Happy menstrual monday!  Here’s the weekly scoop on the latest reviews and information on menstruation:

• Rebecca of My Green Australia gives us a run-down of menstrual alternatives and why you should try them in The Green Cycle: How to make that time of month better for you and the environment

• Erin, an acupuncturist from New York, shares the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine on the menstrual cycle on her blog.

• Did you know? Courtney Cox Arquette was the first to say “period” in a television ad! Get a few more fun trivia tidbits at Viva la Feminista’s review of the “coffee table worthy” book Flow.

• GladRags is in Women Tribune’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide!  Check out Holly’s fab review of the Color Cotton Bucket Kit here.

Editor: Rachel Kauder Nalebuff

What it’s all about: Periods! When 18 year old editor Rachel Kauder Nalebuff started asking women she knew about their first periods, she earned the nickname “the period girl” at her East Coast high school.  In My Little Red Book, Rachel has collected the funny, sad, embarrassing, and touching stories of nearly 100 women from all walks of life.

Who contributed: The stories included in the book range from first periods in mid-century China, to modern-day Kenya, to Minnesota in the early ’90s. Some well-known authors also contributed to the book.  You’ll find the stories of Erica Jong, Meg Cabot, Tamora Pierce, Joyce Maynard, as well as an updated version of Gloria Steinem’s famous essay, “If Men Could Menstruate.”

Why you should check it out: My Little Red Book is a quick, fun read that every woman can relate to.  Sometimes you’ll find yourself in the stories but often you’ll discover an entirely different perspective than your own!  Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of stories included negative feelings like shame, embarrassment, disgust, and loneliness — but one of the few wholly positive stories was about discovering cloth menstrual pads!

Take a look: Maybe you’ll be inspired to share first period stories with your friends — or help make the first period of a young woman in your life a little more positive!  If you do read My Little Red Book, be sure to leave us a comment and let us know what your thoughts are!

My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder-nalebuff

Hello and welcome to Menstrual Monday, your stop for exciting and interesting menstrual news!

• The Nut Graph has a great article on menstrual taboos and why they exist.  The conversation was started by an event in which a leading Muslim assemplyperson equated non-Muslims stepping into a mosque with menstruating women.  Read more about it and contribute by giving your observations on menstruation in 6 words here.
• Funny or Die hosts a funny video lampooning Twilight called Twilight Cycles.  I have always wondered how vampires would react to menstruating women.  Haven’t you?

Welcome to this week’s installment of menstrual news, art, activism, and more!  Today is another light flow day for us here at GladRags HQ.

• Afri-pads, a nonprofit providing Ugandan school girls with reusable menstrual kits, is listed on the philanthropist site GiveMeaning.com
• The long awaited Flow: The Cultural History of Menstruation (pictured) goes on sale!
• The Frisky shares with us 10 Outrageous Menstrual Facts That’ll Freak You Out from Flow the book– history is weird!
• Another Flow related link: How to Sell a Tampon is an interesting slide show documenting the vague and often shaming history of feminine product advertising from Double X
• Why Men Should Learn to Like Period Sex an opinion piece on Jezebel in the vein of women being humans and not just objects!  Woo!

Here comes your weekly round-up of the latest in menstrual news, art, activism, and more!

• One of our favorite news quiz radio shows to listen to at work, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! from NPR,  had a question in last week’s show about Disney’s The Story of Menstruation for George Romero.  Listen to the segment here.  Quite amusing!
• 1 Girl 2 Wheels 3 Countries 4 Education: Eleanor (pictured) is biking across Asia to raise awareness for two charities (Girls Education International & Stepping Stones) and of course using GladRags pads and her Moon Cup during the trip!  She’s a GladRags Guerilla, are you?
• The community at Feministing.com features “An Ode to the Menstrual Cup” — be sure to read the comments too!
• Mommy blogger Keeper of the Home has a great entry on “Cloth or Disposable – It Applies to More Than Just Diapers“
• The Greenists open up a discussion about menstrual cups and note that men should be a part of it, too!

Hello and welcome to this week’s installment of Menstrual Mondays, wherein we give you the latest in menstrual news, musings, art, and more!

• Adventures in Menstruating is a great, funny blog!  Read their latest on menstruating zombies, the period fairy, and euphemisms.
• Read How Menstruation Created Math by John Kellermeier on Tacoma Community College’s website to learn more about early calenders and how mathematics began.
• Bitch Magazine has a great post on vagina related crafts posted on etsy.com, the ebay-like craft sharing website.  Includes work by our twitter friend, vulvalovelovely, who does some intricate vulva necklaces and a super cute giant plush uterus.  Read A Vagtastic Voyage Through Etsy. Possibly NSFW.
• Are you on twitter and want to learn more about menstruation?  Follow these ladies on GladRags’ new menstrual tweeters list!
• Blogger, Badger Meets World, writes a colorful article about using a menstrual cup during heavy bleeding.
• Fashion Blogger, My Wardrobe Today, writes an article about how great and easy it is to go green with the Diva Cup!
• Bust calls out RedBook for their sorry excuse for a review on FLOW: The Cultural History of Menstruation in this article.

November Monthly Friend: Lacy Hale

Name: Lacy Hale
Age: 28
Hometown: Wolfpen, KY
Current location: Morehead, KY
Occupation: Artist/Textbook Manager at a local college bookstore

Interests: Art (making and viewing), music, midwifery, feminism, Appalachia, reading, gardening
Dreams: Becoming self-sufficient by selling my artwork. Working with a charitable organization that benefits women. Learning to play the banjo and dulcimer.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: A year and a half.
Reason for making the switch to reusables: I used to rue the day that my period came. The cramps and irritability were terrible but having to go out in public with a synthetic pad on (I never used tampons) was always a gamble and the worst part. I never knew if it was going to leak and let everyone know that I was on my moon-flow or if it was going to move while I walked, bunching up and showing through my pants. Athleticism was a no-no. Bending, squatting, wearing white? Never! Not to mention the terrible diaper rash that I got from wearing those horrid plastic-like pads. I got fed up with it and started researching alternative menstrual products. Upon doing so, I also found a lot of information about all the synthetic pads and tampons fill landfills and even end up on beaches. I did not want to be a part of that!! I knew there had to be a better way! My friend had started using GladRags a few years prior and being from the very small punk and alternative subculture in Southeast Kentucky that we were, most of the females I knew had heard of GladRags. I figured it was time that I looked in to this interesting prospect. Now I seriously enjoy my period. I like claiming my body and recognizing what stage of my cycle I’m in. I tend to use my Moon Cup and a GladRags liner on most days that I go out or to work, etc. but once I come home it’s out with the cup and into some fantastically comfy reusable pads!

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share:  I decided to mention to my mom that I had switched to reusable pads and she was quite appalled saying, “Are you serious? Your grandma used rags like that! I remember she’d keep them in a big heavy pot out on the porch to soak. Are you sure you want to do that?” I tried to explain that these were different, had snaps and everything, but she was so horrified that I was “reverting back” to the way the old folks did it. The old ways aren’t always bad and with a little ingenuity, they can be the best! I wish someone had told me about these alternatives when I started my period 16 years ago. If I ever have a daughter, she will be given options!