Hello, my name is Alex and I am new here at GladRags!  I thought I would share a little bit about myself.  I grew up in Muncie, Indiana.  In 2004 I moved to Portland, OR in order to attend Reed College, much like my friend and co-worker Elizabeth, and explore a different part of the county.  I graduated in the fall of 2008 with a B.A. in psychology.  Since then, I have worked with teenagers with Austism at an urban day camp.  My interests include reading, dancing, discovering Portland, biking, trivia, and snacks.  When I heard there was an opening at GladRags I was thrilled!  I am interested in learning more about how women make choices and talk about their own bodies.

Former GladRags employee Diana, here. To give you all a glimpse into some of the expeditions upon which I have embarked since my departure, here’s bit about my most nautical journey to date – working as educator/deckhand aboard the schooner Adventuress.

The breathtaking vessel Adventuress is a 1913 schooner, currently underway in the Puget
Sound, educating all who climb aboard about environmental stewardship, nautical skills, communal living, and marine life. Participants in Adventuress sails are taught by crew about the benefits of plankton (they provide 2/3 the world’s oxygen!), shown how to tie a buntline knot, get to check out the living quarters below decks and, of course, must haul away on lines to raise the four sails of the ship: main, fore, stay and jib.

Cape Cod mamas ain’t got no pies
Heave away! Haul away!
They feed their children codfish eyes
And we’re bound away for Australia!

At first the sea shanties we sung as we tugged and pulled on the lines seemed a little silly, but they were invigorating during some challenging physical work. This good dose of manual labor, mixed with discussions of environmental education theory and the characteristics of chitons (super cool monopods found in the intertidal zone), gave great balance to life on Adventuress. My duties included helping to sail the ship and teach the curriculum of the environmental educational program, but I was the real student during my time on the ship. I came out of a month on the boat knowing more about sailing a tall ship, but I also was reminded of personal capability and empowerment.

Adventuress prides itself of the empowerment of its students. Many are nervous to be entrusted with tasks aboard a ship, especially if they have never sailed before. But the attitude aboard this schooner is: no new skill, unknown concept or uncharted land is out of anyone’s reach. I was at the bottom of the totem pole, skill-wise, on the boat and I was humbled, but I was then given the opportunity to learn boatloads (literally) and remember that my capabilities know no limits!

One of my most rewarding accomplishments coming out of the month on the Adventuress was the conversion of the majority of the female crew to reusable menstrual products. The sailor ladies received a big package from GladRags full of pads, sea sponges and cups – they really live the light footprint that they teach.

Sailing the seas in GladRags style,
Diana

We’ve got some new faces at GladRags these days. One of the great benefits of owning the GladRags business is meeting great customers and getting to work with amazing women.  Elizabeth and Tanya continue the tradition of GladRags employees being forward thinking, trail blazing, interesting women.

Elizabeth grew up in California’s Bay Area. She moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College in 2002. Since graduating with a BA in Anthropology, in addition to working for GladRags, Elizabeth has led groups for teenage survivors of domestic violence and organized books at the public library. Her interests include: learning, music, art where animals wearing clothing is featured prominently, gender studies, road trips, and Anthropological theory. This summer Elizabeth is joining other activists as part of a bicycle caravan for reproductive justice called Wanderlust where she’ll ride from New Orleans to New York. Elizabeth loves working for GladRags because she gets to help create more positivity around our cycles.

Tanya moved to Portland late summer 2007 from Boulder, Colorado where she had worked for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy (a great place to purchase GladRags products!) for the past two and some odd years.  A graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 2005, she has wanted to move back to the Pacific Northwest since leaving the area.  Her interests include but are not limited to making and appreciating all art, especially visual art, biking around Portland, friends, bars, concerts, gardens, fish tanks, traveling and languages. She has always been a passionate bleeder and has been dealing with her menstruation alternatively as well as sharing her knowledge with her peers since late high school.  She can’t really remember what inspired her to do so, but she thinks it might have had something to do with common sense and the book Cunt by Inga Muscio. She is really excited for the opportunity to work for a small, local, proud-to-be-bleeding company such as GladRags and it ready to give it her all.