Hey, friends. So today I wanted to talk
about everybody's favorite subject... periods.
[whispered: Periods.]
Also known as menstruation, menses, that time of the month,
or being on the rag.
Historically periods have been heavily stigmatized.
In biblical times women who were
menstruating were considered "unclean" and
isolated from the rest of society.
During the Middle Ages, Christianity was used to
justify a general shame and revulsion
attached to menstruation.
According to researcher Dr. Sara Read, who has
studied the topic extensively, women
either used rags, which is where the term
"on the rag" comes from or were forced to
bleed into their clothes,
which doesn't sound very fun... at all.
Hi! What're you doing? He's helping.
What happened if you had bad cramps?
Too bad, because the church banned the
use of pain relief medicines for menstruation.
So it wasn't as simple as
popping a Tylenol or a Midol...
not that they had those in the Middle Ages, because, obviously.
According to British historian Greg Jenner,
"God apparently wanted every cramp to be
a reminder of Eve's original sin."
Yikes. In the 19th century doctors grew
concerned about the sanitariness of
simply bleeding into one's clothes,
which is how the "feminine hygiene" industry began.
I'm not sure if this had to do
with the actual hygiene of menstruation
or if cis men were just like,
"Ew. Gross. Periods. Disgusting."
The first menstruation product produced was called
the "Hoosier" sanitary belt, which looks like
a cross between a chastity belt and
a medieval torture device.
I'm just putting it out there that [BEEP] does not look comfy.
Thankfully period products have come a long way
since the Hoosier sanitary belt, because I'm not wearing that.
You're probably familiar
with the most popular forms of period
protection such as pads and tampons.
According to THINX, who incidentally is
sponsoring this video, so what up THINX,
women and people who menstruate go
through about 17,000 pads and tampons in
their lifetime. Which unfortunately is a
lot of waste created for one time use.
I have dabbled in alternative period
products in the past,
such as menstrual cups, but I find that
they're not always the most convenient.
Pads and tampons are fine but I've
destroyed too many freaking pairs of
underwear to not think that there might
be a better solution.
So, this is where these little babies come in.
This particular fit is (sport) from THINX's
line of period underwear or period panties
They also sent me this more high-waisted
pair which is the (hiphugger) fit and it's got
some lace on it because it's fancy.
Honestly, I'm just really excited to try
these because I've seen these
advertised a bunch, and I've always been
really curious about them.
I think what's most surprising about these is that
they're like, super thin, like way thinner
than you would expect for something that
supposed to hold up to two tampons worth of blood.
I don't know where all the blood goes but if
it's not on my pants then I'm happy.
According to THINX these are moisture
wicking, antimicrobial, absorbent, and leak resistant.
Which are all good things,
I think, and I love that they described
them as both period proof and patriarchy proof.
Another thing I like about THINX is the
fact that they're self-described
feminists who promote period positivity
and breaking the stigma surrounding menstruation.
Which is super cool.
They also feature trans men in their
advertisements because men can have periods too.
It's a thing, and I don't think I've ever seen any other
period product brand do that before, so it's about time.
Anyway, I'm going to link to THINX's
website below and I encourage you to
check them out because they're doing
really cool things and changing the
narrative around menstruation,
which I think is really awesome.
Also, if you use the code MARINASPERIOD
you get five dollars off your order,
which I love because it's like my period
is giving you a little gift.
So, from my ovaries to yours...
Anyway, thank you for watching this video.
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No, Stewart! Stewart, Stewart! No, Stewart...