Menstruation Arouses TSA Suspicion
#76
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
I don't think men have any frame of reference for this female anatomical issue. It's a measure of how low we've sunk, and how stupidly deferential we've become to an intrusive government bent on humiliating its citizens, that we are even holding these explicit, personal conversations about airline passengers' bodies.
#77
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Pardon the reference, but as a sympathetic yet completely-unable-to-relate male, this reminds me of ancient religious laws that regulated this part of female anatomy to ridiculous levels by today's standards. Women had to provide special sacrifices to the priest to be certified clean and participate in societal and religious functions. They could not associate in certain ways with "normal" society while the were menstruating. Otherwise, they had to announce that they were so people could take special precautions. There were many more but this is a representative sample. It was considered a curse and a cause of separation and women were ostracized in some societies.
4000 years of history, understanding and learning and in one fell swoop we take this giant step backwards for totally unnecessary and nonsensical reasons.
4000 years of history, understanding and learning and in one fell swoop we take this giant step backwards for totally unnecessary and nonsensical reasons.
#78
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 1,356
As a professional woman who sometimes must travel for my job, you have my deepest sympathies. I mean this. It is hard enough as a professional woman to do our jobs but now we have to add to our angst the stress of our monthly periods. An issue which we have long ago handled, but now it comes at us as urgently as a new currency.
As women, we learn to plan ahead. This is a genetic trait -- from the time of puberty, we learn to calculate and plan to avoid at the very least embarrassment (leaking through our shorts at gym class) - at the worst, real physical damage (i.e. soaking a white leather couch at a job interview). But we have handled it - because we plan ahead. We plan ahead to avoid embarrassment and to work in a man's world. We work with our bodily functions so they are nonexistent in our workplace.
Enter the TSA. With a singular gesture (screening), this government agency has the power of undoing us in the name of security. Never mind your planning, with one invasive screening, the TSA can bring you back to that befuddled thirteen year old girl who wore white pants when her period came early or late.
As a 40+ year old woman, I thought I was done being pensive about my body and its natural wonders -- but these latest developments bring me back to junior high where I feel like I have to apologize and be ashamed for being a girl.
Shame on the TSA.
As women, we learn to plan ahead. This is a genetic trait -- from the time of puberty, we learn to calculate and plan to avoid at the very least embarrassment (leaking through our shorts at gym class) - at the worst, real physical damage (i.e. soaking a white leather couch at a job interview). But we have handled it - because we plan ahead. We plan ahead to avoid embarrassment and to work in a man's world. We work with our bodily functions so they are nonexistent in our workplace.
Enter the TSA. With a singular gesture (screening), this government agency has the power of undoing us in the name of security. Never mind your planning, with one invasive screening, the TSA can bring you back to that befuddled thirteen year old girl who wore white pants when her period came early or late.
As a 40+ year old woman, I thought I was done being pensive about my body and its natural wonders -- but these latest developments bring me back to junior high where I feel like I have to apologize and be ashamed for being a girl.
Shame on the TSA.
You're right, we are planners. I would really like to be able to plan ahead and minimize the aggravation. Let's put it this way: my bags are always nicely packed with packing cubes, so if a part shows up funny, they can just rerun the individual cubes and my bag can be repacked quickly. My liquids are stored at the top of my bag so that they are easy to access. I wear shoes with zippers so that they are easy to remove. Everything in my pockets goes into my purse after the ID check so that nothing can get lost. I purchase my laptop bags based on design and ease of getting the laptop out and then back in w/o having to open the entire bag, just a separate pocket or section. Even traveling with two laptops, I can separate everything out into bins in less than a minute and myself back together on the other side in less than a minute again.
I am a seasoned traveler, and have learned how to get through security with minimal pain or fuss. However, I cannot do a thing about my body's natural functions (and no, I'm not going to load my body with hormones to stop or change my cycle) and there appears to be nothing I can do to prepare or make the pat-down while I'm on my menstrual cycle easier for everyone. *sigh* Guess, I'll just hope that I'm not selected for the scanner. So far I've done pretty well with the self-directed opt out, but sooner or later, I imagine my luck is going to run out.
#79
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northern California, in the redwoods, on the ocean.
Posts: 437
JennyElf, what about a menstrual cup? Or a diaphragm worn for fluid retention rather than fluid exclusion? Would that solve the problem long enough to get through the scope-and-grope?
#80
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 1,356
It is something I have thought of in the past, but I was never all that enthused about them in the first place.
#81
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northern California, in the redwoods, on the ocean.
Posts: 437
Good points, and well taken, but this is an extraordinary situation thrust upon us, and it strikes me that a cup is your best solution FOR THESE PURPOSES. Just to get through screening.
#82
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,145
I'm taking the opposite approach about sanitary pads. I rarely use them but I'm wearing a sanitary pad every time I fly whether I need it or not. I don't want the hands of strangers getting into places they shouldn't, and I'm going to provide a small physical deterrent.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
#83
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 1,356
Except, again, I'd still would want to wear the napkin just in case of mis-positioning of the cup so that I don't get fluids on my clothing. So I'm right back where I started. I agree that if I already had one and was accustomed to it and had already figured out how to wear one correctly, a cup would be the best solution. But given that I don't have one and don't know how to wear it correctly and not have a leak, I'm not sure that it is the best solution.
#84
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA Gold (former Platinum), SPG Gold, SWA, UA, National Car, TSA Disparager Silver
Posts: 119
I'm taking the opposite approach about sanitary pads. I rarely use them but I'm wearing a sanitary pad every time I fly whether I need it or not. I don't want the hands of strangers getting into places they shouldn't, and I'm going to provide a small physical deterrent.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
#85
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northern California, in the redwoods, on the ocean.
Posts: 437
Except, again, I'd still would want to wear the napkin just in case of mis-positioning of the cup so that I don't get fluids on my clothing. So I'm right back where I started. I agree that if I already had one and was accustomed to it and had already figured out how to wear one correctly, a cup would be the best solution. But given that I don't have one and don't know how to wear it correctly and not have a leak, I'm not sure that it is the best solution.
One of my guiding life principles: Be an Actor, Not a Victim.
Best wishes for your flight tomorrow, JennyElf.
#86
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 25
My flight is tomorrow. No way am I going to be able to get one and figure out how to use it and be adjusted to it in time. Diaphragms require an GYN exam to get properly fitted. Also, would prefer not to have to figure out the mechanics of one in a public bathroom (once on the other side of security). I understand some people love their menstrual cups and they aren't too difficult to work with, but they strike me as something I should get used to inserting and properly positioning. Last thing I'd want is to do it incorrectly (and get fluids everywhere) when I don't have easy access to spare clothing and a private bathroom.
It is something I have thought of in the past, but I was never all that enthused about them in the first place.
It is something I have thought of in the past, but I was never all that enthused about them in the first place.
#87
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,444
I'm taking the opposite approach about sanitary pads. I rarely use them but I'm wearing a sanitary pad every time I fly whether I need it or not. I don't want the hands of strangers getting into places they shouldn't, and I'm going to provide a small physical deterrent.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
#88
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,145
But I'm hoping that the pad gets the grope instead of the hooha and that's where it stops.
#89
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: PDX
Programs: TSA Refusenik charter member
Posts: 15,978
I'm mystified why any woman should drop extra dime on alternative sanitary devices when it does nothing to advance a real solution here?
Last edited by essxjay; Dec 9, 2010 at 11:59 am
#90
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP
Posts: 18
I'm taking the opposite approach about sanitary pads. I rarely use them but I'm wearing a sanitary pad every time I fly whether I need it or not. I don't want the hands of strangers getting into places they shouldn't, and I'm going to provide a small physical deterrent.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
Don't get me wrong, I resent having to even consider something so silly as wearing a sanitary pad when I don't need one...but if I have to be prepared for the hands of strangers in my private areas, then this kind of silly behavior becomes fair game.
Me, three. And the firmest, most padded bra in my arsenal.