ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/14/84)
here i go, jumping into the fore without thought, or is that jumping in
without forethought?
advertisers do pussyfoot around, but feminine protection and bathroom
tissues are certainly not the only objects of their indirection.
however, if you've ever spent any time in Europe, you may appreciate
the all important softness of US t.p. things may have changed since i last
was on the continent, but about 10 years ago i lived in France, and there
were several types of toilet paper (papier toilette) available:
waxed paper (yes, folks, use it to wrap sandwiches, but don't expect it
to absorb much liquid of your nether parts)
a cross between brown wrapping paper and crepe paper (and it also felt like
sand paper)
a cross between coarse commercial paper towels and stiff commercial toilet
paper, the kind that comes out of dispensers in little folded squares.
i settled for the last. but i vowed to bring my own toilet paper with me the
next time i spent time abroad. of coure, in Moslem countries there is no
toilet paper. you use your left hand. and there are no left handed people
there for that reason. of course you wash afterwards, but the left hand is
"unclean", which is why they used to (or still do) cut off a thief's RIGHT
hand. i am not totally grossed out by the eliminatory products of my body,
but i'm still not happy about using my hand (i don't feel like i've gotten
my bottom clean; i can always wash my hand; and splashing myself with water
to rinse off the excression (can i say sh*t and p*ss?) leaves me with wet
underwear. i was in a tropical climate, and dampness can lead to rashes and
yeasty type infections. besides, i'm left handed, damn it!
i will add that i DETEST! scented paper hygiene products. the smell of
menstrual blood is not so bad (after all, listen to the ravings of people
who LOVE rare meat - still pink and bloody!), but the smell of the scent
in the pad makes me ill (well, not literally). and what's the purpose of
scented toilet paper? it certainly doesn't change the smell of the p*ss or
sh*t, or "freshen" up the room (open a window, if you don't like it).
to continue my ramble, the shape of a menstrual pad... where do the "paper
engineers" come up with them? are there no woment out there designing, too?
i recently opened a box (i forget which brand) and not only was the pad
"hour glass" shaped (narrow where you need protection, wide where it will bulge
through your jeans), but there was a channel or indentation or something like
that right in the center (where you need protection most). i mean, these guys
had their heads up something, and it wasn't a woman's dress.
i better end here.
yours in better "sanitary napkins" (ugh! you mean they also produce UNsanitary
one?)
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