In the adult pleasure product world, where magical things are created to insert into willing vaginas, there are countless products available to promote squeals of orgasmic ecstasy. But until recently, most adult boutiques didn’t put much focus on addressing a normal bodily function—“that time of the month”—that humans have experienced since the dawn of time.
Getting a visit from Aunt Flo. Checking into the Red Roof Inn. On the rag. Riding the cotton pony. Shark week. And, simply, The Curse.
Products meant to accommodate menstruation have always been available at pharmacies and general stores, and the natural progression of being available in adult stores seems, well, natural. But these period products have been considered more as basic necessities than objects associated with sexual pleasure. With the popularity of silicone toys in the adult market, it makes sense for the aware consumer to connect the red dots and associate a silicone product with that monthly bloodletting as well.
For decades, products made for menstruation have been made of material that isn’t considered exactly body friendly. This includes tampons made with cotton and rayon, with the latter releasing trace amounts of dioxin (a cancer-causing byproduct when wood pulp is turned into rayon), chlorine (for bleaching), fragrances, and several other not-so-body-friendly ingredients. Unfortunately, tampon manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients of what is used in making these insertable blood stoppers. Add to that the non-eco-friendly plastic that’s used to make tampon insertion more comfortable, instead of the more earth-friendly thin cardboard insertion tubes commonly used for less expensive tampons. These non-recyclable plastic tampon tubes can easily pass through water treatment plants and wind up on the seashore, where they are fondly referred to as “beach whistles.”
In an article from the online journal “Well and Good,” Talia Frenkel, the female developer of a line of tampons made with organic cotton (albeit with a plastic applicator!), is quoted as saying, “We put between 10,000 and 11,000 tampons into our bodies throughout our lifetime.” That’s a lot of tampons and a lot of one-time use plastic applicators tossed into the trash.
Let’s not get started on what menstrual pads (aka “sanitary napkins”) are made of. We just know they are not environmentally friendly, either, with their bulk and materials in no way being recyclable. Also, many states apply what’s commonly known as the “Pink Tax,” which makes tampons and sanitary napkins taxable while condoms are not.
Even with the invention of modern tampons and their game-changing paper tube applicators in the early 1930s and with the applicator-free and finger-inserted “o.b.” tampon in the 1940s, the choices of utilizing alternative menstrual products remained slim.
It is becoming more apparent that consumers of a newer generation, who are also more comfortable with sex toys, are embracing the normalcy of their monthly cycles. The topic of menstruation was covered in the 2019 Oscar-winning short documentary titled “Period. End of Sentence.”—which brought the once-taboo topic even further into the mainstream.
For the last several years, more environmentally friendly alternatives have come onto the market for use during that time of the month. Menstrual cups in their modern form have been around since the 1930s, when Leona Chalmers patented a design. But it wasn’t until 2012, when Intimina introduced the Lily Cup, that new ground began to be broken. These cups and other menstrual products commonly find shelf space alongside more traditional products in drug and general merchandise stores. But now that pleasure product manufacturers are designing their own versions of the cup, it seems inevitable that sex-positive stores will stock period-related items.
In the summer of 2017, German adult pleasure products company Fun Factory created their own line of silicone menstrual cups: flexible receptacles inserted into the vagina against the cervix to create a mild seal to prevent period leakage. (A quick educational sidebar: The cervix is at the top of the vagina and is rounded like the tip of your nose. The hole in the center of the cervix is called the “os,” which is where blood from the lining of the uterus comes out during menstruation. The os is also the hole that dilates during labor and is measured by centimeters’ width indicating when a baby is ready to be born. Ah, the miracles of women’s bodies!)
Sonny Farnsworth, sales manager of Fun Factory USA, shared the company’s strategies and beliefs in normalizing what is, yes, a normal bodily function. “Fun Factory has always been dedicated to sexual health with our focus on body-safe materials and ergonomic designs. The Fun Cup [the company’s name for its menstrual cups] was a natural addition to our line. We recognize the ways in which menstrual products affect sexual empowerment. Dryness, increased risk of infection, and gendered marketing all have an impact on anyone with periods’ health and happiness.”
Farnsworth continued, “We don’t think that wellness and pleasure should be held apart, and the design and messaging of the Fun Cup took pleasure and inclusivity into account from day one.”
Jimmyjane, a leader in the sexual health and wellness field, has been manufacturing its own line of silicone menstrual cups for several years. Sunny Rodgers, who has worked as a sexual health and wellness educator for the brand, takes a more serious approach to menstrual cups’ use. She shared “Intimate self-care is important to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself as it produces positive feelings and boosts your confidence and self-esteem.”
Sales staff at adult stores are also more open and accepting of the demand for high-quality sexual health and wellness products which now encompass silicone menstrual cups. Generationally, young women and men are less “icked out” talking with customers about the use of silicone menstrual cups than perhaps a generation before. Since adult store staff are often considered educators as well—answering customers’ questions such as “Where’s the G spot?” “Where’s the clit?” “What’s a good lube for anal sex?”—educating their clientele about silicone menstrual cups and silicone toys is simply a natural progression of what they are already doing.
Fun Factory’s Farnsworth continued, “Curiosity around alternative menstrual products and awareness of cups has definitely been on the rise in the last few years, so even if the staff at a store are new to this product category, most of them at least have a basic understanding of the concept, which makes them more open to learning about them. I always ask staff in trainings to imagine that they were a customer who was interested in learning more about menstrual cups. They wanted to ask a real person rather than just Google it so would they rather come into an adult store environment and engage with someone who they know is comfortable discussing personal or more socially ‘taboo” topics and products with folks already, or would they want to ask the kid stocking the shelves at a drug store?”
Farnsworth summed up, “I certainly know what my answer would be, and I think framing it in that way helps win sales staff over who perhaps were previously uncomfortable or who didn’t see the reasoning for a product like the Fun Cups being offered in an adult store.”
Jimmyjane’s Sunny Rodgers agreed. “Overall, retail staff members that our team has spoken with have been highly supportive of our move toward positive intimate health and wellness and appreciate that we are providing consumers with viable intimate care options.”
Fun Cups’ Sonny Farnsworth is a firm believer in inviting store staff to personally experience their Fun Factory products and that includes the silicone Fun Cups. “I think if a salesperson is able to test the use of any product in our industry, they’ll be more likely to promote it to customers. We try to emphasize all of the benefits of the cups—such as environmental impact and economic benefits—so hopefully everyone feels good about explaining and promoting them to customers on the sales floor! Anyone with a period should be able to choose the menstrual product that’s right for them, and we want people to have the information they need to make their decision. We train all of our retail partners to be knowledgeable and confident as sex educators, so this is a natural extension for them.”
Both companies take a slightly different approach to how they offer their products to the menstruating population. Jimmyjane’s menstrual cups are packaged in a two pack with a larger cup for heavier flows and a smaller cup for lighter days. Available in clear and purple, the bell-shaped curve of the cups hug contours, while the fuller, ergonomic rim was designed to prevent any type of leakage. Both cups have a small tail to pull the cup out of the vagina and come with a designer storage bag.
Fun Factory’s silicone Fun Cups are available in two sizes that allow for more comfortable wear as well as accommodation for different amounts of blood flow. The cervix-hugging opening is at a slight, anatomically friendly angle and the tulip-shaped cup tapers down to a gently rounded tip for users to grasp with their fingertips to remove. Three kit options are available for the Fun Cup that include two cups in each of the sizes as well as the “Explore Kit,” which includes one cup of each size. All of the kits include an entertaining, instructional booklet promoting Fun Factory’s Fun Cup mission, and a small, anti-microbial carrying tote made of tear-proof Tyvek so they’re ready to go whenever the Red Baron decides to strike.
So save the earth with the adult industry’s newest additions for the most ancient bodily function. Your body and Mother Nature will thank you for it.
