The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

BBC ^ | 3 March 2014 | Vibeke Venema

[a fool in paradise]

He fashioned a sanitary pad out of cotton and gave it to Shanthi, demanding immediate feedback. She said he'd have to wait for some time - only then did he realise that periods were monthly. "I can't wait a month for each feedback, it'll take two decades!" He needed more volunteers.

SCIENCE!!!

[a fool in paradise]

One roll of toilet paper goes for close to a day’s wage in rural India.

Yeah, but trust me, it's worth it!

[Tax-chick]

Thinking of the misery of these hundreds of millions of women is really a downer.

[Organic Panic]

I thought menstration was clear blue fluid. That’s what I see on TV.

I dated a granola treehugging chick for a while. I made her use organic pine cones. She finally left me after a while.

[csvset]

Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham is someone certainly worthy of a Nobel Prize.

[OldMagazine]

Store bought pads cost 4 rupees while those by Shanthi cost 2.5 rupees. Likely many cannot afford to pay 2.5 r.

[Tax-chick]

He certainly deserves wealth and acclaim! Unnngh, the unspeakable yucky ickiness is just overwhelming. I’m constantly amazed at the circumstances under which people will survive. *shudder*

[faucetman]

DITTO

[momtothree]

Do you get the feeling that FReeper women are hugging their box of wings?!!!

[Tax-chick]

If I run out of Stayfree Super Maxi, I won’t care if the zombies get me.

[Dr. Sivana]

Outsource production to India. It works wonders for technical jobs.

Not worth their while for low markup commodity products.

[a fool in paradise]

He has also opened himself to lawsuits if women experience health issues from his product.

[a fool in paradise]

My understanding is that the Eastern European variety was made from tree bark (I wouldn’t know, I brought my own roll from home and never had to tip the restroom monitors for a sheet).

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

He realized that women menstruate only monthly AFTER he was married? Egad.

[Sergio]

bkmk

[Tax-chick]

How would they know? They’ve already got chronic infections and all sorts of other yuck from reusing piles of sand in place of sanitary pads.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Since they make their own pads, iPad would be an awesome name, eh?

[married21]

The 2.5 rupees is still expensive, no doubt, but the article said some people barter for the pads. Perhaps the increase in productivity the women will experience, in being able to go out and do things during their period, and in having fewer infections, will increase their prosperity.
Also, perhaps the status of women will go up a little bit, as people realize that that a woman’s comfort and health might be worth a bit of extra money and effort.

[familyop]

Sanitation DIY-er/go-Galt/whatever ping. Surprisingly interesting account of what happened, too.

"The biggest mystery was what successful sanitary pads were made of...A few weeks later, mysterious hard boards appeared in the mail - cellulose, from the bark of a tree. It had taken two years and three months to discover what sanitary pads are made of,..."

[momtothree]

I am actually surprised that so many male freepers commented on this thread. I figured they would try IMMEDIATELY to find a thread about fishing, hunting, Nascar, tree cutting, power saws etc.. :)