The store for the cycle, against the menstruation taboo: “In Italy so much ignorance”
The pads sold at the Bottega Della Luna are not pink, nor purple, nor lilac. They are blue, green and yellow, different depending on the age of the wearer. The store was inaugurated in Milan on May 28th (World Menstruation Day) by Intima Luna, an e-commerce company that has been dealing with female sexuality for years, famous for having introduced the menstrual cup in Italy.
The decision to open a physical store to be associated with the online platform was born with the idea of creating a place where menstruation, menarche, perineum or menopause, become the pretext to meet, discuss, understand one’s sexuality together with other women.
“There is a taboo on menstruation by women themselves: talking about the cycle is like talking about something dirty – Paola Sammarro, from Intima Luna, explains at Open – many women do not know that menstruation does not stink but bad hygiene, which the cup is a good idea, but it is not suitable for all women “.
The idea is precisely to create a neighborhood workshop, where girls can understand how to face the first cycle, where adolescents can learn to use a menstrual cup, where older ladies can find new ways to support a sexuality modified by menopause.
With the purchase of each product, the brand also offers a first free visit with SEAO midwives, specialized in professional and psychological support on female sexuality issues, little covered by specialized scientific literature.
The venue of the Bottega della Luna, in Via Antonio Stoppani 26, near Porta Venezia, in Milan, will soon also host courses offering a cognitive and analytical approach to the woman’s body.
On the ground floor, under the neon sign «I love my vagina» there are various varieties of internal and external sanitary napkins, Mooncup cups, intimate cleansers, lubricants. The prices of cotton, organic and compostable towels are similar to those of supermarkets, from around 3.90 to 5 euros.
Decorate the shop, color books explaining the female anatomy and plush clits. The upstairs is dedicated to sex toys, including some very small, suitable for women in menopause or with vulvodynia problems.
Soon the washable pads will also arrive, those praised by Roberto D’Uva , M5s group leader in the Chamber, while defending the rejection of VAT reduction on sanitary napkins for environmental concerns. “The recent debate on sanitary napkins shows the ignorance that still prevails on this issue, the denial of the idea that women can have heterogeneous needs – comments Sammarro – but for this to change, we must abandon the stereotype that reduces women to an image sexualized “.