Feminism: Sex & gender discussions
Always advert - 61% of young people have felt ashamed for having a period
MoltenLasagne · 02/03/2022 08:52
Saw an advert for Always last night that could have been good except in their attempt to use inclusive language they have butchered their statistics.
Apparently 61% of young people have felt ashamed for having a period which is rather concerning as I would assume there was an upper limit of 50% of young people who could have a period.
Are they trying to tell us that 22% of male adolescents have also started menstruating? Or are we supposed to remember biology and think "ah, only females menstruate so they must be referring to 61% of young female people"?
Theunamedcat · 15/03/2022 18:47
@DisgustedofManchester
Seriously, no one outside of this thread ( and I think even some on here think its apreposterous suggestion ) that the inclusive stats were distracting the target audience from the message.
Transwomen don't have periods
Transmen do
You've got your trans in a twist for no reason
Baaaa · 16/03/2022 08:07
I don't really know much about the gender/sex/people/women debate but it doesn't make it clear who their sample of the population was. People who use sanitary towels? In which case say that. This reads like it is meant to be representative of two whole population which can't be right.
ThomasPenman · 16/03/2022 08:18
Half the population of the world are female. We used to call these people women and girls. If we are no longer allowed to refer to ourselves as women and girls then we are being denied the language we need to talk about ourselves as a group; our shared experiences, shared struggles, shared discrimination. If your movement denies women and girls the language we need to talk about ourselves then it is not a movement of inclusion.
WelcomeMarch · 16/03/2022 11:44
@Baaaa
Possibly '61% of teenage girls balloted', possibly '61% of all female adults, looking back across their lifetime', possibly even '61% of people surveyed, which included male people who identify as female, because that's how we phrased the question' (the last one won't make much difference at the level of precision given here).
It's pretty pointless giving any sort of stat without defining who was asked.
WelcomeMarch · 16/03/2022 11:54
Baa, sorry, I see they did specify that they asked 13-17 year olds, online. Can't read exactly how many as it's under the bar.
So it could well include up to a few percent of male teens identifying as female or nonbinary, because that's more common in the teenage than the adult population.
anon12345anon · 16/03/2022 12:01
[quote Signalbox]Complain to ASA. That is clearly an incorrect statistic.
www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html[/quote]
Totally agree with you OP.
I'm fucking sick of this shit. 
I just had to comment that this comment made me laugh out loud 
nepeta · 17/03/2022 12:54
@ThomasPenman
THIS.
I am a woman because my body is female, because having a female body has affected my life both directly and indirectly. The latter means having experienced sexual violence, sexual harassment, sex discrimination and statements which refer to my supposedly lesser brain and so on.
When woman no longer means that, my actual identity is erased. It also becomes impossible to fight against sex-based oppression in this world as we now cannot even have a name for those who suffer from it. And I certainly am not a woman because I 'express femininity'. That is so fucking insulting, that total erasure.
Signalbox · 21/04/2022 13:17
I complained about this ad to ASA. Here's the response...
"Thank you for your contacting the Advertising Standards Authority with your complaint about an ad from Always.
We received other complaints about the ad and, given the issues raised, we asked the ASA Council to look at the matter. After careful consideration, however, they have decided that no further action should be taken this time. Please find more information below.
The complaints
We received 189 complaints:
- Many complainants objected that the scene of a young girl sat on a toilet and the shot of period blood in her underwear was graphic and that the ads were therefore likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
2. Several complainants objected that the TV ad was scheduled inappropriately because it was broadcast during a time when young children could be watching.
3. Many complainants challenged that the claim “61% of young people have felt ashamed for having a period” was misleading as the figure was higher than the percentage of young people who were female. Some complainants also challenged that the claim was misleading as they understood that only women had periods. One complainant also objected that the reference to “young people” was offensive because it diminished the experience of womanhood.
4. Several complainants objected that the ads were likely to cause serious or widespread offence as they implied that periods were something about which to be ashamed or embarrassed.
5. Several complainants objected that the ads were irresponsible as they could encourage the ridicule of periods.
Our rules
Advertising is considered to be misleading if it is likely to result in a decision, such as to seek out more information or make a purchase or donation, which consumers generally would not otherwise have made.
Advertising should also contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence, harm, or be deemed irresponsible. We base our decisions on the content of the ad, when and where it appears, the audience and the type of product or service. When assessing complaints in this area, difficult subjective judgements are often required and we aim to strike a balance between allowing an advertiser a platform for their product while ensuring the high standards of the advertising rules are met.
The ASA Council’s decision
- Council acknowledged the complainants’ concerns and that some might have found the imagery distasteful. They noted, however, that the image of blood in the girl’s underwear was brief and would be understood by viewers as being relevant to the context of an ad for sanitary products which aimed to challenge certain negative perceptions about periods. In that context, Council concluded that the ads were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.
2. Council noted that Clearcast (the body which pre-clears TV ads) had not given the ad a scheduling restriction but they considered, however, that the ad was unlikely to cause harm to the wider audience, including children and that a scheduling restriction was not required. As such, and particularly given the programmes highlighted by the complainants during which the ad had been seen, Council concluded that the ad had not been scheduled inappropriately.
3. Council noted that the claim was qualified with on-screen text which explained that the statistic was taken from a 2020 online survey of 2,030 young people aged 13-17. From the information available, Council understood that those who had responded to the survey had stated that they had periods. They also noted that the claim used terminology drawn from the survey report. As such, Council concluded that the claim was unlikely to mislead or be seriously or widely offensive.
4 & 5. Council understood that the intention of the ads was to challenge the idea that periods were something to be ashamed of and to dispel any negativity which might surround the issue. Council noted that the ads contained the claim “periods happen, period shaming shouldn’t” and considered that this would be interpreted by the majority of viewers as challenging the stigma around periods, rather than endorsing the behaviour shown. Council therefore concluded that the ads were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence for the reason suggested or be irresponsible.
Action taken
We have made the advertiser aware of the issues that were brought to our attention in case they wish to take on-board the information provided when creating their ads in the future.
Although we won’t take further action this time, we will keep a record of your complaint for reference in our future assessments. We will also take your complaint into account in our regular, proactive ‘intelligence gathering’ sweeps, where we analyse a range of information – including complaints made to us – to report on issues, even when they have not broken the advertising rules, that have caused concern.
We hope this helps to explain our decision, and thank you once again for contacting us.
Yours sincerely,"
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