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Toxic Protection / Confidence Shock / Introduction |
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PROTECTION / CONFIDENCE SHOCK INDEX
INTRODUCTION
What is the history of
tampon-related toxic shock syndrome?
And just as important: Who gets
to write this history?
In 1997, a toxic shock
syndrome timeline was created by researcher Rana A. Hajjeh and co-authors. Spanning 1979–1996, this timeline notes
important US tampon safety milestones, as well as the resultant decline in
toxic shock cases:
Toxic shock syndrome
cases,* menstrual vs. nonmenstrual, United States, 1979–1996, Rana A. Hajjeh,*
Arthur Reingold,† Alexis Weil,* Kathleen Shutt,* Anne Schuchat,* and Bradley A.
Perkins*
A total of 5,296 cases
of toxic shock syndrome were identified, of which 3,921 were “menstrual,” that
is, tampon related.
3,921 cases, occurring
among millions of girls and women over an 18-year period, represents only a
tiny percentage of tampon users actually becoming ill. Why, then, do we need to think of this as
relevant history now, deserving of a full-fledged exhibit, rather than mildly
interesting “ancient history,” well covered by news media, the scientific
establishment and governmental agencies?
The short answer is
that the rate of new TR-TSS cases has dropped dramatically - but not to
“0.”
And the long
answer...involves an answer to another question entirely. In a March
2000 speech, curator Renee Baert
said:
“...I’d like to try to
think [of] feminist curatorial practice as a potential site, a space for
speculation, for local contingencies, for new structures of knowledge and
pleasure, and, more largely, for poetics...”
New structures of
knowledge? Pleasure? Poetics? Can an exhibit exploring the history of
tampon-related toxic shock syndrome really yield any of these? MOLT says yes:
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PROTECTION / CONFIDENCE SHOCK INDEX
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Art,
Poetry and Music
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From Protection to Expression: The Future of Menstrual
Advertising |
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Menovulography:
the years from puberty to menopause, told as a story with pictures
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Contact
MOLT
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