Right now is probably the best moment, in all of recorded human history, to be a person with a period. American culture is becoming more open about the once-taboo topic — NPR noted that use of the word "menstruation" in major news outletsmore than tripled between 2010 and 2015 — and we're awash in innovative period products our elders could only dream about. Today, people with periods can choose from traditional disposable products, menstrual cups, reusable pads, reusable absorbent underpants, and even reusable tampon applicators — most of which they can pick up at big chain stores like Walmart, Target, or the UK's Waitrose.
In 2018, Tampax became the first major menstrual product company to release their own menstrual cup. That same year, Kristen Bell recounted her menstrual cup mishaps on talk show Busy Tonight, certainly marking a first in the history of late-night television. As Lunapads co-founder and CEO Suzanne Siemens tells Bustle, "I think there’s just something shifting in the cultural conversation about our bodies." Basically, we're in a golden age of menstruation.
All this innovation, in such a short period of time, begs a question: why now? Why have Google searches of terms like "menstrual cups," or brand names of reusable period products like Diva Cup, more than doubled since 2009? Why can you suddenly buy reusable period products — once sold only health food shops and feminist co-ops — at stores that also sell motor oil, Oreos, and Xboxes?
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