Real Men Buy Tampons, Right?

As a woman, I’m often ambivalent about going to a store when I need feminine products, but I happen to be married to a guy who LOVES going for me. (And this is not just a perk of marriage; he was cool with it when we were dating.) The more personal the item is the better.

Me: Can you get me some tampons? Him: Sure, No Problem.

Me: What about some Vagisil? Him: Absolutely, I’d love to.

Me: Oh and pick up a pregnancy test. Him: Wait, what?

Kotex tampons is asking fertile ladies to share their tampon ad if they have a brother, husband or friend in their life that is willing to go buy tampons or pads for them. Do you have a bro in your life that knows when you yell out, “…with wings too” will come home with the right pads and not a bucket of KFC? 

While explaining my spouse’s affinity for female product purchases at dinner parties makes for funny conversation, he also loves getting stumped in the aisle when it comes to specifics. He’s always explaining how he wants someone to come bail him out as he contemplates cardboard applicator over plastic, scented or non-scented. Not because he’s trying to help me out, he just finds other people’s awkwardness over tampons hilarious. Because to a man like himself, there nothings shameful about a women’s period or a man shopping for tampons.

It would be nice if all men shared my spouse’s tampon hutzpa, alas there’s probably still one too many who are afraid a super absorbent tampon might soak of their manliness. That’s what makes Kotex’s ad so interesting, it’s trying to turn macho attitudes around by letting them know, #RealMenBuyTampons. (Opening up the demographics of who buys tampons won’t hurt business either…) While I’d much rather see this as a funny advertisement then Pinterest post or Facebook share, it is potentially effective in reducing the stigmatization men have in regards to a woman’s period. Gone are the days when women have to stay indoors or out of the water because their Aunt Flo is in town and men have to avoid women because it’s that time of the month.

It is, however, time men supported women by riding the crimson wave and assisting the ladies with store purchases or whatever we might need when we’re too busy to go because we’re getting an education, holding down an important job or being our awesome selves. While I’m perfectly capable of going to the store, it’s nice to know that my partner in crime is always willing to help out and that when it comes to personal women stuff, he’s not too macho or afraid to help. All hail men who buy tampons.