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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is san pro appeal offensive?

113 replies

DrSeuss · 22/05/2018 19:33

I work in a secondary school in the London area. I am currently running an appeal for Red Box, an organisation which provides sanitary towels and other toiletries for those in need. (Please check out their website and maybe start your own appeal). I made posters today and put one in every department office, then tried to put one in the main school office where about six women work. I was told that this was not possible as a member of the public might see the poster there. I pointed out that fifty per cent of the public use san pro but the answer is still no. AIBU in finding this reasoning odd?

OP posts:
ThisIsTheFirstStep · 23/05/2018 00:55

I buy tampons while my son is with me (he’s 4). Why wouldn’t I? It’s not some weird dirty secret that needs to be hidden.

WhiteCaribou · 23/05/2018 00:55

You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions. I think it's the same thing here.

Yes I would, and have done. My kids (who never allowed me to have two minutes peace in the toilet!) have often been there when I change my tampon, it's nothing strange or worthy of comment to them, just what mummy does. Same with buying them when kids are with you.

CadyHeron · 23/05/2018 00:58

If that poster is the one that they are saying is offensive, what on earth is their reason?! Confused
It's raising awareness for what sounds like a good cause. I was expecting gruesome pictures or something!

viques · 23/05/2018 01:09

the only thing offensive about the poster is the flushable wipes! Wipes should not be flushed!!!

PuttinOnTheRitzCracker · 23/05/2018 01:12

Being offended by menstruation is misogyny, pure and simple.

viques · 23/05/2018 01:18

I think you ought to spare the office biddies and sensitive visitors blushes and alter it to Blue Box, because as we all know , blue is the official colour of periods isn't it.........

EspressoButler · 23/05/2018 01:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CircleSquareCircleSquare · 23/05/2018 01:29

You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions. I think it's the same thing here.

Are you smoking the tampons or something? Confused

CadyHeron · 23/05/2018 01:30

Bah, missed the bit about flushable wipes! Agreed, no no to them. I've read too many articles and seen documentaries about monster sewage fatbergs to know they are not good at all!!

Eastcoastmost · 23/05/2018 01:30

Cover their office with the posters, ha!

Bouledeneige · 23/05/2018 01:58

Aren't they enjoying their western world privilege to be so squeamish? There are girls in other parts of the world who dont go to school and miss out on their education when they have their periods because they cant afford sanitary towels.

Good for you raising money for such an important cause. We need to support girls' equal access to education and opportunity. They are being disenfranchised because of their biology.

bananafish81 · 23/05/2018 02:06

No wipes are flushable, even the ones that claim they are. Check the back of the packaging for the tiny print that says flush one at a time, not in old systems, not anywhere with a Saniflow evil poo mincer . Then look at any water board website for details of what can & cant be flushed.

I posted the below on a thread called 'Fatberg Autopsy' in Chat

^So I've been having an ongoing row with DH about flushable loo wipes, spurred by various MN threads

I've told him that even though the Andrex Washlets packaging says they're flushable, MN says they aren't flushable and if we flush them we're undoing all his militant work at never throwing any oil or fat down the drain

He insists that as it says biodegradable and flushable that we can flush 1-2 at once

Except my 'because MN says so' haranguing has been shut down completely by bloody C4, as the Fatberg documentary last night showed an expert from Thames water testing different wipes - and he showed the Andrex ones broke down very well, and would be no problem to flush!^

bananafish81 · 23/05/2018 02:09

@CadyHeron watch Fatberg Autopsy on C4 catchup. Polypropylene wipes aren't flushable (despite the Peppa pig ones he tested being marketed as flushable) but the expert from Thames water showed the biodegradable ones from Andrex were essentially no different to moist toilet tissue and broke down absolutely fine, so no problem to flush. The entire programme was about Fatbergs!

ThisIsTheFirstStep · 23/05/2018 02:15

Even though obviously the flushable wipes thing IS an issue, I sometimes feel that discussions about women's issues always end up getting seriously derailed into other areas. It's like women always have to think about others, about the environment, about everything but themselves first. It really complicates issues and makes it impossible to discuss.

I think we all agree on this thread that we shouldn't flush wipes. That has been stated and maybe the OP can get in touch with the campaign head to get that changed on the poster.

I, for one, would prefer to just see a discussion on the matter the OP raised.

shakingmyhead1 · 23/05/2018 02:29

You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions. I think it's the same thing here

Why wouldn't i? Am i not meant to take my son shopping for tampons and pads? can i take him when i buy toilet paper? or washing powder?
As half the population has/had a period and that it is a natural and normal bodily function i personally don't think its any big deal and that ALL men should know what happens to a woman's body as some of them might marry or have daughters and those men should be able to discuss this without embarrassment or make their wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, aunts etc feel shame or that its a secret to hide away... its not like we live in one of those survivalist militiaman cult type groups that think women are unclean and should spend the week in the family shed once a month!
When my son was younger and asked i called them mummy nappies, now hes 9 i till him that ladies bodies sometimes bleed from "down there" our "girl bits" and that it is normal for a girl when she gets a bit older just like he will grow hair around his boy bits and his voice will change ( he calls his his boy bits or his willy, but he giggles heaps with willy as its a school tease name apparently, but he does know the actual names but prefers those names) it doesnt have to be a big deal and thats how we discussed it, casual and no big deal!

Birdsgottafly · 23/05/2018 02:30

In some religions mentioning Periods in public, is taboo. Restrictions etc are put on women whilst they are menstruating. If her objection is for religious reasons, she probably won't be overruled.

I don't agree with that, btw.

It seems that the only time saying knickers is publicly acceptable is when one of the gutter press manage to get a picture of some' Cleb flashing her knickers in a 'saucy outfit'.

We need to normalise periods, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause and desexualise knickers/tights etc.

emmyrose2000 · 23/05/2018 03:31

CALF21
You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions. I think it's the same thing here
Of course women/mothers do. Confused I chuck pads into the shopping trolley/basket on a regular basis with my sons present. They've never asked about them, so they've either never noticed, or don't care. It's no different from throwing razors, toothpaste, or soap into the trolley whilst in that aisle.

My DS has even bought them for me as part of the weekly shopping on the odd occasion he's taken a list and done the shopping. Amazingly, he's even lived to tell the tale. Grin

Graphista · 23/05/2018 03:32

Op presumably this person has someone more senior you can speak to?

Ridiculous situation. Perfectly acceptable poster (flushable debate aside) and a great cause.

Slapdasherie · 23/05/2018 04:27

You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions.

@Calf123

What do you think is so inappropriate about a male child asking about tampons?

CalF123 · 23/05/2018 05:02

@slapdasherie

I just don't think it's a conversation many parents would want to have with a 5 year old boy in the middle of Boots(or a school office).

MrsTerryPratchett · 23/05/2018 05:58

I think it's a conversation that should happen with boys or they will grow up as ignorant and uninformed as so many men are now.

I am very proud my DD knows all about her body. And uses the correct terms for it. All this coy embarrassment is ridiculous and in many cases dangerous.

CalF123 · 23/05/2018 06:00

@MrsTerryPratchett

I agree but I think there is a time and a place for these personal topics to be discussed. The middle of a school office isn't it.

gamerwidow · 23/05/2018 06:09

@calf123
I disagree, in public is exactly where these topics should be discussed not hidden away like they’re something to be embarrassed about.
Do you object to tissues in the office in case a child sees them and you have to have a conservation about snot too which is arguably more gross than periods.

Iceweasel · 23/05/2018 06:32

You wouldn't go and browse the tampon range in Boots while with your 5 year old DS because they'd start asking all sorts of questions. I think it's the same thing here.
How do you think single mothers buy sanitary products then?

dontticklethetoad · 23/05/2018 06:46

@Calf123 people like you make me want to bang my head against a brick wall. Wtf is wrong with you.

Op, is there a day when this staff isn't in? I would put a poster up when they're not there. If they take it down, put it back up. Repeat ad nauseum.