I'd say, if they're old enough to menstruate, they're old enough to know about cups. I mean, they're already seeing pad and tampon ads, right?
Don't dumb it down too much, is my advice. Plain language is your friend.

i wholly agree with this.

I ordered the mag for my cousin. It's a great magazine, although she never read it. :-(

It would be appropriate to talk about menstrual cups. Most of the magazine is written by girls, but they also have stuff written by adults.

more info here: http://www.newmoon.org/magazine/adult_writer_guidelines.html

you can also see a sample of their magazine on the website.

I read the magazine when I was younger. I wish there had been an article about cups in it long ago! It would have saved me from 5+ years of using tampons!

Why just limit to just cups? Why not write an article comparing different forms of alternative products. I think any information or articles would be wondeful!! I wish I had known that there were alternatives when I was younger.

I loved that mag when I was younger! I agree with the person who said the article should be about all alt. menstrual products, because I know when I started my period I was really wary of like tampons and probably would have been wary of cups, too, so like cloth pads would have been more appealing (I think that for awhile, the New Moon store actually had a book about starting your period that came with a cloth pad or something, but I could be misremembering)

I would love to have known about cups when I was younger. Even though I didn't use tampons until I was in high school, I didn't learn about menstrual cups until a few years and it took me a while to get used to the idea. If I'd learned about them sooner from someone with a positive point of view I'd have started using them sooner! (i found a Keeper that my mom had when I was little and since she never used it very much she was just all "it's kinda gross", "blood everywhere when it spills", etc.)

One thing I would definitely keep in mind is that cups (and other alternative products) will probably be a lot harder for this age group to get on their own. Relatively few brick and mortar stores sell them (Boots in the UK being the notable exception); they may not be able to get to a Whole Foods or whatever higher-end specialty store is closest to them because they're too young to drive; and they're also unlikely to have their own credit cards that they can use to buy a cup online. There's also the reality that an eight or ten year might not have $20 or $30 to spend on menstrual products in the first place.

That's not to discourage you from writing the article at all. But I think it's likely that an adult will need to be involved in the buying process--and that may discourage some girls from considering them, especially if they feel uncomfortable with the topic or are unsure how to ask for something like this. Maybe include some tips on how to talk to their parents / guardians, or a FAQ of questions that adults will ask before considering this investment for their daughters?

Definitely definitely definitely mention how difficult it is at first with an intact hymen. At 18, never having had sex, it took me 6 months to get past the pain (I didn't even know where the hymen was, sad I know) and get my cup to work for me. Make it clear that it will be difficult, and may take a long time to get in the swing of things; but remind them that in the end it's awesome!

At least link some online resources (like here) so they can ask questions as they come along.

The article would be perfet since they're doing a coming of age issue.