Gilmour on Turning Stomachs

[jimhines]

ETA: I should also link to this follow-up, wherein Gilmour responds to the criticism of his comments. I’ve done interviews before where my verbal comments were rephrased or edited in ways that distorted their meaning. On the other hand, the apology (which he says he normally wouldn’t give, but he’s got a book coming out) and his other comments …

Comments

[maladaptive]

So when these guys eat menstrual pads, they end up with intestinal blockages, yes? Because lots of plastic + extremely absorbent material = a surgeon cutting you open. No clue why you need this guy's class to figure that out. Own a cat or volunteer at the ER, you'll deal with "things that should not be ingested" from much more entertaining individuals.

ETA: entirely possible they're not disposables, but something tells me Gilmour doesn't know diddly about alternative menstrual products like cloth pads.

[polenth]

The ones available when I was a teen had no plastic and didn't really absorb much. Just paper and maybe some fluffy stuff (so they could be flushed down the toilet), so you could totally eat them. I wouldn't recommend eating them, but I suppose I'm not a manly man writing man books about manness, so I just don't understand the literary greatness of eating sanitary towels.

[snapes_angel]

"a manly man writing man books about manness"

Thanks for the grin. ;)

You know, this could almost be a Monty Python routine.

[dickgloucester]

a manly man writing man books about manness

*dies* *reads your phrase again* *giggles some more*

[maladaptive]

Really? I've never seen flushable pads, ever--the ones I'm familiar with had plastic backing. I think it might be a UK/US difference? I don't think Always, Kotex, or Playtex come out with non-plastic backed pads.

That's really interesting though. But I shudder at the thought of flushing pads, that's gotta be even worse than flushing tampons (even when they say "flushable" tampons are one of the big causes of septic system problems).

[serialbabbler]

I've never seen flushable pads either. (Although the Stayfree ads claimed that their products were flushable. Ha.) The ones I used in the eighties didn't have plastic backing. The ubiquitous plastic strikes me as being a new-ish thing.

I'm pretty sure eating Stayfree Maxi-Pads would be a bad idea, though. (I mean apart from the disgust factor.) They used materials that, while biodegradable, aren't really digestible by the human gut. You can definitely end up with bezoars and blockages from that.

[polenth]

The modern ones have plastic. But I'm talking late 80s/early 90s. I suspect the story in question was fairly old, so before plastic was so common in designs. The 80s/90s ones were also more likely to come in packs without individual wrappings, as it was assumed they'd be torn up and flushed. (I think there were some brands with plastic at the time, but they were more expensive and were by no means universal.)

I haven't seen any current brands which still look like that.

So there you go. Anyone looking to be the next writer of Serious Heterosexual Men Stuff, you now know more than you every really wanted to.

[fangirl715]

As a cranky old lady who (surprise, surprise) hasn't quite hit menopause yet, I'm old enough to remember when the very first adhesive pads came out (just before I started to need them...)--they were called New Freedom by Kotex, and one of the tag lines was "Wheee! They're flushable!" (Yes, really--IIRC, the model in the ad was wearing what were called gaucho pants and boots, and was kicking a box of pads in the air to demonstrate her glee. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP, y'all.) This was a big damn deal, because napkins didn't used to stick to your undies before 1972-73; instead, they had these long tabs that fastened onto what was called a sanitary belt; a somewhat easier approach was using special sanitary panties which came with a waterproof/bleedproof crotch of some variety and elastic loops. You'd fold the tabs underneath, since you didn't need them w/the panties, and slip the napkin under the elastic loops, where it usually stayed put. (Getting the bloodstains out of the elastic was a major bitch, and damn near impossible.) Also, keep

[cissa]

I'm 55, and I started bleeding well before adhesive pads were available. The belt+crib mattress thing was unreliable, awkward, uncomfortable, and chafed one's personal regions. Adhesives were somewhat better, but tampons were excellent- unfortunately I couldn't use them before college-aged, because they were considered unsuitable for young girls (de-virginating?).

I can only sympathize with our formothers, who were stuck with rags and/or absorbent moss.

[jimhines]

This has been quite the randomly educational comment thread.

[fangirl715]

Thank you. My work here is done.

;-)

In addition to being a Woman of a Certain Age who's dealt with changing technology in this area over the years, I'm also an amateur medievalist with a general interest in aspects of daily living throughout history, and consequently know way too much about personal hygiene through the ages (people in the Middle Ages were, on average, cleaner than people during the 17th & 18th centuries, during which latter time it was felt that sweat was what kept one clean, FWIW; they may not have been able to take full baths very often, but they did at least give themselves regular sponge baths using a basin and washcloth, and washing one's hands both before and after meals is extremely important when your fingers are your main eating utensils), and the pedantic side of me just couldn't resist the opportunity to pass on some of my knowledge. Anyway, that's my excuse...as for Gilmour and Roth, though, what's their excuse for this particular obsession? *shakes head*