s time I reevaluated our relationship.
-Emily B.
Boulder, CO
