Most people who menstruate use some form of menstrual hygiene product monthly, be it sanitary pads, tampons, or menstrual cups. Tampons in particular though, seem to carry their own connotations, different from other products. The plastic applicator tampon is an object both easily recognized and at the same time, often hidden in American culture. It carries with it sometimes conflicting connotations of convenience, independence, shame, femininity, hygiene, necessity, and luxury. To explore these encoded meanings, one can examine the history of menstrual products, as well as their significance as a cultural artifact today.
The ideas of convenience and independence are key when examining tampons. During WWII in the United States, women were spending more time being active, and working, outside the home. The convenience of the tampon allowed them to being more independent (Fetters, The Tampon, A History). This concept is still drilled into women in contemporary commercials showing young women playing sports, riding bikes, or generally being active while on their period. MaryEllen T., female, 60 years old, recalls, “I was probably in middle school when I started using tampons. The pads were a pain – you used to have to wear the belts. The belt would pinch the heck out of you while you were sitting in class.” She mentioned how pads often leaked, and girls were limited to what they were able to do. However, I also associate the idea of independence with the time I spent with Maasai people through my job. Many Maasai girls in Kenya were missing school on days they were menstruating, and were falling further and further behind in their academics as a result. After a small non-profit organization made access to these products more readily available, their community saw a much higher rate of girls attending and staying in school.
Tampon use can also almost serve as a rite of passage. Even men are aware of this, especially if they are raised in a household with women. In an interview, Fred M., male, 31 years old, stated, “To me the tampon means maturity/adulthood. As a kid there were always pads in my house as my mom and sister used them. Once my sister turned 16 or so she started using them and they always looked foreign to me.” I can recall the transition many girls made from pads to tampons in middle and high school, and the idea that it was somehow the more “mature choice.” For many, the idea of young girls using a tampon is taboo. Today, it is slowly changing. As the cultural understanding of the concept of virginity is changing, people are becoming less uncomfortable with the idea.
Shame is also a complex idea associated with tampons. Not only is the mention of menstruating in general often thought of as taboo, but people have associated tampon use with negative connotations from the start. Because tampon use is associated with menstruating, the feminine reproductive system, and puberty, these connotations further become associated with those as well. When tampons first truly emerged in the American market during the 1930s, “A lot of people argued that [tampon use] was not only inappropriate because it might break the hymen, but it might be also pleasurable and might be a way for girls to experience orgasmic pleasure (Fetters, The Tampon, A History).” This is still a concept held on to by people today, not just in the United States. A 1994 Tampax commercial plays a “rock and roll” theme which says over and over again, “Ain’t nobody’s business.” The emphasis is not on the comfort, or effectiveness of their product, but rather how easily concealed it is. Click here to view the ad.
Shame can also be felt by menstruating people who use tampons, but do not fall inside the typical gender roll of femme female. One individual I spoke with stated:
“When I see a tampon, I associate that object with having to sneak it in my sleeve at work and walking to the bathroom to use it. The experience is being a female bodied person in a male dominated space and having to hide that I’m menstruating because it’s socially taboo and somehow feels embarrassing (especially as a non-binary masculine person).”
–Max K, non-binary, 27 years old
Max is not alone in this feeling. Menstrual products, including the tampons above, are almost exclusively marketed to femme, cis-women, and do not consider their other clientele. “[Considering other genders in the design and use of menstrual products] includes creating safe environments in bathrooms (the sound of a pad or tampon wrapper opening could put the safety of trans men in danger) (Kosin, Getting Your Period is Still Oppressive in the United States).” The femininity that is encoded with tampons is troubling to those who need them, but do not identify with that signifier.
Tampons are just that – a necessity. For people who menstruate, tampons as menstrual products are the best way to safely, hygienically, and comfortably go about their lives. However, like many products designed for women, and associated with femininity, tampons are treated as a luxury item. All menstruating people in the U.S. pay a sales tax on these items when buying them at the store, but people living in poverty have it even worse. “SNAP and WIC classify pads and tampons alongside “luxuries” like pet food, cigarettes, and alcohol (Kosin, Getting Your Period is Still Opressive).” Menstruating people who are incarcerated have to fight even harder for this necessity. “A 2015 Correctional Association of New York report detailed a practice at one prison in New York which required menstruating prisoners to show their dirty pads as proof they needed extra. (Kosin, Getting Your Period is Still Oppressive).” The image of the tampon signifies to those people something entirely different than those who have them readily available.
The tampon, as a cultural artifact, brings to mind the myriad of contradicting feelings surrounding menstruation, femininity, and female bodies. It is ease, comfort, and convenience, while it is also oppression, shame, a necessity, and a luxury. People of all genders see meaning and significance when seeing the image of a tampon. They are a part of our modern experience that would be vastly different without them.
Fetters, Ashley. “The Tampon: A History.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 1 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/history-of-the-tampon/394334/.
Fred M. Personal Interview. Sept 25, 2018.
Kosin, Julie. “Getting Your Period Is Still Oppressive in the United States.” Harper’s BAZAAR, Harper’s BAZAAR, 3 May 2018, www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10235656/menstrual-period-united-states/.
MaryEllen T. Personal Interview, Oct 1, 2018
Max K. Personal Interview. Sept 27, 2018
Photograph of box of U by Kotex Click tampons. U by Kotex Click Unscented Tampons Regular Walgreens Co., Sept. 28, 2018, www.walgreens.com/store/c/u-by-kotex-click-unscented-tampons-regular/ID=prod6022328-product
Tampax Commercial (1994). YouTube, YouTube, 7 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZTN_i8FrZ0.
When I was teenager I would go into my sisters room to steal a pen or pencil. She hated when I did that, so she purposely put tampons in the tin with the pens so I would grab one by accident. In hindsight, after reading your post, I recall being grossed out. I never understood why. I wish someone would have explained to me then that there was nothing to be grossed out by and that by having those feelings I was probably adding to the insecurities of my sister. Plus, I would have had more pens.