Box of 6 Instead softcups, single use menstrual cups

Box of 6 Instead Softcups, single use menstrual cups (5 sealed cups remaining), "12 Hour Feminine Protection Cup", Ultrafem Inc., Missoula, Montana, 1996-1998

The Instead Softcup was a new type of disposable menstrual cup, first sold in the United States in 1996. Bell-shaped menstrual cups have a longer history, having been produced since the 1930s.

Similar in appearance to contraceptive diaphragms, ‘menstrual discs’ (as they have become known) are one of the more recent innovations in the menstrual product market. Like cups, they are flexible containers inserted into the vagina to collect menstrual fluid. But while cups extend into the vaginal canal and rely on suction to stay in position, discs sit at the base of the cervix and are held in place by the public bone. Made of flexible thermoplastic material, they are folded lengthways and inserted like a tampon.

Initially called a Feminine Protection Cup, the discs were rebranded as Softcups in 1998. The manufacturer described them as: “The first real alternative in feminine protection in more than 60 years.” One of the product’s main advantages, according to Audrey Contente, the executive who developed it, was that it allowed “comfortable sex during your period.” Despite a cult following, however, Softcups never conquered the mass market.

Two decades later, the first reusable menstrual disc made of silicon was launched and several varieties are now available, some with stems or tabs for easier removal. Reusable period products have undergone a resurgence in popularity since the mid-2010s, driven by consumers seeking more comfortable and environmentally friendly alternatives to disposable products.