Ugh.
Look. I understand that the point of advertising is to create some sort of insecurity that your product is meant to prop up and plaster over. I get that. But how insane do you have to be to put out an ad that says that femininity is not only competitive, but defined by mascara, lip gloss, tits, and menstruation?!?
Are little girls not capable of being feminine, or post-menopausal women, or women who have had a hysterectomy, or pregnant women, or women who are nursing infants, or hard-core women athletes, or women with various kinds of illness? I already know about the apparent answer when it comes to trans women, and there’s only one answer to that nonsense.
Ugh.
I almost wish I used this product just so I could boycott it.
Ugh.
Via Dr. Petra.
17 comments
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Irene Delse
January 2, 2012 at 5:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
No, they didn’t…
Urgh ><
(BTW, Stephanie, you can add "women who prefer pads" to the list of people insulted by this ad. Grrr.)
Stephanie Zvan
January 2, 2012 at 5:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And Diva Cups, as I’ve already heard on Facebook.
Alukonis, metal ninja
January 2, 2012 at 5:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
What is this I don’t even
Natalie
January 2, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Do they have any idea how many pads we have to buy in preperation for SRS?
If bleeding out of your crotch is what defines femininity, then post-op trans women get to be the most feminine thing in the universe for two months.
MrsDoF
January 2, 2012 at 5:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I kinda feel sorry for advertising folks who have to write such drivel for feminine products.
Someone already mentioned the Diva cup, but I wrote about it years ago Not Monthly anymore
Stephanie Zvan
January 2, 2012 at 5:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
That would mean I’ve never been more feminine than when I was on all but bed rest after my conectomy.
Ugh.
Sas
January 2, 2012 at 7:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wow.
The fact that bathrooms are used to discriminate against trans women all the time just adds an extra layer of skeeviness to this.
Giliell, the woman who said Good-bye to Kitty
January 3, 2012 at 3:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Best. Invention. Ever.
And probably not the most stupid ad ever, but it surely gets a honourable mentions.
I obviously don’t qualify as a woman at all, not using either of those three products and in spite fitting all the most conservative criteria.
papango
January 3, 2012 at 5:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, I don;t think ‘real women’ do anything as icky as use a tampon. They just have them in the cute packets with the nice design on them.
michaelbrew
January 3, 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Real women use tampons?! Wow. Didn’t realize I was gay.
WMDKitty
January 3, 2012 at 7:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank the PTB for Depo!
Interrobang
January 4, 2012 at 9:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Well, I’ve known I was a “fake woman” for ages.* Far as I’m concerned, the sooner we can throw both “femininity” and “masculinity” on the junk heap of history, the better. I mean, given what our culture says what those fictive constructs “women” and “men” have to be like, who’d really want to be one if they thought they had a choice? (I’m not talking about sex here, I’m talking about gender.)
____
* I have no real gender; I’m just passing as a “woman” because people treat me better than when I look how I like, and I’m tired of paying social penalties for the stuff I can control as opposed to the stuff I can’t. Never mind the gender wage gap, ask me about the disability wage gap sometime…
Prince Charles
January 4, 2012 at 9:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And *I* wish that I could be your Libra tampon.
Ooh, now there’s a marketing slogan they should have considered! And with all the financial difficulties we’ve been having on our side of the pond of late, the royal family could make proper use of the royalty payments. Heh.
Stephanie Zvan
January 4, 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I can’t imagine why you would think that would be either appropriate or appreciated.
Jodi
January 4, 2012 at 10:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thought I’m almost certain it would be bad for my health I sometimes wish I could really know what goes on inside these people’s heads when they come up with this shit. I mean seriously, honestly fucking c’mon, how the hell do you just say something like that and think it’s a good idea?
Jodi
January 4, 2012 at 10:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And don’t anyone dare tell me “It’s a fucking joke!” until you personally walk up to a total stranger in the feminine hygiene aisle and say “Hey you! I want to be your tampon! Ha! It’s a joke! Get it? Ha!” and have them genuinely laugh.
neleabels
January 6, 2012 at 1:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Jodie
It’s a reference to a leaked telephone conversation between Prince Charles of Britain and his then lover Camilla Parker-Bowles, in which he used this very phrase.