Nowadays "anti period mess" products advertise being able to wear your bikini, and your white pants all the time which isn't much better.

8 out of 10 women of the better classes...

Wowzers. The ad is classist, too.

mmm....cellucotton....
If that doesn't sound fresh and clean and hygienic and completely vagina-obliterating, I don't know what does.

I saw that too, L-K. I'll clarify in the post.

Dude. I love stupid vintage ads. I love them with a horrible, horrible passion.

The "better classes" thing was totally my favorite part.

http://www.mum.org/lysol1.htm

"Immaculacy" is just a great word. I'm surprised we don't hear it more these days.

Dude. I don't know what's better:

"better classes" or "hygenic authorities"

(I didn't know such authorities existed!!)

Dude. I don't know what's better:

"better classes" or "hygenic authorities"

(I didn't know such authorities existed!!)

I found this on StumbleUpon the other day and laughed so hard. The drama in the italicized "at times" just cracks me up.

The funniest stupid ad in history was one that Wheatena placed in, of all places, True Story magazine. I don't remember the whole text, but it began with "Some wives do it, but I wouldn't date!" and continued with how a good wife should give her husband a healthy, hearty breakfast of Wheatena before he went off to work.

The best part: there was a coupon that asked the people at Post to send you "one of your friendly little boxes of Wheatena." I've always wondered if this meant that the boxes were trained to wish you a cheery good morning before you started cooking, or what.

Ann, do you use any sort of anything while you are menstruating?

im·mac·u·late (ĭ-măk'yə-lĭt) pronunciation
adj.
1. Impeccably clean; spotless. See synonyms at clean.
2. Free from stain or blemish; pure.
3. Free from fault or error: an immaculate record.
4. Having no markings.

Because I think you are being a hypocrite to call this ad sexist. Classist yes. Vintage definitely.

But if you don't agree with this to some degree, "warrants immaculacy under any and all conditions" then I do not understand why you use feminine hygiene products.

I think you have fallen into the trap of needing something to blog about and so generating some false outrage.

We have plenty of things that should spark genuine outrage that don't. Drumming up phony outrage is a mug's game.

I know, "immaculate" is kind of a funny word here . . . I like that the standard of immaculate-ness is so low here. I mean, I wearing jeans and a tshirt and there is a hole in one of my socks, but on the other hand none of my uterine lining is staining any of it, so Mission Accomplished! I am declaring myself Immaculate on those grounds.

While I agree that calling the upper middle class the "better class" is annoying, it's obvious to me why they mentioned class at all - obviously, buying new pads every month, and only using them once each simply wasn't financially feasible for the lower classes. So the statistics that would apply for 'women in general' would probably be more like 1 in 10 . . . maybe. They're also clearly trying to appeal to girls whose families have disposable income. Silks? Motoring?

Do we know what year and publication this was from? I remember seeing an ad for Midol from the twenties that said it was for "headaches".

@Throatwarbler Mangrove -- I don't want to speak for Ann but, I saw this post as cause for a few chuckles, not "false outrage."

Anyway... old ads are always silly in hindsight, but I am grateful for how much easier we have it, especially with periods. Can we find an ad for the old menstrual belt system??

Throatwarbler Mangrove, while I don't think this post is supposed to warrant "outrage," I'm not sure how you could see this ad as anything but sexist. The emphasis on daintiness, the implication that menstruating means you're "handicapped." Even the word "immaculate" doesn't really mean the same thing as "keeping your clothes clean and blood-free." It has implications of value judgment; think "immaculate conception."

I think this ad is classist. I read that only wealthier women were able to afford these when they first hit the market. Although later on, over the years they became more popular as more women were able to afford them. Interesting thing is, it's still a lot more expensive to buy disposables every month than it is to use washable cloth pads or something like "the keeper" or "diva cup".

I also agree that just because feministing posts something, doesn't necessarily mean it's always supposed to spark "outrage", (Mangrove). This is more amusing than anything, although the emphasis on being immaculate, dainty, etc. is certainly sexist, but then again what else can ya expect from an old Kotex ad.

oh man the class thing is what just puts it over the top and really brings the lolz for me.

you know, those poor women just have to be content with being....not dainty.

i took a class in american advertising 1880-1930 and found it an incredibly interesting topic. so much of american culture was arguably born in that period and goes hand in hand with the marketing of the day.

the whole history of advertising feminine hygiene is so bizarre and freakish.

"Interesting thing is, it's still a lot more expensive to buy disposables every month than it is to use washable cloth pads or something like 'the keeper' or 'diva cup'."

Good point about cups that can be kept in for 12 hours in a row.

I'm not so sure about cloth pads, though. *If* those need to be changed as often as disposable pads, is this feasible a feasible option for everyone who menstruates? At my job the women's bathroom has private stalls but someone else could see me washing a pad in the sink. Would any workers out there be worse off at work if seen doing that...?

I feel that this is strikingly similar to current ads.

"At my job the women's bathroom has private stalls but someone else could see me washing a pad in the sink....?"

Mina, Oh no, I NEVER wash my pads right there in a public restroom. What they recommend, and what I do, is to carry a little pouch or baggie for dirty pads, then fold the pad in on itself and keep it in the pouch until you get home. At home you can then throw it in the wash or soak it. For me they have never smelled, nor has leaking ever been a problem. And I'm a heavy bleeder too (w/ Endometriosis).

You're right that the washables/cup are not for everyone. I guess it depends on your own preference, but I recommend at least giving it a try if you're interested, maybe buying a package just to see. A lot of things I initially thought would be a problem for me (washing, public restrooms, would they leak, thickness, etc.), wasn't even an issue once I started using them. They turned out to be a dream. I've nothing but good things to say about the reusables.

My favorite element of this ad is right at the top, in headline type: YOUR FEAR

Heh. Back then, the marketing guys sure were subtle, weren't they?

I think my favorite part is where the ad promises that once you use this product, you can live your life "unhandicapped."

'Cause, you know, having a period is a special kind of retardation that effects half the population. Too bad they haven't cured vagina yet. Terrible disease.

Anyone know what the cotton pads of the time were like, the pre-Kotex products? I don't know that we should assume they have the fit of cotton pads today. When I was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, women really did have a hard time during their periods because all they had were rags that they put in their underwear. (Disposable pads were available in the cities but too expensive for the women in my village.) They didn't really stay in place and so women wouldn't leave their houses because they didn't want to get caught out with blood running down their legs, staining their clothes. And blood is hard to get out, so that's a big deal when you only have a few sets of clothes. Not to mention the embarrassment.

So if that's what American women were dealing with pre-Kotex, the notion of being "handicapped" by your period makes a little more sense.

Other than using the by-today's-standards hokey euphemisms, this ad isn't that sexist.

My mother, a teenager during WWII, worked in a small town drugstore at the end of the war in a rural area where Kotex was just making its way onto the market. She loved to tell the story of a dating couple from the outlying farm area who came into the store one day, dazzled by some of the new products. The Kotex was kept in boxes on a high shelf above the counter -- you had to request a clerk to get them for you. The young man of the couple spotted them, read the name out loud slowly, and said to his girlfriend "Must be some kinda new breakfast cereal."

Mama said they used rags before Kotex came along, pinned into their underwear. My great-aunt Lee, born 1901, said in her mother's day, long skirts hid the fact that blood did, in fact, run down their legs often.

During the late 1970s, I was one of the dyke generation who employed art sponges (with dental floss tied around the middle to pull them out) as re-usable tampons. And yes, sometimes I had to walk out of a stall to a public sink to squeeze out the gore and rinse it before re-inserting it. Generally cleared the bathroom, as you can guess.

I'm really excited to learn that I can now motor while on my period!

Not related to the subject but, I thought I'd tip you off to todays toothpaste for dinner comic.
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

geeky_girl: Nowadays "anti period mess" products advertise being able to wear your bikini, and your white pants all the time which isn't much better.

I honestly don't have a problem with the suggestion that a woman may at times desire to wear a bikini or white pants for reasons unrelated to patriarchy, but be unable to do so on her period, and subsequently desire a means of removing that restriction.

UnBecoming: I think my favorite part is where the ad promises that once you use this product, you can live your life "unhandicapped."

'Cause, you know, having a period is a special kind of retardation that effects half the population. Too bad they haven't cured vagina yet. Terrible disease.

I have long suspected that menstruation would be unambiguously considered a "disease" but not for the perception that it is somehow more "natural", and therefore better, than any of the many other completely natural sources of human suffering. There are many things considered diseases that are far less inconvenient than menstruation.

Although the product advertised here probably did not come close to completely fixing that, and most women are not "handicapped" by menstruation (though based on first-person accounts from some women I know, I assure you that it can be enough of a problem for some to be considered "handicapping" if untreated, at least for a few days per month), I don't think it's sexist in itself to say that menstruation does, in fact, constitute a problem with the human condition that ought to be corrected if possible.

Indeed, one wonders if the main reason that it isn't considered something that ought to be "fixed" is because it is a problem faced only by women. On that idea, a friend of mine once commented, "If men had to suffer from menstruation, it's damn sure we'd have a permanent cure by now! With no side effects, either! While we're at it's, let's throw in reversible, just in case anyone ever gets nostalgic about their first cramps."

Obviously that's something of an exaggeration since for a permanent cure for menstruation to be truly without side-effects would require it to not affect reproductive ability, which is a level of bio-engineering beyond even modern technology, but you get the idea.

I started writing my comment before chingona posted. If it was all that bad, then the use of the word "handicapped" does become quite reasonable, even for those lucky women whose only symptom of menstruation is the, as meggars put it, gore.

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't it a bit ableist to say that referring to a period as handicapping is sexist? (Note that I'm not referring to the original post but to some of the comments here.) Having a disability does not mean that one is less of a person; having a physical handicap does not mean one has a mental handicap, and there are various varieties of both.

ekswitaj: Maybe I'm wrong...

Well, that goes without saying.

...but isn't it a bit ableist to say that referring to a period as handicapping is sexist?

You're taking your anti-ableism too far. For example, (and I'm not saying you're actually saying something as overtly absurd as this example, but it illustrates the point) the same reasoning could as well result in:

Person1: "Fact: Members of certain asian ethnic groups are genetically programmed to say, "Ching chong nip nong fong," at random intervals."
Person2: "I would assert that belief in your alleged 'fact' constitutes racism, Person1."
Person3: "You're charge of racism is itself ablest, Person2. Having a verbal tic doesn't make you less of a person."

Person3's second sentence is true, but also completely irrelevant.

The whole bleeding-from-your-vagina thing is interesting. On one hand, I don't want to share it with the world. I really don't. I know there are women out there who embrace their periods, but to me it's annoying, sometimes painful, and, well, RED. I feel like it's this cosmic joke on us girls. Couldn't menstrual fluid at least be clear? I mean come on. That was my big question when I started my period. Why does it have to be RED?!

I interviewed a gynecologist for a healthcare article I was writing for work, and he said that doctors still aren't 100% what the biological advantage of shedding the uterine lining every month is. That just made me want to SCREAM.

I'm happy that there are products out there that minimize the amount of time I have to spend thinking about/dealing with it. But I agree that the "ick" factor in a lot of advertising gets out of control. We don't *choose* to have periods, so why don't people just lighten up and deal with it. Women bleed from their vaginas. It sucks, but there's not really a way around it.

Alice, I'm not really sure that your example makes the point that I'm going too far. Having a liquid come out of your body is, if you don't have a good way to deal with it, a handicap to some degree, so we're not exactly talking about something that's untrue. Thus, objecting to referring to it in that way seems to buy into the stigmatization of those with disabilities.

Accepting that it is a handicap, which I do but which seems to be disputed here at present, I'd agree that claiming that calling menstruation a handicap is sexist probably is ablest, since it amounts to saying, "How dare they dehumanize us by saying we're disabled," but in that case I'd rather criticize the position for simply being detached from reality, since such a position requires one to act as though menstruation is not as much of a problem as it is.

But, I can see one criticizing it on the grounds of anti-ableism as well. I suppose it's just never been a cause I've payed much attention to and so I don't register instances of it as readily as I do sexism and racism.

Storm Clouds Over Party Shoes... super-ridiculous book that has a ton of these "old-fashioned" ads. Check it out...

Just to clarify, when I said that women were somewhat handicapped by their periods, I meant that in the sense of limited or restricted in their activities. I know that on occassions when I have been caught off guard by my period and have used some folded up toilet paper, "motoring" is one of the activities that causes the most shifting of the folded up toilet paper, particularly since I drive a stick shift, and back in the day, all cars were stick shifts. It's right up there with walking. When readjusting after a drive or a walk, the folded up toilet paper often is nowhere near where it would need to be to actually catch any blood. While I'm a tampon woman myself, nowadays, thanks to modern consumerist culture, we have a pretty good choice of products, disposable or reusable, that do a pretty good job of letting us get through the day without big blood stains spreading over our crotches. And they are products that people have put thought into, not haphazard solutions that each person is inventing based on products around the house. And that's a good thing, even if the marketing of those products is over-the-top.

Now, those Lysol ads that recommend its use for douching, those are horrifying.

I'm on birth control now, and I don't take the placebos I just keep taking the regular pills, so I don't have periods anymore. But that's because when I did, they were very much a handicap. I had to take 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every 1-2 hours, just to avoid being bed-ridden and vomiting from the pain. I would take three to four times the maximum recommended dosage every day during my period, just to be able to function at almost-normal levels. If I didn't have ibuprofen, I couldn't have lived my life. So, I agree - some ladies are lucky and don't have particularly troublesome periods. Mine were HELL - and a handicap.

30 years ago I moved from a country with no ads for consumer products to the bewildering U.S. of A.

There were several products advertised on TV of very obscure nature, but the applications were clear: they were used by women for running through green meadows, playing tennis, and feeling fresh. And indeed, now that I think about it, all these women were past puberty and pre-menopausal, but ordinarily it is not much of a clue.

A bit like advertisement of a yellow liquid that is used to put it in front of you in a transparent bottle, to gaze at the rolling ocean waves while doing nothing else. Something that kills the odor of rotting algae, I presume.

This ancient ad is actually informative.

And talking about the assumptions made by advertisers, what are the needs of viewers of SFi Channel? Allergy medicines and toilet cleaning products, but of course!

The name is Obama... 8 in 10 women of the better classes have adopted him. He will mean much to you... will make a great difference in your life. Going on with old ways is a folly.

You ask for him by name. Discard as easily as a piece of tissue.

I interviewed a gynecologist for a healthcare article I was writing for work, and he said that doctors still aren't 100% what the biological advantage of shedding the uterine lining every month is. That just made me want to SCREAM.

There's a female biologist who hypothesizes that "boys have cooties"--menstrual blood seems to rid the uterus of macrophages deposited there by semen...lovely thought, eh?

Dainty? Feh. I just finished a farting contest with my boyfriend.

Because we all know that being female "warrants immaculacy under any and all conditions." That includes during your period, ladies.

I know I'm being pointlessly pedantic, but I'm not sure that you know what 'warrant' means. The advert is saying that the product warrants, i.e. guarantees, immaculacy. The sexist assumption, obviously, is that women should be immaculate.

Because we all know that being female "warrants immaculacy under any and all conditions." That includes during your period, ladies.

I know I'm being pointlessly pedantic, but I'm not sure that you know what 'warrant' means. The advert is saying that the product warrants, i.e. guarantees, immaculacy. The sexist assumption, obviously, is that women should be immaculate.

Because we all know that being female "warrants immaculacy under any and all conditions." That includes during your period, ladies.

I know I'm being pointlessly pedantic, but I'm not sure that you know what 'warrant' means. The advert is saying that the product warrants, i.e. guarantees, immaculacy. The sexist assumption, obviously, is that women should be immaculate.