New Cycle Petal Pad, reusable cotton flannel and terry cloth menstrual pad

New Cycle Petal Pad, reusable cotton flannel and terry cloth menstrual pad, pink floral pattern, The Menstrual Health Foundation, Santa Rosa, California, 1990-2000

The Menstrual Health Foundation was founded in 1984 by Tamara Slayton (1950-2003), a Californian menstrual activist and feminist spiritualist. It was a non-profit educational corporation that sought to create a new way of thinking about menarche, menstruation and menopause that challenged the dominant culture of menstrual shame, secrecy and silence. Slayton and her contemporaries reframed menstruation as a source of female power and spirituality that should be celebrated.

This floral-patterned ‘Petal Pad’, a cotton flannel and terry cloth insert for absorbing menstrual flow, was from a range of washable menstrual cloths that Slayton sold through her company New Cycle (later WomanKind). It was intended to be worn in close-fitting underwear or be inserted into ‘moon panties’ – another New Cycle product. This particular example may have come from a Cycle Celebration Kit, created to commemorate menarche (the first period).

Slayton opposed the use of tampons because of chemicals used in their manufacture. She referred to them as “a weapon against women” and believed that they kept people from fully experiencing menstruation. Her mail-order company also sold ‘moon bowls’ in which to soak bloodied pads with a spout enabling the water to be poured over plants as fertiliser. This ritual was part of Slayton's conception of menstruation as connecting women to the earth.

Reusable period pads and underwear have undergone a resurgence in popularity since the mid-2010s, driven by consumers seeking more comfortable and environmentally friendly alternatives to disposable products.