With their new ad campaign, Thinx has made all of us think. What would the reality be like if everyone menstruated?
Yes, if even men had their periods! Please note that I understand that some men especially trans men get their periods even now.
Throughout this article by men I am trying to refer to the vast majority of men who don’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QEDZkj_Riw
The simple answer to the question on the video and also the one I agree is that maybe we’d be more comfortable with it.
This makes us think, so why are we not? and what would the world be like if everyone menstruated?
I have laid out some of the possible reasons how people could be more understanding:
Perhaps it would no longer be a taboo:
People still consider menstruation to be a taboo in so many places.
There are places in the world where women are considered to be impure during that time of the month.
People think that worshipping or even praying while you are on your periods is unethical.
Although in the western culture it is more open and people seem to be talking about it.
However, women are still not provided a safe and comfortable environment.
They shy away from talking about it. This makes them hide away the problems that they face while on periods.
There are so many cases while women don’t open about gynecological problem that they might face.
So, maybe if everyone including men had periods, it won’t be such a taboo after all.
Maybe the advertisers wouldn’t shy away from using red colors:
We know that the advertisers of sanitary products don’t use red color in their ads
. It is mostly because people might think that it is disgusting.
This is due to people not being comfortable with the idea of menstruation.
Slowly this mindset is changing but maybe if period was accepted globally, we would never see period ads with blue ink.
More development and advancements in sanitary products:
Still in many parts of the world, women are forced to use old clothes and cottons in place of hygienic sanitary products.
Women in many countries cannot find much options for these products.
Maybe if even men had periods it would be more common to find it in every shops.
Even the types of products that would be there might have been different.
Maybe men would need a different type of tampon or maybe there wouldn’t have been a tampon at all.
However, we know that this would have taken a completely different direction.
Maybe feminine hygiene products wouldn’t look so feminine after all:
We know how marketers promote their products to female.
They use so called “womanly” colors while packaging their products to attract women.
They even use patterns that are mostly associated with women in their products as well as packages.
So, wouldn’t this be different if sanitary products were as common as food products and that it didn’t need to be labelled as feminine.
Or perhaps, we would end up having two different colors for denoting men and women products at supermarkets like face washes and shampoos.
So many young girls wouldn’t have been dead:
Turning to a more serious matter, there are women who die every year due to menstruation.
When people deprive them of the basic rights when they are menstruating it might not be possible for them to maintain their hygiene.
Still in many places of countries like India and Nepal, people regard women as untouchables when they are on their periods.
So, as a result cruel actions like keeping them in a separate shelter, not letting them touch water sources, not letting them pray happens.
There are so many sad stories of women dying because of periods even because of the negligence towards it.
We could avoid these deaths if everyone was aware and taught well on these matters.
Sports would take men’s periods seriously:
Many of the times periods are just a laughing matter to men. But if they actually had to go through it every month, everyone would take it seriously.
Maybe there would be a room for men to rest while they had period cramps. Most of the men would receive breaks for when they had their periods.
Everyone would take PMS seriously:
It isn’t a news that people don’t regard PMS as a big thing.
Not every woman experiences severe PMS but there are signs here and there.
People often laugh when we crave for food and end up stuffing ourselves with unnecessary deserts
. It might also bug our bosses and teachers when we ask for leaves due to period cramps.
Only if menstruation wasn’t a taboo, maybe everyone would understand that PMS is an actual thing.
Perhaps men would also end up sharing their feelings more often and accept that they are in pain once in a while.
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