Just wondered what you all thought of the new Tampax advert 'Outsmart Mother Nature'. I had seen full page spreads in magazines with the strapline "Mother Nature calls it your 'monthly gift', but your period is more like a curse" so checked out the website. The video - aimed at young girls/women - reminds us how Mother Nature created all the lovely things in the world, plus all the natural disasters/sinking of the Titanic/your period. Strong emphasis on how your period 'ruins' your life, stops you from doing everyday things, and don't forget that resistance is futile! And if you get on her bad side, she might ruin your wedding!
What a cheerful message to be sending to women, and young girls everywhere! I know that Tampax are in the business of making you feel ashamed ("help keep mother nature under wraps") and resentful towards your period, but this still surprised me!
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It should say outsmarting God, because I'm sure painful periods were part of the original sin package, but He was too embarrassed to say anything about it.
I don't mind this marketing at all. There are many women who DO suffer a lot from their periods, and they are targeting those women. People who tell me I should love my period because its a feminine gift from mother nature annoy me more. Each person can feel differently about their own period; tampax is offering options to those who have problems with it, not telling everyone they should hate it.
I agree with you...I have the worst periods ever...so yea...my period does feel exactly like a curse! I definitely don't see it as a gift. I don't see an issue with telling teens and pre-teens (who probably don't have theirs yet) about my hellish experiences...I'm not about to lie and be like "oh it's such a wonderful gift"...blech
But Tampax isn't marketing something for problem periods. They're target audience is the majority of women who don't have unusually heavy flows or extremely painful cramps. Tampax is making average women's periods, which are normal and natural, something that women should hate. And equating it with natural disasters doesn't help anything.
See, there's that "should" (well, I'm assuming you meant "should NOT hate" or else your post makes no sense). Why do people tell me how I SHOULD feel about my period? I can have a "normal" period and still hate it. Its a pain even if you only have normal bleeding and light or no cramps. Try telling me with a straight face that it is not in any way at all a hassle or annoyance to have blood leaking out of you uncontrollably for several days. Tampons are a tool that make this slightly less of a hassle. You don't have to use them-- if you honestly don't mind your period at all, then that's great, you can ignore their ads. They are trying to get the attention of the women (most likely the majority of women) who ARE irritated by their periods.
Now I could see how people might get offended if they were marketing based on something completely unrelated to your period, like "men will like you better if you use tampons" or "tampons will help you get higher SAT scores because you won't be distracted by worrying if the person behind you can see your pad," but "tampons help you manage a symptom ranging from an annoyance to a real disaster that biology forces you to put up with" makes perfectly good sense.
They're making the period out to be more than it is, like a natural disaster. I don't particularly like my period, but I wouldn't equate even my crampiest periods to the sinking of a Titanic or an earthquake. That's excessive, in my opinion. I don't think anyone should feel a particular way about one's period, since it's different for everyone. But Tampax is saying that periods are something that the majority of women do and should hate, and I don't think that's the case.
Oh, and natural disasters are normal and natural too.
I looked at the site a little bit and didn't see anything suggesting that we should be ashamed of our periods. I don't think anyone should be ashamed of their periods. I don't like that we live in a culture where a lot of girls feel awkward buying tampons.
All I saw was a website talking about how much periods suck. And they really, really do. Maybe yours makes you feel nice, but mine are miserable to mildly bad, and even when they're mild, I still hate them. My period has gotten in the way of my sex life, destroyed very nice pairs of underwear, and forced me to spend time carrying around tampons and checking for leaks. And when it's miserable, it's resulted in me popping a bunch of pain killers, feeling like shit, and even throwing up. It's a pain in the ass, and most women, even women with fairly light, PMS-free periods, don't enjoy them.
And that's fine. Because it's really hypocritical to complain that a tampon ad is telling women to dislike their periods while you're telling women we should all love our periods.
And no, a period is not a natural disaster. This is what we call hyperbole. Stop trying to spin it into something offensive.
Show me where I said anyone should feel happy about their periods. I'm saying that not everyone feels miserable. Tampax is marketing a product towards the majority of women, and the majority of women don't have the same experiences you do with your period. However, Tampax is still telling all women to view their periods negatively.
Oh, and don't tell me what to do. I can interpret anything in any way I want, thank you very much.
A majority of women have never had their period get in the way of sex, ruined a pair of underwear, had to carry around tampons, or had cramps? Maybe if you're talking only about females under 8.
I'm not sure why you're arguing about this so much. It doesn't make sense to claim a majority of women don't have the symptoms Tampax is trying to help with, but even if it were true, why shouldn't they produce and market something to help the people who DO have that problem? When you see an ad for medication for high blood pressure do you get offended because you don't have high blood pressure?
Not everyone feels miserable, but even women who don't have miserable periods usually don't like their periods. And the women who feel miserable are more likely to be looking for new ways to deal with their periods, so it makes sense to market to them.
Fine, go ahead. If you like, you can completely overreact to a harmless exaggeration. You are free to interpret anything however you like. That doesn't mean you're right.
I think I'm going to have to start referring to my period as my natural disaster. It entertains me.
Maybe you didn't say that women should all love their periods, but you're complaining that an ad is talking about how much periods suck. Why can't you accept that as a valid viewpoint? We're allowed to hate our periods but we can't talk about it?
Do you also have a problem with Have A Happy Period?
I have TERRIBLE periods, and they have affected my life in many, many, many ways. Left unmedicated, they are heavy, PAINFUL, sporadic, cause me to swell up like a balloon. Worst of all, I have severe PMDD and have felt complete and utter hopeless, despair, anxiety, and self loathing before my periods for most of my life.
So yes, having my period could definitely ruin my vacation, and I definitely wish I could out-smart mother nature. But Tampax are only going to solve a very tiny portion of the problem. This has been the main problem with how we treat menstruation in our culture- just cover up the bleeding and it's like it never happened!
Rather than just discretely stopping up the bleeding, our culture needs to ADDRESS AND UNDERSTAND the entire physiology of the female reproductive system. In 2008, there is still a lack of medical knowledge regarding things like PCOS and PMDD and doctors STILL brush off these problems that are affecting large portions of the female population every single month of their lives. Just stick a tampon in it! If you can't see the bleeding, the suicidal tendencies don't matter!
In our culture, the approach to dealing with periods is "ssshh...stick a tampon in it and no one has to know...just go on with your daily life..." The problem is that some of us CAN'T go on with our daily lives. Having severe physical or metal period symptoms is not seen as an excuse to stay home from work or school. And people don't UNDERSTAND PMDD at all- I've tried to explain why I act a certain a way to family, friends, and boyfriend over and over again, but it never seems to take hold. I gave my last boyfriend an excellent book on PMDD with testimonials to read so he might understand why I get so emotional and make no sense. He didn't read it- he didn't like to think about yucky periods.
You can't talk about "female" problems. I cry before my period for absolutely NO REASON, and I've sat in my office with tears running down my face for no reason. But how do you explain that to a colleague? If you left work "sick" every month because the pain was too bad to sit up, how do you think you be perceived?
For some reason period-related problems are not seen as medical problems. Men and many women seem to think all women experience periods the same way, and some people forget we have them all. In our culture it's viewed as small hygiene problem that is quickly and discretely covered up with a tampon or maxi pad. But Tampax isn't enough to fool mother nature.
At first I was a little taken back by the ad, but I reread the page in the Cosmo (doing critical analysis for class)and on second thought I didn't find it offensive at all.
Sometimes I don't mind having my period at all and it's just one more thing I have to "do" at the time.
Other times, I get pissy and annoyed that I'm heavy this week or what have you...
So I have mixed feelings; so must everyone else - and I do know lots of women who have tons of weird reproductive problems - so I think its appealing to just one emotion about periods.
But I guess you could take this ad any way you wanted to.
I understand where you are coming from, but when I explored the site a little more- I don't have time to look at the whole thing very closely right now- I got the feeling that they are saying it might *feel* like mother nature is going to ruin your life, but you can do something about it. I think it is affirming agency and having options. I agree with you Terabithia, I HATE when people tell me or imply that I should celebrate my period. It is biology. Just like I don't want to let happiness or self-esteem hinge on my breasts or my weight or my hair, I don't think we need this biological process is something that needs to make me feel glad to be a woman. For me, my period can involve heavy and unpredictable bleeding along with painful cramps. I do what to "outsmart mother nature".
Yesterday I was talking to my doctor (a man who i am so lucky to be able to go to and I think is most likely a self-identified feminist) about my birth control and going on Seasonale. He said that its not a natural thing to bleed once a month, its just what we do when we are not pregnant almost all of the time. And this is my view and I don't think I am medicalized a natural part of myself, anymore than I do when I take medicine to treat a headache or stretch to improve my flexibility.
Finally, I really like this page of that website: http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/articledetail.jsp?ContentId=ART12744
It is non-judgmental acknowledgment that sweating, cramps, leaks, pimples, etc happen, and that chances are everyone you see has these issues, and here are some ways to effectively deal with them so that you can feel good and be the woman you are most comfortable with. I guess I am comfortable with comparing menstruation with sweating - biological, nondisordered, manageable, universal.
OK so I just clicked "liked" on your comment but then I went and looked at the part of the website you mentioned.
It reminded me very much of this post featuring Disney's "story of menstruation"!
In that a girl's first duty is to pull herself together and look nice. Because if you stand up straight, powder over the tear-stains and smile, you'll feel better. Because nobody likes a sad girl.
I agree that acknowledging that sweating, cramps, leaks, pimples, etc happen is a good thing, but it's not non-judgmental. You know what? People do sweat differently, some people do get acne badly while others don't, and I have certainly tried plenty of hair products (not based on the way they smell) over the last 15-odd years before coming to terms with the fact that my hair is the way it is, and whatever it is, it's certainly not "bouncy", and that that's OK!
I don't think it's progressive to tell girls to go buy deodorant. I think they're being told that all the time. Ditto sprinting to the makeup isle when a pimple turns up. Perhaps bouncy-haired supergirl is beautiful because she's confident and doesn't panic at the first pimple?
I really disliked the site you linked to and am kind of surprised that you liked it. It gives girls the same message that they get everywhere from every other cosmetic company trying to sell them a product and the message is: Our current definition of "beauty" is something that is desirable and girls who conform to that "beauty ideal" are to be admired and you should strive to be like them. Then it promises you that if you "try hard enough" you too can conform to that ideal. Of course, that means going out and purchasing numerous products. Pimples, sweat, natural hair= bad, but you can pay for products to fix yourself. Of course, this ignores the fact that many of these "flaws", such as pimples, are hormonal (especially for teenagers) and girls can spend tons of money, time and energy trying to look like those "other girls" in vain. Ugh. Tampon companies need to stop disguising their product pushing as giving girls "advice". The beauty industry exists not because women are told they can not obtain some fictional ideal but becuase they are told that if they pour enough time and energy into it they can.
i don't think we should be shamed about our periods as some dirty, icky biological marker of our inferiority that we need to pretend doesn't exist.
however, treating periods like a curse sounds fairly apt to me. count me in the "please don't tell me to celebrate my magical uterus bleeding time" camp. it does not make me special. it does not make me in touch with my femininity. it makes me crampy, nauseous and bloated and worrying about leakage. if i could flip a switch and never have another period again i would do it in a heartbeat.
Isn't there a happy medium between loving everything there is about your period and treating it like a curse? I don't particularly like my period, but it happens every month and I deal with it. At least it's more predictable than diarrhea, and you don't see commercials telling you to hate your asshole.
I suspect people who have uncontrollable diarrhea do in fact hate that they have it.
Of course, as do people with unusually painful or heavy periods. But that's not what most, if any, feminine hygiene companies are talking about. They make all periods, which every woman goes through, out to be something horrible for every woman. They want to convince me, someone who has a normal-heavy flow and horrific cramps a few times a year but overall pretty average period, to hate my period. They say, "Your period sucks. Use this product to make it all better." Well, what if your period doesn't suck? Then the feminine hygiene company just told you that you're wrong. It's like how the fashion industry tries to make you feel fat and ugly to sell more stuff.
1st, I don't agree that "most" women are perfectly fine with their periods. But even if that's true, I don't understand your point. If you're a woman who doesn't mind her period, the ad didn't tell you that you're wrong, the ad is irrelevent to you. If I see an ad for sleeping medicine and think "well, occasionally I do have trouble sleeping, but I don't really mind and I don't think I want a medicine for it" should I get offended that the ad is telling me I'm WRONG and start ranting about how its perfectly natural to have trouble sleeping sometimes? Doesn't that tell people who DO have serious trouble sleeping that THEY are wrong, just as much?
i'm with you. i don't think my period is a gift by any means, but i don't hate it either. it's there. i don't think this is the worst ad ever, but ads for tampons and pads in general annoy me, because they always seem to act like ones period is so icky and so embarassing. it's blood. get over it. don't try and make me feel gross.
you might have a nice period, or maybe your period is a fucking hell, but damnit, i'm not fucking gross because of it. don't put me there.
Yes, and I think that's the difference between advertisements and the mass opinion of menstruation compared to diarrhea (or any other naturally occurring bodily function). Women are taught to feel gross or inferior or unhealthy because of their periods, but we're not taught to feel that way about pooping. Regular menstruation is a sign of health for women (although no menstruation or irregular menstruation isn't necessarily a symptom of anything).
Are you kidding? Talking about pooping is much more taboo than talking about having your period. People always say things like "I'm going to the bathroom" and its considered disgusting to talk about the details. And that's just normal pooping, let alone diarhea! I don't know who you're hanging out with that your period is considered more disgusting than uncontrollable diahrrea.
Consider which you're more likely to overhear: "I'm going to go do some pooping now" or "I'm having horrible cramps today."
I'm not hanging out with anyone who thinks periods or pooping are disgusting. Then again, I don't hang out with anyone who's that repressed like the rest of the world. But when it comes to society's perception of bodily functions or companies advertising healthcare products, I see much more contempt for periods than for diarrhea.
I'm not likely to overhear either. But I am likely to be told both by loved ones, since that's who you normally talk to about those kinds of things.
i'm kind of tempted to ask who you hang out with that finds pooping so taboo... i could go on about how people speak of pooping as much as periods in my experience, but that's just it - you've clearly had a different experience. i don't have the energy to pick this stuff apart with you. i just want ads not to act like it's gross and embarrassing to have a period. it's not.
I was talking more about public comments- I DO hear people mention cramps in front of almost anyone, I do not hear people mention the details of their bathroom trip in front of random people. Of course most people talk openly about almost everything with anyone they've lived with for awhile.
I don't see ads saying its embarassing or gross (at least not any more gross than any other bodily function, which are all arguably somewhat gross, depending on your definition of gross). I do see ads saying that if you don't like the inconveniences and pain of your period, there are products to help with it. I'm not sure why that is offending people so much.
How is someone telling me I should celebrate my period any different from someone telling me I should celebrate a pregnancy and not consider an abortion? If I don't like my period and want to use tampons or take a pill to deal with it, there is nothing wrong with that. I see nothing offensive in advertising these products (its not like they're forcing anyone to use them!) but I do see something offensive in telling me how I should view my period. Its great if you like yours but a very significant number of women do not, and its ridiculous to claim they SHOULD like their periods.
Thanks for clarifying, but I don't really understand why this is a reply to my comment -
I never claimed that women should like their periods. Or not like them. I said they are not gross and the we shouldn't feel ashamed to have them. Liking them or not is a whole other idea.
I'm viewing on the threaded view-- its a reply here because the top part is a reply to your comment and the rest is a reply to this bit of the thread in general.
Speaking of, it would be nice if the box for typing comments appeared near the comment you were replying to, so you could still see it. And posting comments here is agonizingly slow.
I'm viewing on the threaded view-- its a reply here because the top part is a reply to your comment and the rest is a reply to this bit of the thread in general.
Speaking of, it would be nice if the box for typing comments appeared near the comment you were replying to, so you could still see it. And posting comments here is agonizingly slow.
See there, again, the top part is in reply to you and the rest is just generally for everyone. Its already so slow that I'm not going to unncessecarily type separate comments.
i dont know about anyone else... but my period is a curse. And since I'm currently experiencing it right now I can safely say that Yes, it does keep me from doing everyday things. I hate it.
why can't we just see having our period as a reason to take a breather? You can't fight nature(without causing a disaster) as time has told us, and despite weather or not anyone plans on having children, it IS a primary biological goal for our bodies to reproduce. I think having yr period should be a valid sick leave from work/school, no questions asked.
How would that work in society though? How can men and women be viewed as equal in the workplace if women get 5-7 days off every month and men don't?
I think I heard once that they do that somewhere... Japan, maybe? Its an interesting idea and I'm not necessarily saying its wrong, but I do wonder what other effects it would have in terms of gender equality.
Nope, not here, or I'd be taking time off right now. I believe it was an auto-manufacturing plant in Japan though.
By the way, count me amongst those that consider it a curse. I'll understand though if it sounds less definitive coming from a (trans) guy though. :P
I completely agree. In the book The Body Project, the author discusses how in the Victorian era, women were expected to rest and relax while they had their periods, but with mass production of "feminine hygiene" products, we have been expected to cover up and carry on, no matter how bad we feel. Some lucky people have no problems with their periods, and I wish I were one of them. But for the rest of us, covering up and carrying on is not so easy. Because of the way feminine "hygiene" products are marketed, there is a lack of understanding of women's health issues among men and women who don't experience difficulties.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of tampons. They aren't comfortable for me, they often chafe when I move around. Usually I use pads. But if I do need to go swimming or something, its great to have tampons around. They definitely DO help you do everyday things. (I also use them when I sleep since they don't bother me when I'm unconcious and then I dont' wake up in the middle of the night worrying about leakage.)
My favorite is still, and will always be, the pad commercial that has a pad rep in the aisle talking to a customer about scented pads.
"Feminine odor," she says. "Nobody likes it."
Disclaimer: I'm in the moon-goddess-hippie-hoohah camp. But it's simpler for me because, other than some water retention and cramping, my period isn't bad.
So. I dislike feminine product commercials for things like scented pads and vaginal sprays for the reason that these products are often harmful and exist to make women feel bad about their vaginas. If you actually smell bad, you have a problem. If you smell normal, there's nothing wrong and you don't need to put your vagina off-balance by spraying it.
The new Tampax commercials are clever, though. I like that they're speaking to heavy bleeding--the women are usually wearing white or something skimpy and tell Mother Nature to buzz off because they don't need a liner, etc. So I see it as a product being advertised as something to help women live their lives normally without worrying about leakage.
It sounds like I am in the minority on here, but I do celebrate my period. I am not some stereotypical hippy who applauds everything in nature simply because it is nature. But, for me, my period does make me feel like more of a woman because, come on, it really is something that happens only to women.
I am not one of those people who has a barely noticeable like-clockwork period. I get 8 solid days of heavy heavy bleeding with horrible cramps that make me have to lie down with a heating pad on my tummy and my knees up by my ears. So, with my whole "celebrating my period comment", I am not saying there isn't anything wrong with trying to make it more bearable. For me, celebrating it and also trying to cope with it are not mutually exclusive.
My problem with this ad is not that it is branding a period as possibly being problematic, it is that most of the "problems" it outlines are about image....oh god, you might stain your clothes and someone might actually find out you have a period (which almost all healthy teenage and adult women get -there are exceptions of course). It talks about the period as though it's biggest curse is that it is an embarrassment. There was nothing in the ad that made me want to buy Tampax because I have never had problems with pads and they didn't say that Tampax would magically get rid of my cramps and heavy bleeding. They were saying that Tampax would protect my image.
I'm totally with you Sherashi. I've always suffered from heavy bleeding and intense cramps, but the idea that society says that one's period is a curse comes from patriarchy's oppression of the feminine mysteries and that bothers me more than my monthly cramps. My mother made a point of making my sisters and me feel like something special had happened to us when we had our first periods, and she would never consider herself a feminist, let alone a Goddess worshipping tree hugger like myself.
It's funny that this article was posted today. Just before I pulled up this website, I got out my book, The Wise Wound and decided that I would finally start reading it today, since I started my period today. I decided that I would read this book every month during my period in order to help make it a more positive experience for myself. There are many ways in which we can honor ourselves during this time, and we do not have to ignore the fact that it can be uncomfortable and painful and oftentimes miserable. We should acknowledge the way we feel, without feeling bad about having these feelings and experiences. We should be able to feel like shit, cry, eat too much, or go swimming, or play tennis or whatever. We just shouldn't be made to feel "other" or embarrassed by the culture at large for experiencing a totally natural phenomenon, and this is what most feminine product advertising does, Tampax included.
I have always felt passionately about this subject. As a young woman, being told by boys that I must be experiencing P.M.S. always pissed me off. I've never had P.M.S. and I tend to believe that it is a socially constructed disorder. That's not meant to invalidate women who DO experience it, I'm just saying that I don't believe it is a wholly natural phenomenon. There've been studies done which shows this. I believe that it's just another patriarchal construct to keep women down. If men had periods, it would probably be seen as a source of strength, virility, and manhood.
Anyway, I totally understand everyone's perspectives on this issue. We've grown up to believe that periods are dirty and shameful, usually implicitly, but often explicitly. I just wish that more women would honor themselves during this time. Take this time to be introspective and listen to your intuition. Feel the rhythm of your body and honor yourself and your mother and all the women who came before you, who bled and gave birth so that you might join in the cycle. Stop metaphorically banishing yourself to the red tent.
Well I can certainly recall several incidents where my partner's menses was a very welcome event indeed.
OTOH, like some of the posters in here, I've had lovers who have had very difficult periods because of debilitating cramps and even severe mood-swings.
I really hate my period too, I've got Endometriosis, so I definitely don't see my period as some "wonderful gift", more like the exact opposite...However, I also hate Tampax and the whole period product industry and I generally hate all their advertising. Mainly for convincing women that we "need" to buy their products simply because we are women and we bleed each month...Oh and we should also be ashamed and feel dirty because we're women and we have periods. I switched to reusables about 5 years ago and someone couldn't pay me to go back to using disposables. I also feel good about not giving them anymore of my money and thereby contributing to their "period shaming" advertising. But mainly it's my body that is much happier without their products (I'm sure the planet is too), I swear, my pain levels went down after I switched! It's the strangest thing, but I've heard this from other people too, so I guess I'm not the only one....Hehe, I'm into conspiracy theories, so I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that the same company that owns Tampax (or kotex or whoever) also own Midol and Advil and Tylenol etc.
This is the first I have heard of reusables. Where can you get them? Can you tell me anything else about them?
...she might be talking about the divacup
that's the only reusable that I know of
www.divacup.com :)
lunapads.com or gladrags.com have reusable pads, panties, and cups. I have used the DivaCup for 3 years and LOVE IT! It is the best way to get through a 12 hour day of bus driving with only a tiny toilet in the back of the coach to use. I back it up with a lunapanty. It is economical, environmental, and believe it or not a whole lot cleaner!
I despise this commercial. I used to loathe my period and would suffer debilitating cramps. Though I'm still not in love with my period, I can respect it and rejoice in my woman-ness. Read "Cunt" for a perspective on the power of your moon. Soon after reading I decided I wouldn't have cramps anymore, call me woo-woo but I've only had a slight cramps a couple times in 3 years - sometimes it is in our mind.
I despise the constant messaging of woman's menses as only negative, dirty, and defective.
How do you get on the "bad side" of an unintelligent, naturally occurring bodily function? I'm not entirely sure I follow that line of logic. And was it just me, or did the actor seem a little awkward in her role as "nasty mother nature period causing monster person"?
mooncup is the only reuseable i know of.
as for the commercial... i think there's two things going on here. one is the encouragement of self hate in the form of hateing our periods and feeling as if we are cursed... terminology which come directly from biblical and patriarical texts about the expultion from eden. litterally god cursed eve with blood and pain and to have pain in child birth for giving the fruit of knowledge to adam. do i think every woman should love their period and embrace it and sing songs to the goddess in thanks of her womanhood? no. because i don't think that's the right way to go for most women. but i do think we should treat it as simple biological fact and not a mark of shame. the other thing i see going on is a debate over whether we should or can controll our bodies. now, most of the debate is outside us but it comes from the same place as the debate over all reproductive health rights. we tempted adam and so we were cursed, and the bible tells us women to cleave to our husbands (or in place of them father/uncle/brother) and do what we are told because us women can't deal with the big decisions, and so on. do i find this add offensive in and of itsef? not really. but the place the idea comes from? oh yes. very much so.
I'm torn. Admittedly, I don't like bleedin' once a month. Its inconvenient. I'd rather not have to deal with it. However, since year round BC makes me CRAZY its my only choice. I deal with it grudgingly. Not because its dirty or wrong or OMG HORRIBLE, but because I see it as unnecessary. I'd just rather not have to deal with it. I'm not even irregular or prone to any of the nasty cramps associated with it.
Then again, I feel the same way about having to go to the bathroom. I'd rather not have to do that either.
I also HATE commercials produced by companies like tampax. Well, and the general "oh gross" attitude. Is my papercut gross because its bleeding? No. Neither is ~mother natures gift~.
i'm kind of tempted to ask who you hang out with that finds pooping so taboo... i could go on about how people speak of pooping as much as periods in my experience, but that's just it - you've clearly had a different experience. i don't have the energy to pick this stuff apart with you. i just want ads not to act like it's gross and embarrassing to have a period. it's not.
i apologize for the double-post, all.
Ok, here's a question for everyone. How exactly do you think they SHOULD advertise tampons?
Or, do you think they shouldn't make/advertise tampons at all? If you think that, then you are really getting into imposing your beliefs on other people's lives, so I'm assuming that no one here really wants to make tampons unavailable. Given that they are going to be made and marketed, how would you like them to do it?
I would prefer a commercial with less of the gimicky stuff that focused soley on what the product does and is and why I should purchase it as opposed to another product.
I'm a staunch feminist and a period-hater. This has nothing to do with my self respect or my comfort living as a woman. I do not celebrate my period, but I certainly won't try to convince you that YOU shouldn't celebrate yours. I do not seek to make period-lovers into period-haters or extoll the virtues of hating your period, nor have I ever seen anyone else do attempt it, yet the converse seems to happen EVERY TIME the subject gets brought up.
I do not understand why period-lovers feel the need to preach the period-gospel and spread the word to the infidels. Frankly I can do without it and I get the feeling that most of the other puking, cramping, diarrhea-having period-haters could too.
Umm...I don't know how many commercials I have seen telling me how horrible and embarassing my period is. Not only that, but some movies make periods out to be disgusting. (Superbad) Many guys are completley grossed out by the topic. When I was in school I had to hide my tampons in my waist band when I left for the bathroom and tampons now come in very tiny sizes so that girls can conceal them. I can't help but feel that if men got periods and women didn't that they would be celebrated and on display in some way. I don't like my period but it isn't a big deal to me.
I don't see how everyone is missing the bigger picture here. Tampax is marketing an unhealthy, unnecessary product, using shame and "social standards" as ways to make girls buy its shit. No one should every be giving tampax a dime of their dollar. No matter how expensive, or "inconvenient" alternative menstrual care may be, oooh, guess whats more inconvenient? Cancer. BV. UTI's. PID. I definitely would never consider my period a curse. No matter how painful it is, its still a normal, healthy body function. Its a sign that yr body is working properly. It (generally) means that yr not pregnant(and I don't think I ever want to have children, so its nice to know when I'm not pregnant, without having to take creepy hormones that fuck up my body). BUT, on the flip side, having a healthy period is part of the living a healthy life style package. Periods are completely manageable thru natural, independent means, and supporting huge, soulless, misogynistic corporations such as tampax, whom capitalize off shoving bleach and dioxin up girls vagina's and telling them that a period is shameful.
Tampax is marketing an "unhealthy" product? Really? What exactly about it is unhealthy? Where is your evidence for that?
Here is a short bit about some of the issues with tampons, including dioxin (a byproduct of the bleaching process used to give you *white* cotton.
http://www.womenshealth.org/a/dioxin_tampons.htm
The FDA says that the levels of dioxin found in tampons is within the acceptable threshold for a person to absorb. But it doesn't use any variables that have to do with women, and the type of tissue touching the substance (ie, highly absorbent mucous membranes).
Also, the unhealthiness of ALL tampons (even the unbleached cotton ones) includes the way that they absorb so much: they suck all of the important moisture; those fluids are what help to flush out bacteria and other potential illnesses. The concentration of moisture on the high-area surface of the tampon then provides a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. (Thus the higher risk of TSS). (Somne discussion here at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampon)
I also found this: very interesting:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/18/health/webmd/main3272324.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_3272324
(Sorry about the long links-- can anyone tell me how to make them into a word cue?)
Oh god, do some research. I use tampons and will likely continue to, but there are health risks.
I've been using tampons for years. I've never had any health problems. I've never even had a UTI. I use them because they're comfortable and convenient. Most of the tampon ads I've seen have tried to sell them based on that. ("So comfortable you can't even feel them!")
Let me decide for myself what counts as "unnecessary." If I were forced to go through a period without tampons I would probably kill something.
I wouldn't say they're in the business of making you feel ashamed. I mean, no matter how proud you are of it, you still need tampons. And.. well... my period sucks. A lot. And I've had a lot of embarrassing experiences involving it. SO acknowledging that it can suck is hardly offensive to me. Or maybe Im missing something?
I don't see any problem with hating your period. For me, it's just one more thing to deal with. (I'm seriously thinking about getting a diva cup so I don't have to change my tampon *every* time I use the restroom.) I've seen the ad. It's hanging in my dorm. It wasn't put up by me, but I see no reason to take it down. It didn't make me feel ashamed of my period. In fact, most of my suite mates found it relatable.
As for periods? They're subjective. You can either love them or hate them. But all of us live with them.
Get the Diva cup. It will change your life for the better.
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i used to really hate my period because i would have intense cramps (crying in pain on the floor at school is not my favorite experience), but since i've stopped taking medication for them the cramps have gotten better on their own.
The first feminist book i read was Cunt, so i've started to appreciate my period a lot more. PMS gave me the strength to make the decision to take a self-imposed siesta from school (which was making me unhappy).
i don't agree with Tampax saying that the period is a curse because it's pretty much saying that having a uterus is something to be ashamed of, and that your life would be better without one. Ya know, like a guy.
Also, i used organic 100% cotton tampons. http://www.natracare.com/products/feminine_products.htm
from my experience of living in two countries, it seems to me that american women seem to be much more critical of their bodily processes than bangladeshi women. i guess it could have something to do with the christian belief that childbearing is a curse for women, coupled with the "pathologization," of women's bodies which is so useful for pharmaceutical marketing. even birth control is sold as "period control," (from sarah haskins).
many women in bangladesh also have sexist taboos surrounding their bodies but it's only after i came to america that i've heard of PMS and how so many girls hate their periods. (research shows most women don't have monthly PMS when they actually track their moods, but just believe they do). for me, heavy periods are also an indicator of health because they show i'm not exercising enough - and i'm not trying to say that's true for all others. i'd rather take a few days of bloating then spend all this money on "period control." dysmenorrhea, of course, is a medical concern so i'm not talking about not treating that.
there's a difference, to me, between finding the period often inconvenient and thinking it's a "curse." i've had many horrible experiences during my periods, esp. because they always seem to happen when i'm travelling, and yet i don't hate my body for it. just because all cultures/places don't accommodate the needs of women enough doesn't mean women's bodily functions are a curse.
and there have been many commercials for period products that convey the product's usefulness without calling periods a "curse," so this isn't the only way, or a clever way of advertising. just contrast this ad with the website for diva cups.
like the very first comment on this post, i also find it interesting that the ad tells you to "outsmart mother nature," and not "outsmart god." it makes the ad more sexist because "god" in christianity is referred to as "he," and i guess "he" can't be outsmarted. mother nature, though, is totally defeatable.
Oh, come on, now you're just looking too deep into this! I seriously doubt that the Tampon Heavyweight of the World is really trying to be sexist by making "Mother Nature" defeatable. I actually find the the whole video and "Outsmart Mother Nature" campaign is too ridiculous too be anything more than hilarious.
If they brought up God in a tampon ad, do you know how fast they would get their asses boycotted?
Mother Nature doesn't belong to any one religion, and thus doesn't alienate anyone. The Christians can't be offended that their God is getting used to make money, and the rest of us don't feel left out.
It's the equivalent of saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.
I've been thinking about this more than I should, because I'm procrastinating on homework.
Here's one thing. Did the ad use the word "curse" ? I don't remember, but either way the Tampax corporation has probably used it at some point. Now, that doesn't offend me at all, because I interpret "curse" to mean "something that you don't like and that you have no choice about." (As mentioned above, if you DO love your period and don't want to use tampons, these ads don't apply to you, but plenty of women don't like their periods). However, I can see how it might seem more offensive if you are interpreting "curse" in a more religious way, as in "god is giving you your period to punish you for eve's sin" or something like that. In that case, yes I can see how it would seem offensive, but I'd also argue that you're misinterpreting the context of the ad. Words change overtime and curse no longer has to have any connotation of supernatural or punishment, it just means something you're stuck with that you don't like.
The only difference between commercials for solving the problem of your period, and commercials for solving the problems of going to the bathroom all the time, not being able to get an erection, not being able to sleep at night, having a severe pain disorder, or not being able to poop, is the targeted age group.
My husband watches the news all the time. Demographically, mostly the middle aged and elderly watch the news. So I see commercials for "take this to fix your problem" ALL THE TIME. And it's men and women, and it's constipation (which is never called that; in fact it's never called anything, but the solution is called "being regular"), trouble peeing (again, never called that), too-frequent urination (again, never called that), erectile dysfunction (it might be called that, or they might just say "to make sure you're ready when the time is right"), and a bunch of other things that are called what they are, like depression, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and whatnot.
What you guys are glitching on is that a menstrual cycle, which is a normal part of a *young* woman's life, is being treated like a medical problem, and medical problems are mostly the province of the elderly. You don't see the zillions of commercials for Viagra because you're not watching the same shows as the middle-aged guys.
Well, from my point of view, anything that can cause severe abdominal pain, make you bleed, and make you temporarily fail to fit in your normal clothes *is* a medical problem. It may be a wholly predictable and normal medical problem and it may be an issue if you don't have it, but it's still a medical problem and if the people who can't poop deserve to have commercials about what kind of fiber they should add to their prune juice, then we deserve to have commercials about how to not bleed all over our white clothes.
That being said, I hate tampons. Just can't stand the feel of them. I'm a pad kind of woman. And I *would* love to dearly live in the world where teen boys are marketed jock straps that hide those embarrassing teen erections (both because this is an actual problem that teen boys face, and because if women have to be subjected to marketing about hiding our period, it would only be fair to market ways to hide embarrassing erections to men). But... y'know, periods suck. Someone wants to sell me a product on the basis of "we know your period sucks, here's a thing you can buy to make it suck less", I'm not going to be offended by that.
My period is not a "medical problem". It is a sign that I don't have a "medical" problem.
I really don't understand the offense some are taking to this ad. If it doesn't apply to you, ignore it. But for those whose periods do suck, it might have useful info.
Personally, I dealt with heavy periods that caused anemia (yes, an actual medical problem) and cramps that caused me to miss school when I was younger and work later in life; not to mention lots of fun stuff. After 32 years of this shit, I had an endometrial ablation procedure and hallelujah!!! not more bleeding, anemia or cramps! Some might think it was an extreme measure, but it was the right thing for me. I can't describe what it is like to be liberated from this painful, messy cycle that was only growing more problematic with age.
Disclaimer: endometrial ablation does not prevent pregnancy and is only appropriate for women who through permanent contraception (tubal ligation, vasectomy, or are otherwise sterile) cannot become pregnant.
Personally, I think the most (only) offensive part of this pitch is invoking "the wedding day" while hawking menstrual products to pre- or just-starting-to menstruate girls.
Way to play into the Pretty Pretty Princess Bride motif, why not just print Disney Princesses on the wrapper?
As soon as "Mother Nature" threatened to "rain on the wedding" I immediately flashed to that seen in Carrie with the pig blood. Maybe that was just me- I'm from a passive-aggressive family & sensitive to veiled insults I guess.
But try to imagine that you job is to sell a particular band of tampon, and come up with a snappy, witty, memorable marketing strategy that differentiated that PARTICULAR tampon from all the other VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL tampons already on the market.
You'd come up with some kind of marketable difference, but barring any technological leaps in the genetic engineering of cotton, that "difference" would be a social one. Even if you changed the product itself to be "manufactured with the least waste/ biodegrade the quickest" or pledged "a dollar for every box goes to save the seal pups," that is something that would be valuable because "socially" we agree that it is- and it wouldn’t make the tampon work better.
If I was a young, anxious teen and this tampon was going to protect me from a the volcanic eruption of my period, I might remember that. Its’ not addressing women with heavy periods- it’s addressing women who *fear* the social cost of heavy periods (which is why they mention “bloating: in tampon ads- none of them “cure” it) and the damage they can due to their $8 Victoria Secret underwear…
(I still think its too much to pay for something that’s sole function is to keep my pants clean and my lady-parts comfy, but that’s a different post!).
...FYI, they are all trying to expand into the global market, so I can't wait to see what they come up with to reach women in developing nations who think of their periods in vastly different ways.
sadly there are women in different countries who's views on their period are even more extreme than the ick/curse factor in the usa. i can't really imagine the product marketed in say...partf of africa where women are put into seclution durring their periods so the villige ancestral spirits won't get angry and smite the men folk.
actually, one of the best adds i saw for menstral products was a tampax comercial (i think) that was talking about how they were doing outreach in rural africa to give young women the products they needed to be considered acceptably clean at school durring their periods so they didn't have to skip the days and get behind. obviously it didn't make me want to buy their product enough to switch from the brand i do buy but in terms of good marketing that wasn't all ick/gross/the curse oriented i did like it.
as for what i would want to see in advertisement... actually something a little closer to the medical comercials. let me hear a dr say why this or that brand is better. let me know that your brand has social consciousness, and tell me about it. just, enough with the curse stuff.
maybe it was this...
http://www.protectingfutures.com/home.jsp?gclid=CLPAkNT-k5cCFQETGgodb0N4mQ
What I like about this is that they aren't just lobbing pads at them, they are building bathrooms and incinerators and attempting to develop the market as well, are are working with groups on the ground to understand the culture around menstruation. Now, it's true that that's just a part of savvy marketing and it is def. an expansion move for Proctor & Gamble, but I think there will be some positive externalities.
This particular ad didn't bother me. That being said, let me throw my hat in the ring with the "I hate my period" camp. I bleed very heavily, cramp so painfully it ***actually wakes me up in the middle of the night*** and have, without fail, vomited at least once every period for the last several months since getting my period after Depo.
There is nothing, and I mean nothing to be celebrated by that. To be told that I should "love my period" - especially by other women - makes me feel like I am being called out as being anti-feminist, as if by not liking my period, I am somehow not liking myself as a woman or am somehow not liking *other* women.
But that's not it. What I dislike is the pain, the vomiting, and the bleeding. Just because I dislike being in pain does not make me any less faithful to the cause of feminism -
it just makes me a regular human being who doesn't like being in pain.
My periods are short and light. I mostly just get really tired when I have it. I don't love it or hate it- it's just a bodily function and I rarely think about it.
But I have to scoff at tampon commercials... I use tampons and I think it's funny that each brand claims to "work the best" usually because it "expands differently than another tampons" or has a special braided string. I mean, really? Seriously? It's a tampon. They all do the same thing.