Tampax ad being banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

[midclegs]

twitter.com/NewstalkFM/status/1288856555912396802 - footage showing Ciara Kelly talking about a tampax advert being taken down because it's caused offence.

www.nova.ie/tampon-ad-is-banned-following-84-complaints-to-asai-181330/

This is all incredibly ridiculous, but I've decided I love Ciara!

Tampax obviously

I hate the ad anyway.
It is patronising. Girls and women always have another woman they can ask when it’s their first time. Plus the package instructions are very clear even to an illiterate person.
It pushes applicator type tampons which massively contribute to plastic pollution problems.

The issue is more about an entire nation where women are taught to be ashamed of natural biological processes they have no control over, and both sexes are taught that women's bodies are always sexual in every context.

Ciara Kelly's rant was MAGNIFICENT.

@Thelnebriati

The issue is more about an entire nation where women are taught to be ashamed of natural biological processes they have no control over, and both sexes are taught that women's bodies are always sexual in every context.

Yes. We females in my household use ModiBodi period pants. My teen DDs have struggled to come to terms with rinsing them out after use (before popping in the washing machine). Trying to teach them that whilst its not entirely a pleasant thing to do yet it is NOT 'disgusting' - is an uphill battle I've still not won.

She has a point and a really good point too

I just wish this advert wasn’t so shitty. It’s a terrible advert. Nothing to do with shame but purely the fact of the stupid language that to just know men will use.

“Go on girl give us a BJ. Not just the tip, up to the grip!”

I dislike the ad, I find it a bit condescending but I dislike many ads. Lots of young girls have problems inserting tampons at first and many don't feel comfortable talking to more knowledgable women about it because it's still so taboo. An ad like this would both inform them and help break the taboo to some extent. I think it being banned for "causing widespread offence" is pretty horrendous and, overall, detrimental to the well being of girls and women.

@PlanDeRaccordement

I hate the ad anyway. It is patronising. Girls and women always have another woman they can ask when it’s their first time. Plus the package instructions are very clear even to an illiterate person. It pushes applicator type tampons which massively contribute to plastic pollution problems.

Lucky you. I'd had 3 periods before I realised what was going on, & figured it out from what was in the bathroom cupboard. No-one told me. I thought I was ill. I'd missed a lot of school so it wasn't a completely unreasonable assumption.

But I agree re your point regarding the plastic.

Sisyphus- you never asked? I was also not told anything, but I did ask....

@PlanDeRaccordement I’m surprised that you assume every girl had the same experience as you given the taboo/shame still attached to menstruation. I’d internalised the message that periods were shameful long before I started mine (in fact the only wisdom I received from my mother when I told her about my first period was that “it’s not the kind of thing you talk about”). I would have been totally unable to even mention periods to anyone let alone ask how to use a tampon.

[quote Iorderedyouapancake]@PlanDeRaccordement I’m surprised that you assume every girl had the same experience as you given the taboo/shame still attached to menstruation. I’d internalised the message that periods were shameful long before I started mine (in fact the only wisdom I received from my mother when I told her about my first period was that “it’s not the kind of thing you talk about”). I would have been totally unable to even mention periods to anyone let alone ask how to use a tampon.[/quote]
I have not made that assumption. If I did, I would not have asked Sisyphus whether they ever asked anyone about periods.

You’ve assumed that every girl has someone to ask how to use a tampon. Some girls literally don’t have a woman they can ask, and for many the shame placed on menstruation and female bodies leaves them unable to ask and/or to get an answer if they do.

Ive mentioned this before

But when my mum used a tampax for the first time She left the applicator in...if you catch my drift

Apparently it Was a bit uncomfortable sitting down

@Iorderedyouapancake

You’ve assumed that every girl has someone to ask how to use a tampon. Some girls literally don’t have a woman they can ask, and for many the shame placed on menstruation and female bodies leaves them unable to ask and/or to get an answer if they do.

Yes, I have assumed that, today, google exists.

@Iorderedyouapancake
So do you think the ad should be played to reach these girls?

Also, there is sex education in most schools, I see U.K. has it from primary school on. So I’m a bit side eye at the contention of all these British girls currently growing up with the shame/taboo when it’s taught in school....

There is a difference in how we grew up decades ago and today. I don’t see periods as being as taboo/shameful as they once were. Even in my day, I had friends who were girls and we’d talk in changing rooms for sports and so on.

I hate when threads descend into 2 posters disagreeing so will just agree that google is a useful resource for girls who have access to it given that some won’t have another woman they can ask when it’s their first time.

Just saw your last reply- I don’t particularly like the ad but would welcome much more normalisation/mainstreaming of periods as an acceptable topic of discussion.

There were girls who did talk about periods when I was at school too. I hope there are many more now, but I don’t agree that periods are no longer seen as taboo/shameful - I remember reading about a survey last year that 20% of girls had experienced bullying because of their periods which seems to suggest that it’s still a real problem.

I don’t understand the reliance on applicator tampons, but there’s nothing offensive about the advert. If you think your children will be horrified by it then it’s a sign that you need to talk to them about periods.
I never got on with the applicators myself. My mother had a box of giant applicator free ones that you just used with your fingers. Maybe manufacturers think we’ll all have orgasms if we stop using cardboard/plastic penises to insert tampons?

The original advert is on YouTube

There's already a thread on this in Craicnet

@RufustheSniggeringReindeer

Ive mentioned this before

But when my mum used a tampax for the first time She left the applicator in...if you catch my drift

Apparently it Was a bit uncomfortable sitting down

So did I. Made my eyes water, so I took it out and used pads for another 12 months.

Shitty advert IMO but no reason for it to be banned.

My mother taught me about periods. Yet when it happened, I still hid it. Got piss took out of me as people could 'tell' I had pads on at times, so tried using tampax, just kind of..kept trying until I got it right. Had a few very uncomfortable days where it was kind of half hanging out as I figured it would hurt too much putting it in 'properly' (obviously at the time I didnt know it was properly, just seemed..too far in!)

I have tried very hard to start talking about stuff like this early with my daughter just so she knows, and knows she can come to me with anything. She is only 7 and knows a fair bit about periods, possibly more than some teenagers know tbh. Son knows too though it won't affect him, hes walked in a few times during the convos and it seems daft to just stop and hide the convo as if its something to be ashamed of. So my 6 year old son potentially knows more than a teen girl too.

Even with this though, theres the chance when it happens she might hide it still. I knew I could go to m,y mother abou8t anything, yet for some odd reason I still hid it..cannot understand it but I did feel ashamed in a way, ans very dirty, even though I knew it wasn't.

Oh poor you wendy

@midclegs I'd hate this too and at your daughters' age, I'd have REALLY hated it! It sounds like a giant leap back to the C19. I get that it's better for the environment - but no way!

Trying to teach them that whilst its not entirely a pleasant thing to do yet it is NOT 'disgusting' - is an uphill battle I've still not won.

Could I suggest separating the two concepts? They're not, and shouldn't feel disgusting for menstruating, if I understand correctly what you're trying to avoid them feeling (quite rightly, in my opinion). However, I wouldn't begrudge them for feeling a little disgust at what they're having to clean up. I imagine that even the latter will fade simply with repeated exposure.

Personally, I'm lazy so I used to just use a cold prewash to achieve the same effect, a good biological detergent will break it up.