@menstrual.bsky.social
O'Hare Airport valuing (paid) access to diapers and (free!) access to menstrual supplies. Note the faint positive embossing of the product names and the more archaic "napkin." The retrofitted sans-serif "free" stickers are much bolder. #materialculture #menstrual #menstruation
February 12, 2026 at 1:58 PM
O'Hare Airport valuing (paid) access to diapers and (free!) access to menstrual supplies. Note the faint positive embossing of the product names and the more archaic "napkin." The retrofitted sans-serif "free" stickers are much bolder. #materialculture #menstrual #menstruation
More airport bathrooms; yay for free #menstrual products! Food for thought: when/why napkin vs pad? (Generally older) disposal boxes almost always say napkin only, as they may pre-date tampons being common. Icons tend to be newer; were these visuals previously considered vulgar?
July 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
More airport bathrooms; yay for free #menstrual products! Food for thought: when/why napkin vs pad? (Generally older) disposal boxes almost always say napkin only, as they may pre-date tampons being common. Icons tend to be newer; were these visuals previously considered vulgar?
Another airport bathroom: cheap #menstrual products require a specific coin. Curves and arcs, no-caps-sans-serif font, and neutral greys suggest a modern dispenser retrofitted to the standard, brushed stainless steel box (with bonus pareidolia). Supplies get icons, money gets numbers AND text.
July 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Another airport bathroom: cheap #menstrual products require a specific coin. Curves and arcs, no-caps-sans-serif font, and neutral greys suggest a modern dispenser retrofitted to the standard, brushed stainless steel box (with bonus pareidolia). Supplies get icons, money gets numbers AND text.
Airport bathroom, utterly devoid of menstrual supply dispensers. You can choose between air hand dryers and paper towels, however.
April 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Airport bathroom, utterly devoid of menstrual supply dispensers. You can choose between air hand dryers and paper towels, however.
It's sleek, it's modern, and it doesn't work. Broken? Empty? Who knows. Note the pad/tampon icons. They're minimalist, but include details like the quilted edges of a pad and the tampon string, differing from the thin cylinders and boxes of older depictions.
April 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It's sleek, it's modern, and it doesn't work. Broken? Empty? Who knows. Note the pad/tampon icons. They're minimalist, but include details like the quilted edges of a pad and the tampon string, differing from the thin cylinders and boxes of older depictions.
Basement bathroom at wine bar w/free menstrual supplies. The faux-wood organizers and gold caddy (coastal grandma/Target minimalism) contrast with the hot pink, gold, and black (2000s MySpace/scene girl) walls. The empty baskets are a mystery; did they contain pads/tampons? Other supplies?
April 21, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Basement bathroom at wine bar w/free menstrual supplies. The faux-wood organizers and gold caddy (coastal grandma/Target minimalism) contrast with the hot pink, gold, and black (2000s MySpace/scene girl) walls. The empty baskets are a mystery; did they contain pads/tampons? Other supplies?
A first! This stocked napkin dispenser was retroactively made "free vend" with a plastic addition to the coin slot. Original directions for use were as bare-bones as possible, eschewing even words. Tiny mysterious lady-branded box (IYKYK)+ disproportionately huge quarter. #materialculture #freevend
April 15, 2025 at 6:48 PM
A first! This stocked napkin dispenser was retroactively made "free vend" with a plastic addition to the coin slot. Original directions for use were as bare-bones as possible, eschewing even words. Tiny mysterious lady-branded box (IYKYK)+ disproportionately huge quarter. #materialculture #freevend
Gards: internal space/asset vs. external threat. Public menstrual supply infrastructure/design is often the most static part of a restroom (1989!) The use of "matron" also dates it. Note the $ on the how-to graphic, vs. ¢ on the price. Points for being stocked. #materialculture #menstruation
April 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Gards: internal space/asset vs. external threat. Public menstrual supply infrastructure/design is often the most static part of a restroom (1989!) The use of "matron" also dates it. Note the $ on the how-to graphic, vs. ¢ on the price. Points for being stocked. #materialculture #menstruation
Ann Arbor Sheraton with the menstrual supplies dispenser! Glad to see period health being valued alongside corporate art and design. #materialculture #periodhealth #menstruation #annarbor #sheraton
February 18, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Ann Arbor Sheraton with the menstrual supplies dispenser! Glad to see period health being valued alongside corporate art and design. #materialculture #periodhealth #menstruation #annarbor #sheraton
Props to the Burlington VT airport, w/ a functioning menstrual supplies machine in its women's bathroom. At first I thought the unlabelled machine was defunct, but the slots took quarters and produced a tampon and a maxi pad. Note the decorative swirls on the maxi pad box. #materialculture #BVT
February 11, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Props to the Burlington VT airport, w/ a functioning menstrual supplies machine in its women's bathroom. At first I thought the unlabelled machine was defunct, but the slots took quarters and produced a tampon and a maxi pad. Note the decorative swirls on the maxi pad box. #materialculture #BVT
Shoutout to the basement bathroom of this explicitly socialist coffee shop in Montréal. #menstruation #materialculture #sanitarynapkins #montreal #coffeeshop #MTL
February 11, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Shoutout to the basement bathroom of this explicitly socialist coffee shop in Montréal. #menstruation #materialculture #sanitarynapkins #montreal #coffeeshop #MTL
Co-operative grocery store; staff said that they do generally have free menstrual supplies in the bathrooms. Observed priorities include cheese, odor prevention, abstaining from smoking/vaping, and sharps disposal. #materialculture #menstruation #citizensociology
January 13, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Co-operative grocery store; staff said that they do generally have free menstrual supplies in the bathrooms. Observed priorities include cheese, odor prevention, abstaining from smoking/vaping, and sharps disposal. #materialculture #menstruation #citizensociology
Noticing a trend of "changing tables for children but no menstrual supplies" in bathrooms, even this one located in a hospital in New England. "Small Comforts" indeed; hard not to read into a cultural focus on motherhood as womanhood. Always pregnant/nursing = no menstruation? #materialculture
January 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Noticing a trend of "changing tables for children but no menstrual supplies" in bathrooms, even this one located in a hospital in New England. "Small Comforts" indeed; hard not to read into a cultural focus on motherhood as womanhood. Always pregnant/nursing = no menstruation? #materialculture
Bathroom in the pre-mammogram changing room of a hospital.
No to: menstrual supplies.
Yes to: the color pink, used menstrual supplies disposal, hand washing directions, and free mammogram services ad.
. #menstruation #women @materialwills.bsky.social @mcshistory.bsky.social
No to: menstrual supplies.
Yes to: the color pink, used menstrual supplies disposal, hand washing directions, and free mammogram services ad.
. #menstruation #women @materialwills.bsky.social @mcshistory.bsky.social
January 1, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Bathroom in the pre-mammogram changing room of a hospital.
No to: menstrual supplies.
Yes to: the color pink, used menstrual supplies disposal, hand washing directions, and free mammogram services ad.
. #menstruation #women @materialwills.bsky.social @mcshistory.bsky.social
No to: menstrual supplies.
Yes to: the color pink, used menstrual supplies disposal, hand washing directions, and free mammogram services ad.
. #menstruation #women @materialwills.bsky.social @mcshistory.bsky.social
No menstrual supplies dispenser in this bathroom; just a lone, millenial-color-palette-coded, "regular" pad, its placement on the counter suggesting an altruistic gesture. #materialculture #archeology
December 9, 2024 at 2:49 AM
No menstrual supplies dispenser in this bathroom; just a lone, millenial-color-palette-coded, "regular" pad, its placement on the counter suggesting an altruistic gesture. #materialculture #archeology
Variation on another airport machine; being thin, ultra thin, Canada's thinnest. A magical thinness that renders menstruation incognito, invisible. Trudeau airport, 2024
November 30, 2024 at 7:48 PM
Variation on another airport machine; being thin, ultra thin, Canada's thinnest. A magical thinness that renders menstruation incognito, invisible. Trudeau airport, 2024
Smallest possible amount of information. LA, 2024.
November 29, 2024 at 10:25 PM
Smallest possible amount of information. LA, 2024.
Modernity and a side eye. Note the cost; likely not enough to profit, but enough to symbolize that women must pay to bleed.
November 26, 2024 at 12:31 AM
Modernity and a side eye. Note the cost; likely not enough to profit, but enough to symbolize that women must pay to bleed.
Being the thinnest, fresh breath, and freedom from pain; all that the modern woman needs. Trudeau airport, 2024
November 24, 2024 at 10:01 PM
Being the thinnest, fresh breath, and freedom from pain; all that the modern woman needs. Trudeau airport, 2024
Indore airport, India 2024
October 30, 2024 at 8:47 PM
Indore airport, India 2024