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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to have my tampons on display?

447 replies

ElleGrace · 20/05/2015 13:45

Hi there,
This is actually my first post on here (despite me being an avid mumsnetter for the past 5+ years!) so bare with!
Basically, OH and I have recently moved in to a new place together and are having a ridiculous rather silly debate over whether or not it is socially acceptable to have (unused) tampons on display in the bathroom.
To my way of thinking, anyone who enters our home will be perfectly aware that I, a woman, have a menstrual cycle and therefore use some form of feminine product in my bathroom. The only hidden storage we have in the bathroom is on the opposite side of the room to the toilet, which is an inconvenience to get to. Therefore, I have a glass jar of tampons on the shelf right next to the toilet, alongside many other glass jars filled with cotton buds, cotton pads, candles etc. IMO, there is no difference in seeing a tampon in the bathroom than seeing something like a cotton bud.
On the other hand, my OH argues that although people are aware I use tampons, they don't really need to see proof of it. He compared it to having a jar of condoms in the bathroom.
I understand this is a really ridiculous argument, but it really got me thinking as to whether I should really have to hide my feminine products in my own home, or as to whether I'm simply being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.
I'd love to hear your opinions on this trivial matter, and I'd also like to know whether your products are hidden from view too.

OP posts:
propelusagain · 20/05/2015 18:50

I don't get why anybody would be bothered by a box/jar/whatever of sanitary products!*

I don't think anyone is bothered. I would just rather not see them. There are lots of things I would rather not see.

Arsenic · 20/05/2015 18:51

FuckYou post them through doors. Like that week in about 1990 when every h/hold in the country got free 'always' samples. Because they were made of magic science stuff and had come to save us from the knicker-bricks.

KimCarCrashAVan · 20/05/2015 18:51

I like everything hidden away but it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if SanPro is on display at someone's house. Maybe I'd be a bit Shock if it was on the mantelpiece in the living room.

propelusagain · 20/05/2015 18:52

Jengnr- it's not to do with embarrassement. I don't want to lie in my perfumed bath looking at a pile of toilet cleaning things either. Not because they embarrass me- simply because they are not pleasing to look at.

KimCarCrashAVan · 20/05/2015 18:54

I'm not sure how this thread fits in with my MN contradictory preconceptions which are

  1. that everyone has to provide 'guest' SanPro

  2. everyone uses mooncups

GobblersKnob · 20/05/2015 18:55

I don't wear anything anyone would describe as 'grundies' maybe that's why I don't mind drying them where they might be spotted Wink

This thread is like that episode of Alan Partridge:

Yvonne Boyd: Really clothes are just things that cover up our mutual nakedness, I mean, underneath our clothes we're, all of us, naked. Even you, Alan.
Alan Partridge: No, I'm not.
Nina Vanier: All we are saying is that underneath your clothes you are naked.
Alan Partridge: No, I'm not.

propelusagain · 20/05/2015 18:57

I don't mind drying them where they might be spotted

So they are deliberately displayed?

BertrandRussell · 20/05/2015 18:57

Do the tampon hiders also hide the loo roll?

StickEm · 20/05/2015 18:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 20/05/2015 19:05

He'd be disgusted at me. I sterilise my menstrual cup in a jug on the bathroom windowsill. And then leave it to dry before putting it away. The horror.

Jengnr · 20/05/2015 19:12

Propelus, that wasn't aimed at you. It was the people who have been saying their guests might be embarrassed to see it.

propelusagain · 20/05/2015 19:15

telephoneignoringmachine- why do you put it away after it's dry?
Not hiding it I hope.................

FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 20/05/2015 19:16

Hmm, party bags and dropping through letter boxes are both options, but I quite like my neighbours, and I mostly like the people who come to my house. I feel only someone in great need and with no other choice should be subjected to this product.

AGirlCalledBoB · 20/05/2015 19:20

I have always put my tampons near the toilet. My oh has seen me give birth, looking at my tampons are not going to traumatise him or any other man that goes into the bathroom. I would be telling your oh to get a grip.

Janethegirl · 20/05/2015 19:28

My tampons are in their original box on the shelf above the loo along with spare loo rolls, boxes of tissues, spare shampoo and loo cleaner. I've never had any comments from anyone.

SmillasSenseOfSnow · 20/05/2015 19:34

Not sure I'm loving the comparison of menstruation to pathological conditions...

ArseForElbow · 20/05/2015 19:37

My DS1 (15) moves mine and puts them in the bathroom cabinet if I leave them out. Grin

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 20/05/2015 19:41

Propelus - haha no! I don't want it to get dusty on the windowsill. I used to keep my pads, a pack of cotton wool, and a couple of pee sticks all together in a naice little basket. Perfectly visible.

RonaldMcDonald · 20/05/2015 19:41

Tampons etc are always acceptable - my lav is like a supermarket stall
Also useful for anyone else who might be caught short

glitteryflange · 20/05/2015 19:43

Mine are in the bathroom cabinet. My DH wouldn't bat an eyelid if they were out.

You can get a little bag and label it 'shark week'

Floggingmolly · 20/05/2015 19:44

Why would you have comments from anyone, Jane? Nobody really cares if anyone else has this stuff on display, some people would just prefer their own bathroom to look less like a branch of Boots, that's all.

Jessica2point0 · 20/05/2015 19:45

Mine are purposefully out (in a see through hanger on the back of the door) so that if any visitors need one in an emergency they can take one immediately and ask later.

soontobemumofthree · 20/05/2015 19:52

I don't display tampons, or hair removal products, razors, spare loo roll, creams, deodorant, cotton buds, spare shampoo or anything else in bathroom or our ensuite.
in ensuite there is
loo roll, 1 towel, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrush and 1 cup. in the shower there is 1 shower gel and 1 shampoo. it is a small enough room (prob due to cupboard to keep it all in!) and i cant stand any clutter in there. If there was such a device that kept loo roll invisible but close to toilet I'd consider it.

But if you are having a display, i think it is similar to loo roll. I wouldnt consider displaying any for guests "caught short" but loo roll should always be available. If a guest needed some sanpro they could ask and I could provide some.

BabyDubsEverywhere · 20/05/2015 19:54

I have all manor of sanitary stuff in a big box in the bathroom... the box is see through and right next to the loo. I thought this was a good thing for anyone who used the loo and needed it tbh. My Dh has never blinked at it, I think he is aware of how a woman's body works so it should be expected!

nokidshere · 20/05/2015 20:10

None needed here anymore thank goodness ?? but mine were kept in a drawer which can be reached from the loo. I don't like seeing things out on sides anywhere really. Nothing to do with being embarrassed and lots to do with aesthetics

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