Our thanks to Mike P for this. He writes:
Feminist remedies – you know where to stick ’em…
The start of the piece:
A gynecologist is warning women not to put sea sponges in their vaginas after learning they are being touted as an ‘intuitive alternative’ to tampons.
Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN and New York Times columnist, slammed the recommendation after someone tweeted a link to Holy Sponge’s $40 ‘Ritual Menstruation Kit’ that is being sold by the retailer Otherwild, which has stores in Los Angeles and New York.
Sea sponges, which are technically animals, are living multicellular organisms that grow on the ocean floor. Water circulates through the pores on their bodies, which allows them to absorb food and get rid of waste.
According to the product description on the Otherwild website, sea sponges ‘offer bleedin’ folks a gentle, nurturing, and intuitive alternative to bleached cotton tampons.’
The company insists they are not only a natural choice for women, but they are also economical and better for the environment.
‘Our bodies are made up of water and sponges once lived in the ocean waters, why wouldn’t you use these spongey allies on your moon cycle?!’ They are reusable too,’ she site boasts.
‘Each sponge lasts 3-6 cycles…good for the environment (think about the heaps of cotton tampons in landfills) and good for the pocketbook (think about the money spent each month on tampons). Sponges are also soft, absorbent, and hygienic.’
The kit includes ‘two sustainably-harvested sea sponges sourced by a female diver [J4MB emphasis – the sponge diver for crazy women gender gap] in Florida,’ ‘organic tea tree oil to disinfect the sponges’ at the end of each cycle, a cotton bag to hold them between uses, and ‘hand-picked white sage or lavender’ to use for smudging or the bath, respectively. [J4MB: Smudging?]
‘Anyone who tells you to put a sea sponge in your vagina wants you to grow more bacteria that causes toxic shock syndrome,’ Dr. Gunter responded. ‘This is horrific and illegal in the US to promote sponges for periods.’
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