V&A Museum acquires Tampax Cup for Rapid Response Collecting

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has added the Tampax Cup, a silicone menstrual cup, to its Rapid Response Collecting initiative, launched in 2014 to document contemporary life. Assistant curator Alice Power explained that while menstrual cups are not new—American actress and inventor Leona Chalmers patented a rubber version in the 1930s—the acquisition addresses environmental concerns about single-use plastics and aims to break taboos around menstruation. The V&A's collections previously lacked explicit references to menstrual flow, with only indirect works like Elspeth Owen's Menopause Pot. Power noted that social taboos and the ephemeral nature of menstrual products have hindered collecting, but museums like the Science Museum and the new Museum of Vagina project are working to fill these gaps. The acquisition reflects a broader shift toward destigmatizing menstruation in cultural institutions.