WaterAid, a U.K. organization, recently created a spoof commercial imagining what it would be like if men had periods. The commercial is definitely chuckle-worthy, but it highlights an important cultural problem. WaterAid also created a survey about social attitudes about menstruation. (Check out the video at the end of the article.)
Of the 2000 survey participants, 78 percent responded that they thought the world of sports would change if men had periods.
This commercial takes the ultra-masculine concept of sports marketing and applies it to menstrual products. It starts with this encouragement, in a deep, masculine voice:
“When you’re in the zone, you need to focus.”
The commercial goes on to describe their “sports tampon”:
“This triple-molded tampon, based on a formula developed by NASA scientists, is our best ever.”
And then a man emerges with a satisfied smile from his bathroom stall with his pack of “Manpons.” Another man is looked dejected at the counter, and the “Manpon” man offers him the superior tampons. They exchange meaningful looks, then the second dude feels the same confidence as the first.
This is a clever parody, spoofing both the silly tampon commercials that are already being made, and all the over-hyped masculinity of “sports performance” products for men.
But the reason WaterAid made this commercial is more prosaic: it is a plea to help the one-third of women who have no access to toilets or running water during their periods. They have created a petition to help raise awareness of the need for clean, safe water for everyone.
The idea is that if boys and men got periods, there wouldn’t be the stigmas and social challenges in accessing necessary healthcare for the menstrual cycle.
(And, yes, there is an issue right now with lack of clean water for folks in Flint, MI. It’s a huge problem. And it serves to remind us how vital clean water is. There are people in the world who have never had access to clean water. And that’s also a huge problem.)
WaterAid’s goal is to make clean water available to everyone in the world by 2030. This is a laudable (although lofty) goal. And if chuckling at a men’s tampon commercial helps them to achieve increased awareness, I’m happy to help.
H/t to Upworthy.
