Coworker: Ooh, what'd did you get?
Me: Lunch, Buns and Tampons.
Coworker: ..... That's what I get for asking.
Me: You betcha.
*pause*
Me: I have to go to the bathroom now.
*******************************************************
I don't understand getting freaked out about buying tampons. In honor of International Women's Day, I challenge all actively menstruating women out there to, next time you're picking up supplies, don't ask for a bag.
Don't hide it. Fuck. Buy tampons. Buy pads. You're a girl, and a whole lot of girls have a period. Anyone who has seen a fifth-grade health class knows this. It's not a secret. It's not a vast conspiracy.
Don't creep up to the counter and quietly try to bury them under all your other groceries. I dare you, women, to unapologetically plop those babies down on the conveyor, and HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH.
Why? Because this is nature. This is what we do. Why would we hide it? Why should anyone feel shame walking into a store and buying hygiene products? Are we trying to pretend our periods don't happen?
Okay, well yeah. That's exactly it. Because it's not pleasant. It's kind of gross and sticky and painful and yeah, generally unpleasant. But it's how we're made. Don't apologize for it.
I support your decision to buy tampons out in the open!
ReplyDeletei am with you and andy!
ReplyDeletef*ing solidarity and all that..
people are really funny...
i have been poked, prodded and examined so much in the past few months i have become immune to embarrasment.
it is just the human body and it is just a function of phyiology, but we have to get all wierded out...
i have ranted enough...im going now..to buy some tampons... and buns..sticky buns...and rootbeer
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you rock, Yandie! What a great post :]
ReplyDeleteYeah, come on, it can't be nearly as awkward for you gals as it is for us guys to buy tampons for our wives, which I can proudly say I can now do without any fear!
ReplyDeleteYou really haven't lived right as a male or a dad until you've had to buy your 15 yr old daughter "girl things aka pads" in public.
ReplyDeleteliving with 4 women...ugh
No-one gets wound up about buying toilet paper! I remember a TV commercial for tampons that used to say 'Ladies, do you have a secret'? It's hardly a secret when it affects half the worlds population.
ReplyDelete@Meatbag and Lance - Yeah I haven't gotten the thing about guys buying them either.. it's not like we're going to think they're for you and NOT a GF/Wife/Daughter. "teehee giggle.. that dude has a secret vagina!!"
ReplyDelete@Tony - good point on toilet paper! No one worries about being seen buying that
Great post! I agree 100%! Tampons, pads, bladder control, toilet paper, condoms... We are all human, folks! There should be no shame or embarrassment when we have to purchase items like these.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I am so grateful for men like those who have commented here. Men, you rock!
Yeah! I've been unashamed of buying pads and tampons for years and years, but I remember in middle school when I would get my period, I would stack three pads on top of one another IN MY UNDERWEAR, so I didn't have to risk being seen carrying anything, or be seen throwing anything away during the day. Those were the days of thick pads too. SO uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteBAHA! A few weeks ago we were "out of town" and I had to buy pads. I hate buying pads (because I use washable ones - hows THAT for some solidarity and all that!) BUT one of the pixies wet her self a little smidge (you know what I'm talking about... that last drip can escape for girls as well as guys. Just harder for us to shake.) ANYWAY...
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm at the pharmacy counter at Walmart (bleck) and the lady at the counter hid the pads into a blue promo bag (Clorox on the outside, tons of coupons for the crap on the inside...that's a whole other thing.) and whispered "the ladies room is over by customer service."
What the hell? I'm the first to tell everyone the reason why I'm crummy today is that I'm either A)Ovulating or B)Bleeding.
Yeah. It's my secret power.