Image: Instagram
According to the UK Mirror, a group of women who founded an underwear company called Thinx have come together to invent “period proof” underwear, for which you do not have to wear sanitary pads during menstruation.
This means you never have to worry about dreaded leaks again since your Thinx underwear will absorb it.
What makes this possible? This graph shows the many layers of these pantieswhich serve different functions: leak resistant layer, absorbent layer, a layer that keeps you dry and a germ-free layer.
Hygiene technology for women has come a long way, and so have attitudes about it, at least on the part of women. We used to wear thick cotton sheets to protect our clothes and underwear against staining. Then, there were thinner pads, pads with wings, tampons and menstrual cups , all of which evolved over the years.
Periods were also used by religion and social attitudes to shame women and even place an expectation of chastity upon them, because puberty makes it possible to fall pregnant after having sex.
However, women are coming out confidently and changing each other’s -and men’s -attitudes about menstruation for the better.
The women of Thinx, Antonia Dunbar, Miki Agrawal and her sister Radha, are also using this business platform to reduce the shame in menstruation, because it is a natural part of being a woman.
It’s already a hit with women around the world.
Rethinking the #period Imagine ridding the landfills of menstral products. #Thinx has! #love #collagenbabe http://t.co/FHd5e3Sn5l
— Moneca Yardley (@CollagenBabe) June 4, 2015
Thoughts on #Thinx ?!?! Quite genius for those with heavy cycles (double genius for the social responsibility part) http://t.co/SwNjd2rnKj
— Kate Powe (@katepowe) June 4, 2015
In honor of #NationalUnderwearDay, I just bought my first pair of #Thinx underwear, which will fund… http://t.co/eUDQED3Abt
— Melissa Jun Rowley (@MelissaRowley) August 5, 2014
Unlike most sanitary products, you can wash and reuse it like you would a normal panty, which results in less waste, and less pollution!
There is also a charitable side to this product. Every time you buy a pair, you fund a cause that provides less privileged women and girls who cannot afford sanitary products, with washable and reusable cloth pads.
That’s an incentive to consider using this product. The question is: When is it coming to South Africa?
Would you use these period panties?