Community Event "Pleats Club About Menstruation" Event Report

Murmo has launched the Pleats Club, a community hosted by the three brands, together with SISIFILLE, a brand that sells sanitary napkins and other items made from organic cotton, and Rinē, a lifestyle brand focused on absorbent shorts and bralettes.

As the first step, a real-life event was held on July 17, 2024, where participants shared their menstrual experiences and visualized and recorded the conversations using graphic recording.
This article provides a report on the event.

What is the Pleats Club?

This is a community that aims to help people who live with physical and mental fluctuations such as menstruation and menopause, and all those who interact with them, to live their daily lives more comfortably by sharing their stories.
In addition to in-person events, we also have an official Instagram account ( @pleatsclub ), so be sure to follow us!

"Pleats Club: Let's Talk About Folded Feelings About Menstruation" Report

The theme of the first event, held on the evening of July 17th at the gallery in Shimokitazawa BONUS TRACK, was "menstruation." As we deal with menstruation-related products and deal with menstruation on a daily basis, we chose this theme in the hope of inviting participants to talk about menstruation together.

In addition, as an attempt at this event, We invited graphic recorder Junko Shimizu to use graphic recording, which records the conversations at the event in real time using illustrations and text. We wanted to preserve and visualize the words spoken at the venue, rather than letting them simply flow by. (Graphic recording was a first for murmo, so we were really looking forward to it.)

First, there will be a talk session with representatives from the three hosting brands.
As developers of sanitary products, we ourselves are often asked the question, "What do you actually use?" In response, we introduced the types of sanitary products we usually use and how we spend our periods.
They shared ideas for combining their company's products with other items to make their lives more comfortable. When participants were asked about the sanitary products they currently use, the most popular was paper napkins. However, half of the respondents also said they use products made from natural materials, indicating their strong support for them.

By the way, Takashima, the representative of Murmo, talked about how she usually uses a menstrual cup in combination with thin absorbent shorts to make her period more comfortable.

The talk then expanded on questions submitted in advance by participants. The topic of the talk was what kind of mental and physical concerns women have about their periods, such as menstrual cramps and PMS (premenstrual syndrome), and whether they share these concerns with their partners and those around them. Cumi of SISIFILLE shared specific anecdotes, such as how, since her son was three years old, she has made it a habit to tell him, "Mom, I'm on my period right now, so I'm feeling a little irritable." Takashima, CEO of murmo, also shared how she has long told coworkers, both male and female, at work, "I'm not feeling too well because I'm on my period," and "I might look gloomy, but I'm not in a bad mood."
I realized once again that by telling those around me, such as my family and colleagues, about the discomfort I was experiencing due to my period, I was trying to avoid any misunderstandings.

The second half of the event moved to group sessions, where participants and organizers spoke in groups of a few people, building on the previous talks. They discussed various ways of dealing with menstruation, including ovulation pain and the use of the pill and Mirena as options for making periods more comfortable.

The talk event came to a close after each group presented their conversation and looked at the finished graphic credo.

After the event, participants were free to use sticky notes to write their comments and impressions on the graphic record. They added various comments, such as things they couldn't cover at the time, like "I felt awkward leaving sanitary napkin waste at my partner's house, even though I wasn't living with him, so I put it in a convenience store bag and took it home..." as well as topics they wanted to discuss in the future. Looking at the records, participants formed a circle and continued talking, naturally leading to an evening of endless conversation.

In the future, Pleats Club would like to continue to create a space where people can talk about their ``folded feelings'' that are still difficult to talk about, with the aim of helping each of us live comfortably.

For more details about the report, please see me and you little magazine ( https://meandyou.net/202408-pleatsclub/ ).

Future activities planned

The second in-person event is scheduled to be held in early November (@Shimokitazawa BONUS TRACK)!

The theme is "children." Life with and without children. It's something we inevitably face as we get older, but because people come from all different backgrounds and have all different values, it's a difficult topic to talk about honestly about our feelings and situations. That's why Pleats Club is creating an opportunity for people with and without children to come together and talk about this topic. For the second session, we've invited graphic recorder Junko Shimizu to continue the discussion by visualizing and recording the dialogue.

Additionally, the guest for the talk session will be writer Renna Hata, who is interested in the various lifestyles of women and continues to interview and write about themes such as self-care, beauty, and wellness in everyday life. Details of the event and applications will be posted on Pleats Club's Instagram ( @pleatsclub ) once preparations are complete, so we hope you will follow the account and keep up to date.

We look forward to your participation!