There were a few conclusions I didn't agree with in this essay, but overall I thought it was good overview on the history of menstrual product advertising. It seems silly that there has been so...
There were a few conclusions I didn't agree with in this essay, but overall I thought it was good overview on the history of menstrual product advertising. It seems silly that there has been so much shame and secrecy surrounding something as normal as menstruating.
I've tried to raise my boys to think of period products as normal as condoms and toilet paper, and as each left the house, sending them off with a bin for their bathrooms (I can't believe how many men I've met who don't have a bin in the bathroom) and handful of products for any woman who may be having a period emergency at their place.
I didn't start out that way though. I was raised to think of it as disgusting thing. At my dad's house no products were to be kept in any communal space because he didn't want my brothers to see them. He wouldn't pay for them either. I'd get in trouble for using too much toilet paper or showering too often. He stopped hugging me. I've had boyfriends who wouldn't go near me during my period but would expect blowjobs. And I thought all of this was okay until I had an amazing lover who showed me that just because I was bleeding didn't mean I had to be left out of the enjoyment. He also showed me that men could actually buy period products without acting like the world would end if someone saw them with tampons or pads in their hands. What a difference!
I don't menstruate anymore and have no idea what young women go through today, but I hope that we're moving towards a time when menstruating is just another thing. Looking at some of the later ads posted in the essay, it seems like this might be the case.
I’m confused, the article seems to negatively judge the advertisements that painted menstrual products as a sanitary item. Is leaking blood and uterine tissue from an orifice not a sanitary issue?...
I’m confused, the article seems to negatively judge the advertisements that painted menstrual products as a sanitary item.
Is leaking blood and uterine tissue from an orifice not a sanitary issue? It’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of but you should certainly take care of yourself and you know, keep it clean.
I can see how that would be confusing! @eladnarra did a great job discussing how they think about the connotation of sanitary, but I'll add this definition of unsanitary from Merriam-Webster: If...
I can see how that would be confusing! @eladnarra did a great job discussing how they think about the connotation of sanitary, but I'll add this definition of unsanitary from Merriam-Webster:
unclean enough to endanger health
If you look at "sanitary" products in a larger picture, you'll also find douches, which are notorious for preying upon women's insecurities about their vagina. Though douches have long been used as contraception (not effective) advertisers of such products as Lysol, heavily targeted women to use their product not only as a contraceptive, but also as a way to keep them sanitary. Ads showed women being left by their husbands, being locked out of bedrooms, and being told that the their husbands wanted to be with them but they weren't doing enough down there to be shown love. Women were shown as single for the same reasons. For the record, douching is not recommended by doctors as it has been shown to cause harm. The vagina is perfectly capable of self cleaning, and the exterior can be taken care of in the shower without much fuss. Not doing so, even while menstruating, will allow odors to accumulate, but it won't endanger anyone's health.
Personally I don't begrudge anyone who uses the words 'sanitary product,' but I don't use it because of the history of body shaming surrounding a woman's vagina.
I think the author touches on that here: Sanitary has a particular connotation to me. It's often the opposite of really gross stuff that's a danger to your health, and you sanitize those things to...
I think the author touches on that here:
Periods were often viewed as dirty, thus the description of pads and tampons as “sanitary”.
Sanitary has a particular connotation to me. It's often the opposite of really gross stuff that's a danger to your health, and you sanitize those things to protect yourself. You sanitize potentially germy countertops after preparing meat, surfaces when someone is ill with certain infections, or the floor when a clogged toilet overflows.
When I think about period products, my main concerns are things like absorbency, if I'll feel dry enough, and the environmental impact. You could argue that absorbency is related to being sanitary, but I just need an ad to tell me how much flow a product can handle so I don't leak; I don't need an ad that implies I'm a walking biohazard if I accidentally do leak.
Generally speaking, your other waste products don't pose a risk to yourself yet we still think of them as "dirty", probably because interacting with someone else's excretions is gross and still...
Generally speaking, your other waste products don't pose a risk to yourself yet we still think of them as "dirty", probably because interacting with someone else's excretions is gross and still pose a disease transmission risk.
But we don't market toilet paper around this, we focus on other qualities similar to those you outlined for menstrual products. So it certainly does seem weird that tampons and pads get categorized as "sanitary products" but not toilet paper. I can see how that is off-putting.
Yeah, I was talking to my partner about this and they mentioned that - toilet paper is advertised for qualities like being absorbent, soft, saving you money because you use less sheets, and...
Yeah, I was talking to my partner about this and they mentioned that - toilet paper is advertised for qualities like being absorbent, soft, saving you money because you use less sheets, and sometimes for being recycled.
Obviously the aim is to not bleed all over the place, but accidents happen, particularly when you're younger and getting used to things (and often still irregular). So putting a huge focus on not...
Obviously the aim is to not bleed all over the place, but accidents happen, particularly when you're younger and getting used to things (and often still irregular). So putting a huge focus on not letting anything show and being "clean" will make kids feel ashamed or gross.
It's not really analogous to things like taking showers, using deodorant, and washing hands after using the toilet, all things we (hopefully) do to stay "clean" - none of these things are ever a surprise in the middle of math class, three days earlier than expected. A kid in that situation isn't unclean, just unprepared.
There has been very little obsession in advertising to the odors of man's penis and scrotum. Your wife wasn't going to leave you and you weren't going to stay single because you didn't do more...
There has been very little obsession in advertising to the odors of man's penis and scrotum. Your wife wasn't going to leave you and you weren't going to stay single because you didn't do more than the basics for your genitalia. Even jock itch (which can be transferred to your partner) ads were portrayed as a manly infection and addressed a man's stubbornness and discomfort. If a woman was in the ad it was to encourage her husband to use it for his own comfort.
The obsession with women's cleanliness went beyond our genitalia. We were inundated with ads that not only addressed every part of our body, but the cleanliness of our houses, of our children, and and of our families clothing. A man was responsible for his hair and armpits, and women for everything else, and advertising told women they were judged for it.
There were a few conclusions I didn't agree with in this essay, but overall I thought it was good overview on the history of menstrual product advertising. It seems silly that there has been so much shame and secrecy surrounding something as normal as menstruating.
I've tried to raise my boys to think of period products as normal as condoms and toilet paper, and as each left the house, sending them off with a bin for their bathrooms (I can't believe how many men I've met who don't have a bin in the bathroom) and handful of products for any woman who may be having a period emergency at their place.
I didn't start out that way though. I was raised to think of it as disgusting thing. At my dad's house no products were to be kept in any communal space because he didn't want my brothers to see them. He wouldn't pay for them either. I'd get in trouble for using too much toilet paper or showering too often. He stopped hugging me. I've had boyfriends who wouldn't go near me during my period but would expect blowjobs. And I thought all of this was okay until I had an amazing lover who showed me that just because I was bleeding didn't mean I had to be left out of the enjoyment. He also showed me that men could actually buy period products without acting like the world would end if someone saw them with tampons or pads in their hands. What a difference!
I don't menstruate anymore and have no idea what young women go through today, but I hope that we're moving towards a time when menstruating is just another thing. Looking at some of the later ads posted in the essay, it seems like this might be the case.
I’m confused, the article seems to negatively judge the advertisements that painted menstrual products as a sanitary item.
Is leaking blood and uterine tissue from an orifice not a sanitary issue? It’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of but you should certainly take care of yourself and you know, keep it clean.
I can see how that would be confusing! @eladnarra did a great job discussing how they think about the connotation of sanitary, but I'll add this definition of unsanitary from Merriam-Webster:
If you look at "sanitary" products in a larger picture, you'll also find douches, which are notorious for preying upon women's insecurities about their vagina. Though douches have long been used as contraception (not effective) advertisers of such products as Lysol, heavily targeted women to use their product not only as a contraceptive, but also as a way to keep them sanitary. Ads showed women being left by their husbands, being locked out of bedrooms, and being told that the their husbands wanted to be with them but they weren't doing enough down there to be shown love. Women were shown as single for the same reasons. For the record, douching is not recommended by doctors as it has been shown to cause harm. The vagina is perfectly capable of self cleaning, and the exterior can be taken care of in the shower without much fuss. Not doing so, even while menstruating, will allow odors to accumulate, but it won't endanger anyone's health.
Personally I don't begrudge anyone who uses the words 'sanitary product,' but I don't use it because of the history of body shaming surrounding a woman's vagina.
I think the author touches on that here:
Sanitary has a particular connotation to me. It's often the opposite of really gross stuff that's a danger to your health, and you sanitize those things to protect yourself. You sanitize potentially germy countertops after preparing meat, surfaces when someone is ill with certain infections, or the floor when a clogged toilet overflows.
When I think about period products, my main concerns are things like absorbency, if I'll feel dry enough, and the environmental impact. You could argue that absorbency is related to being sanitary, but I just need an ad to tell me how much flow a product can handle so I don't leak; I don't need an ad that implies I'm a walking biohazard if I accidentally do leak.
Generally speaking, your other waste products don't pose a risk to yourself yet we still think of them as "dirty", probably because interacting with someone else's excretions is gross and still pose a disease transmission risk.
But we don't market toilet paper around this, we focus on other qualities similar to those you outlined for menstrual products. So it certainly does seem weird that tampons and pads get categorized as "sanitary products" but not toilet paper. I can see how that is off-putting.
Yeah, I was talking to my partner about this and they mentioned that - toilet paper is advertised for qualities like being absorbent, soft, saving you money because you use less sheets, and sometimes for being recycled.
It also criticizes the obsession with woman cleanliness. But isn't being clean a good thing, and aren't men also expected to be clean?
Obviously the aim is to not bleed all over the place, but accidents happen, particularly when you're younger and getting used to things (and often still irregular). So putting a huge focus on not letting anything show and being "clean" will make kids feel ashamed or gross.
It's not really analogous to things like taking showers, using deodorant, and washing hands after using the toilet, all things we (hopefully) do to stay "clean" - none of these things are ever a surprise in the middle of math class, three days earlier than expected. A kid in that situation isn't unclean, just unprepared.
Of course, I understand that. The article probably should have explained that.
There has been very little obsession in advertising to the odors of man's penis and scrotum. Your wife wasn't going to leave you and you weren't going to stay single because you didn't do more than the basics for your genitalia. Even jock itch (which can be transferred to your partner) ads were portrayed as a manly infection and addressed a man's stubbornness and discomfort. If a woman was in the ad it was to encourage her husband to use it for his own comfort.
The obsession with women's cleanliness went beyond our genitalia. We were inundated with ads that not only addressed every part of our body, but the cleanliness of our houses, of our children, and and of our families clothing. A man was responsible for his hair and armpits, and women for everything else, and advertising told women they were judged for it.
Yes, of course, I understand. Maybe the article could have elaborated a bit more on that.