I know what one is and how to use it, thank you. Since you're the one who wants to write this, perhaps you ought to google it? You obviously have some gaps in your knowledge.
To even begin to choose the proper menstrual cup right for you body, you need to know how high your cervix is, and what kind of an angle it's at. To insert it and use it, you must angle the opening of the cup towards your cervix as many women have problems with leakage when they don't. And, when you have a low/droopy cervix, some women (like myself) have to actually move the cervix into the menstrual cup. So, I think I know enough about menstrual cups to know that you must be familiar with your cervix to interact with the cup while using it. Perhaps you have a deeper vagina or a shorter cup and these things don't effect you and you don't have the knowledge.
I think periods are worth mentioning if she's on the road and has to deal with the rags and stuff. If she's badly injured, they might be secondary on her mind. As for using the story to counter stigmas. It might work for some people and if you want to do that, go ahead. I won't be one of those people (I'm a woman, by the way), but that's probably because I harbor a special hatred towards the cruel evolutionary joke that is the period and will never see it in a favorable light. You can show her shame, her attempts to hide it, and all that since it's definitely relateable if you're a woman and worth learning about if you're a guy, and I can only imagine what a hassle it must have been to menstruate back in the day, or even in present times in developing countries. So if you feel like it fits and you want to address the issue, go for it. As for the level of detail... Kind of hard to tell at this point what will work. I probably wouldn't discuss something like her cervix myself, but I don't want to judge your work before reading it.
@Trish and @Tenderiser have already said almost everything I was gonna say on this subject, so I'm just gonna add a few thing in addition to that. Personally I won't bat an eye reading about a character's period in book (regardless of the amount of detail included), it's as you said a completely normal thing that women deal with routinely, it's just a natural bodily function and should be treated as such. I also agree that there's unfortunately a big stigma surrounding periods. I've seen it in my own family and close relatives, and it's unhealthy. People make too big a deal out of it and get embarrassed even talking about it sometimes. This an outdated attitude that really needs to be challenged, and it's awesome that you wanna do just that in your book. But it will only be effective if it feels organic and a natural part of the plot. The moment it feels like you're pausing your story to do a PSA on female hygiene, is the moment you'll lose you're audience, which would be utterly counter-productive to what you're trying to accomplish. From the set up you have it seems to be that her period is very much relevant to the plot at the moment. She'd badly injured and hast o deal with her period on top of that, so it makes complete sense that you would explore that, it is an important issue and a real inconvenience for her. Just make your writing reflects that and in terms of detail, go with what feels the best for the scene, in terms of the plot. If you can accomplish your goal with the minimum amount of detail, do that but if you feel that getting more graphic is what's needed then get graphic.
I take it your MC has pretty intense periods then? I've known women across the spectrum, from no periods, to light periods, to "kill me now" periods. If it's strong enough to to be mentioned, then it should at least compromise her safety or ability to hero a bit. I believe someone mentioned animals tracking blood? So my stance is pretty much like everyone else's. Make it serve a purpose beyond an agenda and there should be no issue. You gotta stop rollin with boys. A man will educate himself and suck it up. Plus, individual shame or embarrassment can't be generalized to become a societal issue. Some people can't pinch a loaf in public because it's embarrassing, or have to send someone else to buy their hemorrhoid cream, but they're not calling for a reduction in stigma. A reduction in perceived stigma comes with a reduction in self-consciousness. Most people honestly don't even care.
But she's not buying a new cup, so that doesn't seem immediately relevant. I think that a detailed explanation of her inserting the cup and all of the surrounding anatomy is not going to feel plot-relevant.
I'm mostly referring to people like my brother, uncle, father, and grandfather. My boyfriend is quite understanding and supportive. I think it's also a culture thing from where I'm at. I was responding to Tenderiser's comments that cervixs are irrelevant to menstrual cups in that post.
Good to know, since you stated it as a generality of the type of 'all men throw hissy fits' (I know that's not what you said). It kinda is relevant though (Chicken's comment I mean), since she would already know all of that info so, again, we're left with how does the cervix get brought into it. She would have to do all that if she was buying one, but she isn't. Right? She already has it.
Quoting myself: To insert it and use it, you must angle the opening of the cup towards your cervix as many women have problems with leakage when they don't. And, when you have a low/droopy cervix, some women (like myself) have to actually move the cervix into the menstrual cup.
So, she's like you then? That's fine then I guess. The bottom line is ---- She said it best, may as well let her say it again.
Yes, but the discussion was, I thought, how you could naturally get a mention of the cervix into the narrative. And I'm saying that the only way to get it in is an extremely detailed description of inserting the cup, something that she does frequently, and that that is unlikely to feel natural. I mean, yeah, I suppose you could: Her temporarily useless hand seemed to hamper everything, from tying her shoes to adjusting her cervix when inserting the menstrual cup. But...I'm just not seeing it. Would we be comfortable with a similar sentence about a man having trouble adjusting body parts? I don't feel like we would.
This is an excellent point, but it had the opposite effect for me. I actually would be totally fine with a guy having trouble adjusting body parts because of a useless hand or whatever. That makes sense to me. I'm now forced to acknowledge that I just don't relate to the whole cervix thing. It's not an issue that I have, and so I'm having trouble visualizing it I think. So, that's on me. (and no, I don't have the problem a man would have either, but I can see that because that's external I guess?? I don't even know.)
Regardless of the subject matter, I'm thrown off by the desire to add fat to a project. I'd think about subplots if my project seemed a little too lean, but the way you're talking about this really does make it seem like it'd be padding. But it's your joint, and if that's what you want to do, you won't be dissuaded. As far as details go, I don't think I'd be too thrown by maybe a sentence or two of her dealing with things, and I'd probably find the usage of a cup pretty practical and thoughtful. Detail beyond that would most likely squick me out personally and more objectively make me wonder what the point of it was. I prefer a leaner story, and fat in this context annoys me. I do have a story where a character's period comes up as a plot point, because she spends a lot of time in zero gravity and it disrupts her endometrial growth, and because she makes her living in zero g it's a health issue that effects her livelihood. Before it reaches that point, I'll foreshadow it with her having more pain and erratic bleeding for a while. I mention this because, if I'm reading a story that dwells on something in this way, I expect something to come of it. IMO it should be there for a reason - not fluff.
I've been saying that all day in this thread. In this particular instance though, the context of her specific cervix issues is what I don't relate to. (And I have no idea why I feel compelled to clarify that, but I do.)
But remember what I said before: If she's on her period, her wounds will not stop bleeding that fast. Several years ago I had elective surgery on my jaw, and on my surgeon's advice scheduled it for when I wouldn't be menstruating. But something came up and it had to be postponed, and the only time that wasn't way in the future was when I was having my time of month. They had to keep me in the recovery room for four stinking hours. Why? My blood was thinner and it took that long for my stitched-up surgical wounds to stop seeping. In your character's case, this will raise danger issues. I wouldn't call this fluff . . . Or "nice" detail. But with the cup, I can see why you think this might be a good place for some anatomical terms. Not necessarily. Is this character in the habit of referring to body parts by their scientific names? I mean, is she a medic or something? If she is and you absolutely have to describe how she puts the cup back in and where she puts it (though keep in mind what @Tenderiser said about menstrual cups and cervices), you might get away with it. With some people. But for a lot of your (teenaged?) readers, it's going to come off like a Health class lesson ("Borrrrrrring!"), or simply as, "Ewww, gross!" And if she never talks that way in any other context, you can double or triple the negative, jerk-the-reader-out-of-the-story effect. But, okay. Since her being OTR will complicate her woundedness, she can take some time to reflect on that and figure out what it's going to mean in terms of survival. The fact that her guy friend had to stitch her up tells me she's at a safe house and not a hospital. Yes, a scene like this will slow the pace down, as you (plural) desire. But nice and fluffy, no. In fact, the best thing about it, if you choose to put it in, is that it will raise the tension and the stakes.
You know... I just typed something pretty funny (to me) but I don't want ya'll to quote me in your signatures so...
