This announcement below is from M, who is doing a menstrual forum. Thanks M, for letting women know about their options.

-Brenda

Hey everyone!

I am hosting an event called “On the Rag”.  It's a forum night....about your period!This event is taking place on Monday, April 14 2008 at 7:30 PM.  It will be at SUNY Albany in Albany, NY in the Humanities building room 116.
I am going to give a talk about the history of disposable feminine products, the problems with them, and alternatives that are available to women.  Then, a forum-style discussion will follow.  I received donations of cloth pads from women who make their own pads, as well as Gladrags pads!  The ladies at Gladrags made a generous donation of several pads in various colors and styles which I am going to raffle off at this event.  I also received a sample Keeper and Mooncup that I unfortunately cannot raffle off.

I am so excited preparing for this event!  A lot of the preparing I had to do for this forum was looking back into articles I wrote a few years ago from a zine I made.  It featured several articles about radical menstruation.  One was about finding out about cloth pads, buying a few, and then moving on to making my own cloth pads!  These experiences really changed my views about menstruation and my body 180 degrees.  I used to hate my period so much, but I felt a lot better about it after putting the effort into taking care of my body.  Making pads was fun for me, improved my sewing skills, and it actually made me excited to get my period because I wanted to try out my new Hello Kitty island print flannel pads!  Come to think of it, the first pads I actually bought were Gladrags seconds and I based my own designs off of Gladrags.

I wanted to do this forum because I really want to promote the usage of cloth and/or menstrual cups/sponges to other women.  SO MANY women do not even know that these things exist!  Or, if they do, they have negative views about cloth (it's dirty/smelly/leaks/it's gross etc.)  I want to dispel these myths with people by providing them with information, and giving them a hands-on experience with really beautifully made cloth pads which were generously donated by several companies.  Having the pads is great; there are so many styles to show people!  I also want to hand out patterns or websites with printable patterns and encourage women to make their own pads as well.

I am going to write another blog entry after the Forum night, so check back within the next week for more info (and possibly pics!) of how it went.

Anyone in the Albany area hopefully see you there!

--M