Tampon.

Does that word make you squirm in your seat a little? It shouldn’t. That’s the point Vinnie is trying to make. Wait, but who’s Vinnie?

Vinnie is the owner and founder of Vinnie’s Tampon Cases, an innovative product that has taken the menstrual world by storm. These cases are small canvas or vinyl pouches that women can fill with tampons and keep in their purses.

Vinnie, a graphic designer by trade, originally created the cases solely for his female friends. They would often complain about their applicator tampons getting broken and otherwise ruined from floating freely in the bottom of their purses. Vinnie made the first cases himself out of canvas. He then distributed them as gifts for for his friends so they could safely hold their tampons in their bags.

According to their online store, Walgreens charges $6.99 for a multi-pack of Kotex tampons. Tampax costs $8.49, and Playtex raises them by fifty cents. Recognizing that the high price of tampons makes them a valuable commodity, Vinnie wanted to create something that would protect them.

He made a few for his friends and the next thing he knew, his phone was blowing up with requests from other females for their own Vinnie’s Tampon Cases.  The project was born, but this was only the beginning.

While the idea of protecting tampons is a financially efficient move, the cases have a deeper mission. In an interview with fredflare.com, Vinnie stated, “the other main goal for my Vinnie’s Tampon Case project is to create a positive, non-sexual dialogue between women and men regarding a woman’s body.” The tampon case starts a conversation about periods, one that is too-often silenced in our society. Advertisements for menstrual products always paint a woman’s period as something that she needs to hide; the tampon case promotes the opposite.

For example, remember a few years ago when Kotex came out with their “ultra-quiet” pad wrappers? The idea was that you should not let the girl in the bathroom stall next to you know that you are on your period.  “Less crinkling. Less crackling. Less embarrassing!” These ads suggest that your period is something you should always keep to yourself and having pads that unwrap silently is one way to hide your situation.

Vinnie designed the cases with his male audience in mind. He put illustrations of cars, as well as a caricature of himself, and emphasized colors stereotypically assigned to men like red and blue. This made them more visually appealing to men, so that a man might inadvertently bring up a conversation about a woman’s period.

My friends and I recently spent a week in New York City in which we were heavily involved in feminist activism. During this week, we met with Vinnie in the offices of Bust Magazine. Vinnie told us that he saw this idea as important for men as it was for women. “My hope is, that with the basic facts about a woman’s body, men can generate a greater respect and appreciation for women and their bodies.”

He wanted to publicly display his purpose, so he vowed to wear a red shirt with his logo on it every day for five years. (And he meant every day; he even had a red tuxedo jacket for special occasions.) Doing so brought his cause public. Who can ignore a man wearing a red tampon shirt? He did this to make himself and his cause visible and recognizable. He said that often men approach him excitedly and ask for a tampon case to take back to their girlfriends or wives.

Jennifer Woodcock, one of my friends and fellow Salem College student, went on the trip with me and took a tampon case home with her. She supports Vinnie’s cause wholeheartedly. “I’m a firm believer in the demystification of menstruation,” she said. She has a younger brother who she said would always make comments like “that’s disgusting” when their dad would return from the store with a box of tampons. “It’s not disgusting; it’s something that every women goes through,” she said. “It’s something that makes life possible. What’s disgusting about that?”

Vinnie aims to break the taboo surrounding menstruation. If you see him walking around New York City, ask him for a case; he gives them freely to anyone who asks (they are also available for purchase at various stores around the city and online-try Amazon or BustBoobtique.com).

The tampon case also comes with a calendar so women can keep track of their monthly cycle. And for those who don’t use tampons, the case is made to also hold pads and nontraditional menstrual products, such as the Keeper, a reusable latex cup that is worn internally in place of a tampon, or the Diva Cup, a silicone version of the Keeper.

Who says having a period is bad? Not Vinnie. And his tampon cases speak for a blacklisted topic.