Moon Cup Made of Bakelite
comic, Nicola Heine and Lilli Loge, 20 pgs, lilliloge.bigcartel.com, €6
I think I’m so smart, and then I’m presented with something like this zine where I’m left wondering if fancy Regency-era ladies really used porcelain menstrual cups. I only recently learned about the bourdaloue, a gravy boat-like receptacle that upperclass women of the Georgian era would use to pee in at parties. I’m not kidding. They’d sneak off to a discreet alcove, shove a tiny chamber pot under their skirts, pee into it, hand it off to some poor servant, and then return to the ball to be wooed by Mr. Darcy. With this information in mind, menstrual cups made of porcelain, or stoneware, or the titular Bakelite seemed not that far-fetched. But they are, at least according to a cursory Google search. Wikipedia tells me the first menstrual cups weren’t used until well into the 20th century, and they were made of gum rubber, not Bakelite. It is a relief just knowing this, to be honest.
Along with a brief un-history of Menstrual Cups Through the Ages, this zine also includes a handy tutorial showing how to convert your modern menstrual cup into a feeder for tiny vampires. “Sit back and enjoy the site of mini-vampires feeding by moonlight,” it implores. There is a mini-zine within the zine showing the various types of mini-vampires you can collect, but it offers no information on the best season for attracting them. Do mini-vampires migrate? I can’t imagine them doing well through the Canadian winter.
Finally, there is a comic called, “I Can Explain,” detailing the literal bloody horror of trying to empty a menstrual cup within the rustic bathroom facilities of a Czechoslovakian campground. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will tell you it made me think of Carrie.