Kotex ad emphasizing shame, 1992. Similar Kotex ad in Malaysia.
See Women's Greatest Hygienic Handicap
Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, a French ad featuring just a man!, and ads for teens.
See Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

 

Kotex menstrual panty pad ad with a man and no woman,
The Netherlands, 2000

I know of only three other ads for menstrual hygiene featuring just a man. Two are for the French Nana and still puzzle me (here and here). The other is almost a mirror of this one but for Malaysia - a Muslim country! And he smirks. But in general I think it's healthy to connect men with menstruation although not in the sense that only a man could cause such misery, which led a Welsh woman to write me, "When I was in school we used to say 'Henry was here,' as only a man could cause such pain and inconvenience." (See Words and expressions for menstruation, Wales section.)

The man says, "Unbelievable. . . so thin, now I get why I don't see anything."

Margot van Mulken kindly sent me this ad, one of scores, along with many photocopies as part of her research for her article "De verpakking van maandverband: De ontwikkeling van retoriek in tijdschriftadvertenties" in Tidschift voor Genderstudies, 2005-1.

NEXT: Malaysian ad featuring just a smirking man
Kotex ad emphasizing shame, 1992 - See Women's Greatest Hygienic Handicap

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