Tampons were so empowering in the ’80s.
Note also the brief, fine print warning about Toxic Shock Syndrome. It’s apparently important that you read the other warning.
Retro Tampon Commercial — Playtex Deodorant Tampons
January 16th, 2012 by Elizabeth KisslingTampons and Transphobia
January 4th, 2012 by Elizabeth KisslingGuest post by Lauren Ingram
Libra is the Australian and New Zealand arm of an international brand of women’s ‘feminine hygiene’ products. So basically, they sell tampons, pads, and other femcare products. I’ve never tended to pay much attention to their advertisements, to be honest. To me, tampon ads to seem to (usually) all look the same. Some of them I find mildly offensive due to the stereotyping of women in the advertisements, but most of the time they don’t even make my radar.
Libra’s latest ad definitely made my radar. The ad (courtesy of YouTube) is below if you want to take a look. The ad is currently featured on Libra’s website and is playing on free-to-air television.
The advertisement is incredibly offensive to trans women (and any woman, I would think). It features a pretty young ciswoman in a bathroom next to what appears to be a trans woman or possibly what is meant to be not a trans woman but a ‘drag queen’ (I am unsure what Libra were intending). They both begin applying makeup competitively, mascara then lip gloss ect. The ciswoman then pulls out a box of tampons and offers one to the trans woman. The transwoman walks off in a huff.
The ad ends with a box of tampons and the slogan ‘Libra gets girls’.
This ad has so many problems it appalls me.
Firstly, the stereotyping and mocking of trans women. Portraying trans women with over the top makeup, huge fake nails and fake boobs is extremely stereotypical. Trans women are very rarely portrayed in the mainstream media, and when people only see images like these of transwomen, it is extremely harmful. It reinforces specific perceptions on what a trans woman is.
Secondly, the implication that trans women are not ‘real’ women. The entire ad is based on the premise that ‘real’ women get periods, and that if you don’t, you are excluded from ‘womanhood’. This idea not only excludes transwomen from the club of ‘womanhood’ but also so many other women who do not get periods. For example, women who have had hysterectomies, women who do not get periods due to certain illnesses.
The slogan really frustrates me too. Clearly if Libra ‘got girls’ they would not have made such a damaging advertisement. They would understand that definition of gender is not restricted to if a person has one bodily function.
Implying that women are only women if they menstruate is reinforcing a culture that says that women are only made valid by their ability and desire to have children.
In short, it is a disgraceful ad that should be pulled. Libra should be apologising for even thinking that this was a good idea. It uses trans women as a punchline, something to be laughed at and degraded.
If the ad has made you angry too, here’s how you can help:
- Complain to Libra:
- Their website: http://www.lovelibra.co.nz/about-libra/contact-us/
- Their facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Libra?sk=wall
- Their twitter: @LoveLibraX with the #transphobictampons hashtag.
- Complain to Ad Standards:
- Their website: www.adstandards.com.au
- Inform your friends. Link to this blog, or the video, or post about it yourself.
- Boycott Libra. Money talks more than anything else.
If you’re interested, take a look at this website: http://tranifesto.com/transgender-faqs-and-info/ by Matt Kailey, who has a great (but not definitive) FAQ on how to not be offensive to trans people, and general education about trans people.
Update: As of late afternoon, January 3, 2012, Transadvocate reports that Libra has apologized and suspended the campaign.
Lauren Ingram is a Journalism and Political Communication student at the University of Canberra. This post was originally published at her blog, That Politics Girl, on January 1, 2012.
Side-by-Side
November 30th, 2011 by Elizabeth KisslingWhen I talk with young women who’ve never heard about alternative menstrual products, they often have a hard time imagining inserting something the size of a menstrual cup. For some reason, asking them to picture a silicone (or rubber) cone-shaped shot glass doesn’t ease their anxiety. Thanks to the Magical Menstruation Tumblr, I now have the perfect visual aids:
And there’s even a video to demonstrate how to do that tricky-looking fold!
[ Original source: Femme Fleur ]
Because of a tampon
November 28th, 2011 by Chris Bobel
Photo of Amy Rae Elifritz used with permission.
Amy Rae Elifritz was 20 when she died of tampon-related Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) on June 13, 2010.
Take a moment to reckon with this.
Because of a tampon.
2010.
Her remarkable mother, Lisa Elifritz founded a not for profit You ARE Loved (ARE=Amy Rae Elifritz). [http://you-are-loved.org/]The organization’s mission centers on “raising awareness of tampon related Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) and providing factual information about menstruation.”
YAL is doing some creative outreach using social media. They launched a blog project this year to spread TSS awareness throughout the blogosphere, and they are doing more general menstrual education, too. For instance, their monthly “Tweet Chats” touch on a range of related issues. November’s chat explored menstrual care options and December’s upcoming chat is about “Period(ic)Stories”.
Thanks to Lisa Elifritz, Amy’s too-short life is much bigger than her 20 years. Lisa and her collaborators are transforming an avoidable tragedy into social action that can literally save lives.
Because no one should die because of a tampon in 2010.
Getting Cozy with Tampon Cozies
November 21st, 2011 by David LintonGuest post by Michael Yazujian — Marymount Manhattan College
Photo by Caitlin Weigel (used with permission)
Caitlin Weigel knits and sells tampon cozies on her Etsy site, a website where people can sell crafts that they make. These cozies are perfect for women who are trying to avoid humiliation who are also fans of squids (and probably other tampon users as well). They may reinforce the shame and embarrassment that some women associate with tampons by concealing them, but they do so in a playful way that suggests the taboo be taken less seriously. The squids seem to be mocking society’s belief in tampon awkwardness with their googly eyes and promote a sort of tampon pride that you could show off to your friends. The reduction of shame through humor is not a new concept, but I believe that Caitlin Weigel has knit a useful weapon against the uncomfortable and serious manner in which tampons are viewed.
Editor’s note: See also Vinnie’s Tampon Case
Kotex Tampons Recalled Due to Bacterial Contamination
November 14th, 2011 by Elizabeth Kissling
From parenting.com:
If you’ve got Kotex tampons at home, check your boxes: Kimberly-Clark, Kotex’s parent company, has recalled the brand’s Natural Balance Security Unscented Tampons (Regular Absorbency) in both the 18- and 36-count boxes, reports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The recalled tampons were sold at select Walmart stores in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas; select Fry’s stores in Arizona; and select Smith’s stores in Utah and Arizona.
During the manufacturing process, the tampons were contaminated with the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause UTIs, pelvic inflammatory disease, and potentially life-threatening vaginal infections. There is also a chance that the bacteria can be transmitted between individuals.
Consumers should stop using the tampons immediately and contact a physician if you have used them, or if you experience unusual vaginal discharge, rash, fever, headache, vomiting or abdominal pain, particularly if you have AIDS, are HIV-positive, are pregnant or have cancer or any other existing serious illness.
Consumers should also contact Kimberly-Clark’s Consumer Services Division at 1-800-335-6839 so the necessary information and arrangements can be made to retrieve the unused product.
A full list of products is available at the original post.
Culture-Jamming Kotex
October 5th, 2011 by Elizabeth Kissling
If you’ve been with us for a while, you might remember that we (and our fabulous readers) had a lot to say in the spring of 2010 when Kotex launched U by Kotex (or YOU.BUY.KOTEX, as we came to call it) and its “Break the Cycle” campaign.
In digging up a copy of the “Reality Check” video that launched the campaign for one of my classes this week, I came across this critique of “Reality Check” by an activist/artist identified online only as Annamalprint. She’s a menstrual activist after our own bleedin’ hearts!
The campaign has won many advertising industry awards, and has been credited with increasing Kotex sales by 10%, by the way. We can expect those neon tampons to be around for a while.
The Red Liner Bag
September 15th, 2011 by Heather Dillaway
Menstruating while traveling is always interesting. It involves many in-the-moment decisions and also some significant planning at times (both before and during trips). But, it also means noticing various details about your surroundings. I was in a rest area bathroom this summer in the middle of Pennsylvania as I was coming home from Washington, D.C., and saw something so refreshing: a bright red plastic liner bag for a tampon & pad receptacle in a public restroom. In every stall of every public restroom in the U.S., there is a receptacle for throwing away disposal feminine hygiene products and we’ve all seen thousands of them (if not more). Usually those receptacles are lined with white plastic bags or brown paper bags. Never in my life — until this summer in a bathroom at a highway rest area – have I ever seen a bright red one. It was so refreshing to see such a bright color, and red for that matter! I thought right away, “Why aren’t they red more often?” Especially in the age of colored reusable pads and the neon-colored line of UbyKotex products, perhaps we should be pushing color (and expecting color) on other menstruation-related products? The color red was surprising and validating at the same time, as if finally someone realized exactly what color that liner bag should really be. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has seen these red liner bag. Has anybody else seen red?
Tampons for Traveling the High Seas
August 30th, 2011 by Elizabeth KisslingHumorous tampon marketing of the kind we’ll probably never see in the U.S.
[My apologies -- I've lost track of the original source.]
Thanks to reader NakedThoughts for providing a link to Red Wombat Studio, the creator of this idealistic tampon ad.
Menstruation, Prince Charles and The Biggest Hacking Scandal
August 29th, 2011 by David Linton
In light of the recent scandals over the phone and email hacking practices of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper editors and reporters it is surprising that there has been so little mention of the fact that the most scandalous, damaging and far reaching hacking story associated with Murdoch centered on menstruation. The only thorough review of the links between the current story and the earlier one appears in a detailed piece in The Sun-Herald from Sydney, Australia, July 31, 2011.
I have previously written about the incident here and elsewhere, but in light of the current coverage it deserves a fresh look.
In brief: in 1989, a time before either cell phones or email were commonly available (hard to believe there was such a time!), a phone hacker recorded a phone sex exchange between Prince Charles and his then-lover, Camilla Parker-Bowles in which erotic mention was made of tampons. Three years later the full transcript of the conversation was published in an Australian women’s magazine, New Idea, and a world-wide scandal ensued.
Now, nearly 20 years after the story broke, it is about to come back into play as further investigations proceed into the illegal hacking activities of the Murdoch media empire. Perhaps we will finally learn how much was paid for a menstrual story that humiliated the Royal Family, who the hackers were, and who authorized its purchase and publication.
And, from a Menstrual Studies point of view, its longevity reflects the deep fascination that the menstrual cycle continues to hold for the general public.
The Shame Game
August 22nd, 2011 by David Linton
Long before the current fad in Reality TV shows that trade in humiliation and embarrassment, the prevailing menstrual culture inculcated in women a feeling that exposure of the fact that a period was in progress was a social catastrophe. However, just as “The Biggest Loser” invites participants to parade their socially unacceptable bodies before the cameras for fame and fortune, there are times when women are invited to share their stories of menstrual humiliation in exchange for a moment of media recognition and even a cute photo spread.
Consider the October 1, 2007, issue of FIRST: for women on the go, a supermarket checkout publication. A regular column titled “First Blush” that specialized in sharing readers’ “mortifying moments” in this issue was titled “My most mortifying tampon moment!” It consists of four letters from women aged 35 to 50 relating stories of an exposed string, a blood stain on a car seat, dog mischief, and a child’s blurted remark about her mothers’ “bagina.”
The piece is illustrated by the smiling author of one of the letters, “Meg Fitzpatrick, 42, Yardly, PA” whose story about the adorable daughter’s outburst earns her a prized photo in the magazine.
Accompanying the article is some promotional copy for a product called “The Combpanion Tampon and Pantiliner Case” that is described as “a hair comb with a hidden compartment in its hollow handle” so that the reader can “carry a tampon . . . without fear of being spotted holding your feminine product.”
I’m prompted to wonder what an equivalent column in a men’s magazine would look like. Do men ever have “mortifying moments?”
Tampon Wars
August 12th, 2011 by Elizabeth Kissling
Remember back in February when I made fun of Tampax for explicitly comparing their Tampax Pearl to U by Kotex in their newest print ads? Such direct comparison to the competitor’s product is not a trendy marketing strategy; it hearkens back to the days when Darrin Stephens was a copywriter. (You young-uns can look up that reference.)
I wasn’t the only one who noticed: a recent article in Ad Age says the “30% better protection” strategy has not been used in femcare marketing since Rely tampons were withdrawn from the market in 1980. Not coincidentally, that was the last time Tampax picked up significant market share — a lot of those former Rely users switched to Tampax (Tampax was not owned by P&G at the time, but Rely was).
With the U by Kotex brand apparently winning new customers as well as winning others away from Tampax, how successful will “30% better protection” be as a persuasive strategy? Jack Neff (author of the Ad Age piece) points out that it’s pretty challenging “in a category where absorbency has been tightly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of the Rely withdrawal.”
Readers should note that statements published in re: Cycling are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Society as a whole.
