Lunapads Blog

It’s not very often that a book dedicated to the subject of menstruation gets published. So when I heard about the impending release of FLOW; the cultural story of menstruation back in November, I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy.

At first glance, FLOW is quite the aesthetically pleasing little book, filled with images of vintage pad and tampon adverts and other “feminine health products” dating as far back as the late 1800s. Due to its visually compelling nature, FLOW would make the ideal coffee table book. And hey, aside from rinsing your menstrual cup in a public washroom, what better way to get the conversation about menstruation flowing (couldn’t resist!) than to nonchalantly leave a book about its history lying about the house?

Few healthy bodily processes have had such an effed-up history as menstruation and this book covers a broad range of topics from the archaic “disease” Hysteria and the origins of the vibrator, to the medicalization of periods and the recent introduction of Menstrual Suppression drugs. I often hear women linking the origins of our collective shame surrounding menstruation to fem-care advertisers and the negative language used to hock their products. FLOW digs deeper into the sources of the menstrual taboo weaving a history that is biblical, medical, pre-historical, cultural, spiritual and political in scope. It’s pretty engaging if you aren’t already aware of the history of menstruation and even if you are, there are sure to be some surprising tidbits that leave you quietly scooping your jaw up off the floor.

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Greetings Period Fans!

You all remember the little art contest we held for Chris Bobel’s upcoming book “New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation” Buzz is building for the book, due out in spring of 2010 and we cant wait to get our little mittens on a copy. Check out this interview with the author on Our Bodies, Our Blog to see what the book covers.

And, as if one book dedicated to our favourite topic wasn’t enough to get us excited, we’ve just discovered the impending release of another period-centric book; “FLOW: A Cultural Story of Menstruation.” According to the books website; “Flow tells you where it’s at about menstruation: what it is, what we’ve been told and how we’ve been sold, and what we should definitely know. It’s the most natural of cycles with the most unnatural of histories. It’s a funny, fascinating, and occasionally scary story of big business, advertising, feminism, gender roles, medicine, religion, world culture, and above all, good manners … in which every single female, young or old, will recognize her story.”

Sounds pretty good right? The new book by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim will hit stores November 10th and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com now. Order now and it might just arrive in time for your next period, perfect reading for those Heavy Pad days. It definitely looks like a fun read with loads of menstrual trivia and facty-bits. For Instance:

Check back here in the coming weeks for our review of FLOW. We might just have a free copy for one of our lucky readers too.

We love the irreverent tone of National Post columnist and Green as a Thistle blogger Vanessa Farquharson’s new debut memoir, Sleeping Naked is Green: How an eco-cynic unplugged her fridge, sold her car, and found love in 366 days.  She is a major Lunapads and DivaCup proponent, and has a particularly humorous story to tell about Lunapads, excerpted below:

september 29, day 213
Eat ice cream in a cone rather than a plastic cup. I thought that writing about Jake Gyllenhaal was the best way to get
more hits on my blog — man, was I wrong. Turns out, there’s another subject that’s guaranteed to get twice as many hits as Jake, and that
subject is menstruation. It’s totally bizarre — I mean it’s not as though
the only people procrastinating in the blogosphere are women, let
alone women who are very in touch with their bodies and like talking
about how in touch with their bodies they are. Or is it?
Either way, I realized this at some point yesterday, when my post
about using Lunapads reusable cloth pantyliners got upward of forty
comments, many of which revolved around topics like how to
clean them in the sink or a bucket, whether to subsequently empty
the bloody water into one’s potted plants, and so on, going into
enough detail to spoil my homemade lunch.
A funny back story to the Lunapads, though: I’d already bought
my own but the company who makes them found my blog and
decided to send me a bunch for free. They asked for my address,
so I decided to use the one at the National Post. The day they arrived,
I wasn’t in the office, but my editor was. Ben ended up making
dinner plans that night with Kelly, one of the reporters who
used to work with us, who was in Toronto for a brief visit to see his
old friends. Ben decided to bring him some sort of welcome-back
present and went rummaging through the Arts & Life swag pile.
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I’m a big novel reader (as in large novels, as well as into reading them) and often find myself getting into reading a chain of thematically related books. Trees happen to be this summer’s pick (which fits nicely with my gardening enthusiasm - coincidence??) I’ll have to post another time about the epic chain of dystopic fiction that I consumed while pregnant with my daughter - it was truly weird, but made for great reading.

At any rate, I have recently enjoyed both Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees as well as John Vaillant’s The Golden Spruce, which is unusual for a fiction buff like me. I’m super-picky about writing quality (not that I necessarily have any right to be ;-), and am often disappointed with the quality of non-fiction writing, but in these cases I didn’t really even notice. They’re both gripping stories that contain a lot of great scientific information about trees that provided a good refresher course for me (particularly useful these days, given the number of times I am asked the question “why?” by a certain curious 3 year old) and just generally got me hooked. It’s wonderful to be reminded of what an adventure life can truly be, and yet stunning how little we really understand about the natural world.

The photo above is one I took recently of a beloved giant willow tree that resides at my in-laws farm. When my husband and I bought our house we took a branch from it and it has happily adapted to our back yard. Hug your favorite tree today!

Believe it or not, we have been working on Happier periods, naturally! the Lunapads guide to natural cycles for girls and teens for close to 3 (count ‘em!) years. It’s been a long journey, but as they say, sometimes good things can take a while.

This beautifully illustrated 28 page booklet (also available as a .pdf download) presents an inspiring, educational and eco-minded look at cycles and periods.  We wrote this booklet to provide young girls and teens with a perspective about periods and cycles that we wish someone had written when we were growing up.  Emphasizing the positive and celebratory aspects of getting your period (without being preachy or getting technical) the booklet features a “do it yourself” Cycle Chart, natural remedies for cramps, a discussion about the environmental impact of disposable products, and tips for using natural menstrual products at school and beyond.  We think this booklet ideal for every girl or teen who is just starting her journey to becoming a woman. 

Receive a FREE copy with every Lunapads Teen Kit purchased – this month only!

Big thank you’s to all the amazing women who helped to make Happier periods, naturally! happen: contributors include past and present Lunapads staffers (and alumni) Sandra, Lisa, Marie-Genevieve and Krisztina, Scarleteen.com creatrix and S.E.X. author Heather Corinna, cunt: a declaration of independence author inga muscio, progressive local GP Dr. Dorle Kneifel, teen sexual health educator and creator of “You Go, Girl!” workshops Saleema Noon, mother-daughter customers Karen and KT Patrick, myvag.net’s Sarah Mundy, uber-supporter and webmistress Emira Mears and last but hardly least, Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Scientific Director of the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), who dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s and contributed a gracious foreward. And in case you were wondering who’s responsible for the gorgeous layout and design, look no further than Tessa and the wonderful team at Fluid Communications. It was wonderful to share this project with so many talented people.  Please write back and tell us what you think!

The Boss of You is here! As many of you are aware, we are huge fans of our fabulous web designers, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears of Raised Eyebrow Web Studio. Not only are they talented web designers (no bias here!) but they are also brilliant writers and have written a fabulous (it’s just how they do things, fashion included) book, the Boss of You: everything a woman needs to know to start, run and maintain her own business (Seal Press), now available at Amazon.com, or better yet your local (preferably woman-owned bookstore.

We love this book for so many reasons: the witty-yet-brisk tone that is a perfect balance of inspiration and practicality, the numerous examples of women-owned businesses defying conventional business practices and having the courage to succeed on their own terms, and last but not least, that we now have the perfect book to recommend to all the gals who come to see us for business advice! - I almost forgot to mention that we happen to be one of the businesses profiled, which we are beyond chuffed about. We actually had the opportunity to gush about them live at the book launch party (see photo) the other day.

Because we think every budding (or new) woman entrepreneur needs to read this book, we’re having a contest to win an autographed copy (well, actually three of them!) Here’s the deal: write to blog@lunapads.com and tell us what inspires you most about having (or the idea of having) your own business and what success looks like to you. Bonus points for telling us the name of Lauren and Emira’s e-zine and blog that they collaborated on from 2000-2006. We’ll pick the winners by the end of June - good luck!

Now for those of you who don’t know me - I’m a big music fan and tend to go to a lot of concerts…and this long weekend was no exception! It also happened to be my boyfriend’s birthday on Friday, so there was much to celebrate!

We started the weekend off with a lovely hike to Dog Mountain, get some fresh air before cramming ourselves in to the sweaty crowds. It’s become a birthday ritual of Dave’s and this is our view from the top, right at the edge of Suicide Bluffs - yikes!

More photos on Dave’s Flickr page.

Saturday night was a date with Devendra Banhart – a young musician with an old soul. He was raised in the woods by hippies and you can tell – long hair, long beard, and a folk-y mellowness to his tunes. We’ve been waiting for years to see him perform anywhere near Vancouver and so this concert was highly anticipated. Being in Vancouver means we are often the start of a band’s tour, or the end. In Devendra’s case it was the very start and I think he wasn’t yet in to the groove. He seemed somehow distracted and it took a long time for him to get in to his set. Once in, he mostly played new songs from his album that has yet to be released…so we couldn’t even hum along, let alone sing along. I wanted more of his familiar classics and so walked out feeling somewhat disappointed that one of my favourite musicians didn’t wow my socks off as I’d expected him to…but all the same I’m glad I got to experience him live.

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I am writing to tell all of your readers and customers about a FANTASTIC book—if they haven’t already heard of it and read it because it’s taking North America by storm. It’s Ami McKay’s ‘The Birth House’. I picked up this book because I had the good fortune to hear and be wowed by the author read and answer questions at Halifax’s first International Writer’s and Reader’s Festival last spring. Ami McKay is as delightful and intelligent in person as she is in her ability to tell a story.

Among the many reasons I, and my book club mates, enjoyed this book is the attention McKay pays to women’s ways of being. The connections we create through birthing rituals, knitting circles or book clubs are historicized, validated and celebrated in the author’s first novel. Equally impressive is the attention McKay pays to bringing to light the long road women have had to journey to have control over their health care and birthing processes. Through delightful accounts of a mechanical tool’s ability to make the main character heal on her own (who knew the history of the vibrator?!) to a well-developed cacophony of local characters up against an equally brilliantly-illustrated circle of women friends, McKay’s story of Dora Rare is one of historical and contemporary significance.

I’ve bought the book for friends and family living in the US, Canada, and Northern Ireland. While set in Canada’s rural Nova Scotia, Dora Rare reaches across borders not only because of the universal social themes but also because it’s a darn good yarn!

Best wishes from Canada’s East Coast, DeNel S.

Posted by Marie-Geneviève

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this little Lunablog about myself, updating instead with other ladies’ guest entries (stay tuned for more by the way!!). I guess part of it is that I’ve been a bit timid and part of it is I’ve been at a loss for what to write about. But I’ve decided to forgo my apprehension and post about the same kind of stuff that I write about in my other personal blog - what is going on with me and what I’m thinking about.

These days, I’m thinking a lot about nature and growth, plants and gardens to be more precise.

One main reason for this is that I’ve been reading this really incredible book written by Patrick Lane called There is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden (though I believe the American title is What the Stones Remember: A Life Rediscovered, don’t ask me why it had to change). It’s a wonderful memoir weaving together gardening, recovery and rememberance. A well-known Canadian poet who is almost as well-known for his Vancouver Island garden, Lane is also recently sober after 40+ years of serious addiction and alcoholism. The book chronicles his first year sober, much of it spent getting back to his garden while also reflecting back on his early life and his family. Oh, and did I mention he’s also my uncle?

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Posted by Marie-Geneviève

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the importance of music (and girl bands specifically) in making me the feminist that I am today. This has been spurred by two recent events — the break-up of Sleater-Kinney and the Team Dresch show I recently attended in Seattle. But I should back up a little first and give you some context.

See, as a girl who was a bit of an outcast, coming of age in the early 90s in a medium-sized conservative city in Alberta, expressing myself and my values and opinions was not always easy. And like many of my friends, music was the most accessible and most meaningful way I found of doing just that. I was already a proud feminist (thanks in large part to the teachings of my mother), and so all-girl or female-fronted bands appealed to me from the get-go. I remember being in high school when I first heard about Riot Grrrl, which was a punk rock feminist movement/community made up of numerous young women from across the country, a lot of whom were in such bands. It only took one mix tape made for me by a friend and I was hooked.

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