Friday, August 21, 2009

What the Douche?


Compliments of a friend's email forward, here is a horrifying product from the 50s-60s, "Vagasan", a powder (what!?) douching product (via Madame Talbot) with these lovely ingredients:

Carbolic Acid 1/8 of 1% in mixed usable solution (Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, is a toxic, white crystalline solid with a sweet tarry odor, commonly referred to as a "hospital smell". During the 1880s Diphtheria was treated by Phenol Douches.)

Boric Acid A boric acid douche used to be the most commonly recommended means of addressing vaginal yeast.

Alum (think of pickeling alum)

Methyl Salicylate is a wintergreen-scented chemical found in many over-the-counter products, including muscle ache creams.

and Oil of Peppermint

Oh my godde. Acid and Pickling do not create word associations for vagina!! More on douching.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Tough Guise

Check out this film review of "Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity" by Tatiana Tomljanovic of Calgary's Alliance to End Violence.