And
read comments from people who have
used a cup.
Do cups
cause endometriosis? Not enough evidence,
says the FDA.
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A History of the
Menstrual Cup (continued)
Gynaeseal
(1980s-1990s, Australia)
Excerpts from promotional
material for Gynaeseal,
owned by the Powerhouse Museum,
Australia
The Powerhouse Museum Web site writes
of this multipurpose device
(picture below),
Promoted as 'the ultimate in
menstruation management',
Gynaeseal was launched in 1989
but does not appear to have gone
into mass production. Neither
the government nor any
commercial companies in
Australia showed interest in the
product.
[And my search for it on
the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office site with its search
engine found nothing.]
Early Kotex had a flaw
similar to Gynaeseal's that I
think killed Gynaeseal and forced
Kotex to rethink its instructions:
too
complex. As best I
can understand - I'm just a
male - most women
want to get through menstruation
as fast as they can. Carrying and
assembling three pieces of
Gynaeseal (two pouches and an
insertion "spoon" carried inside a
container, which could be
considered a fourth piece) is too
much. Also, many women - you? -
would hesitate having to use both
hands to get the device in. (See
the diagrams below.)
Early Kotex gave instructions
about how to cut apart its
pad and flush (several times!)
down the toilet, helpfully
showing scissors. Do you
carry scissors with you? With
menstrual blood on them? Would you
take the time to carefully chop up
the wet mess? I can hear the lady
waiting outside for your stall:
"What are you doing in
there?!"
Not that you need another example
but think of the origami
tampon that amused a French
woman and her friends years ago.
They e-mailed their thanks for
showing it.
But in Gynaeseal's defense, an
insertion device would probably
increase sales of most menstrual
cups. Again, most women want to
spend as little time and endure as
little mess as possible dealing
with their menstruation. Many
early American tampons had no
inserter; Tampax rode to the
rescue with its tubes.
O.b.
of course is known - notorious? -
in the U.S. for lacking an
inserter.
Megan
Hicks, of Australia's
Powerhouse Museum, generously
contributed these photocopies of
some documents at that museum to
MUM. MUM (this museum) owns
neither original Gynaeseal
documents nor the cup itself.
She also donated to MUM
photocopies of a very early
education booklet for girls, the
Australian
edition of Marjorie May's
Twelfth Birthday.
See two items I
donated to the Powerhouse
Museum: the Tassaway
and the Instead
menstrual cups seen on the
Powerhouse Web site.
Original yellow
packaging holds and conceals
the Tassaway. See the Tassaway
itself on MUM.
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Below:
Excerpt from a single page of the
promotional package. Some of it looks
expensively made.
The Powerhouse Museum Web site has a photo
of its Gynaeseal and carrier.
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Below:
"It's fitting." is a phrase nicely
covering appropriateness
and how you get
the darned thing in.
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Below:
Looking more pedestrian but
informative are the following.
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Below:
Article from Australia's The Age,
18 June 1987 included in the
promotional material.
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 Left:
Rely
tampon was closely tied with
toxic shock syndrome (TSS) in the
1980s.
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Below:
Included in the Gynaeseal package. The
"(10)" probably refers to a footnote
not included in MUM's photocopies.
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Below:
Also included in the Gynaeseal
promotional package.
The Maori are the indigenous
people of New Zealand, which lies
southeast of Australia.
Many of these customs are the same or
similar to customs in other parts of
the world, Germany,
for example.
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Read
old comments from people
who have used a cup.
© 1997-2013 Harry Finley. It is
illegal to reproduce or distribute
any of the work on this Web site
in any manner or medium without
written permission of the author.
Please report suspected violations
to hfinley@mum.org
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