Vagisil advert

[PerverseConverse]

Sorry if not quite coherent but my morning caffeine is yet to kick in and sorry if not the right place to post (am new to feminism). I've just seen the Vagisil advert were they say that whatever percentage of women experience pain during sex and that this is a result of dryness and vagisil is the cure. I hate adverts like this that simplify what is usually a complex thing. If it said menopausal women then as vaginal dryness is a result of hormonal changes I could forgive them. However painful sex is far more complex than that. Without looking for statistics to back up what I've read, then dryness is usually caused by lack of arousal and lack of foreplay. Pain can be due to infection, irritation, endometriosis, vaginismus and other gynae conditions and exacerbated by dryness.
It's annoyed me that such a complex condition has been reduced to something that is purely the woman's problem (ignoring the lack of arousal/foreplay issues) and simplified to only needing lubricant.
I'm sensitive about this due to suffering severe endometriosis and painful sex being a main symptom. Dryness wasn't an issue but my boyfriend as a teenager thought KY jelly was the answer. It wasn't, I was still in pain.
I know it's only an advert but I think the message it gives is misleading, slightly blaming, and totally disregards the issues around painful sex.

Agree - it's a fucking awful advert.

Also - if you're post-menopausal and suffering from such severe dryness that sex is painful, you're probably suffering vaginal atrophy and need proper hormone creams, not just lubes. Lube will mask the problem until the damage gets far worse and far harder to reverse.

I agree that post-menopause, topical hormone creams are by far the best option. And they vary too, just like the pill. Estriol worked better rather than estradiol, which was ineffective, and I don't regard it as full HRT.

Can I just say that I would encourage any woman to see their GP sooner rather than later if it is a problem. Mine was very sympathetic. The physical signs of getting older aren't much fun so I'm all for getting any help I can.

Maybe the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence would be interested in concerns?

twitter.com/NICEcomms

Dryness can be exacerbated by circumcision. Not so much an issue in the UK but there are many accounts of women 'finally realising' that their problems during sex were due to MGM.

@ScreamingBird how does circumcision affect vaginal dryness? I've never noticed a difference at all.

By exposing the lubey bits of the penis so they kind of dry out, I believe.

Can't do clicky links on my phone but www.yourwholebaby.org is the circumcision info site off the top of my head :)

As an aside, since we are talking about women in advertisements: has anyone else noticed that ads for constipation or diarrhoea always have a woman as the subject. What? Does this mean that men don't experience those conditions? See also: toothpaste ... and other products!

I definitely agree hate things like this but then these conditions often get overlooked.

I had endo for years right from when I abnormally started my periods at a young age up until now and I'm still going I begged for a diagnosis but to no prevail.

Sex was always mega painful and impossible for me but of course nothing ever more than use lube, have a glass of wine and relax.
It took me 2 years to get diagnosed with vaginismus and I know many friends who struggled with their menopause and no help.

I definitely urge people to keep trying you will get there eventually.

It always baffled me that Jacky those Ads apply to my DH more and as for toothpaste? Of course only women brush their teeth duh

Yep good luck with vaginismus, Vagisil.