The Problem with Tampax’s Woke Instagram Agenda

Whoever is managing Tampax’s Instagram account has an interesting dilemma on their hands.

The tampon brand has recently doubled down on a social strategy that aims to be more inclusive, by recognising that “not all women have periods, and not all people who have periods are women.” This generally manifests itself on their Instagram posts as complete avoidance of the word ‘women’, referring to its target audience instead as ‘people with periods’.

When one spends too much time in a certain corner of the internet, it can start to seem like the whole world has started to believe that sex isn’t real. That it’s ‘assigned at birth’ by a haphazard doctor, randomly jabbing at keys, rather than being rooted in scientific fact.

I would be willing to bet money on Tampax’s social media manager being firmly rooted in her own social media echo chamber of earnest young people, eager to prove their credentials as inclusive, virtuous, accommodating human beings.

Of course, any decent person would hope for equality for all. But this is one particular debate which has extremely complex issues and emotions on both sides. It’s not as easy as announcing that you’ll just make tampons for ‘people’.

The comments on Tampax’s recent Instagram posts are a reminder of this:

“Stop erasing WOMEN.”

“There is a forever existing word for *people with periods*. It is WOMEN.”

“STOP buying Tampax! Why would you buy a product from a company that doesn’t understand the science behind the product!!! 🛑There are so many better brands on the market that aren’t trying to play games with science👏👏👏

One problem with Tampax’s strategy is that it’s inconsistent. Take this caption:

“Call us biased, but we can’t get enough of illustrations that show how people with periods can do everything men can do, but do it better — AND while bleeding 🙌 😉”

People rightly point out that only the word ‘women’ has been erased, while ‘men’ are still allowed to exist in this new, gender-neutral utopia. And where does this leave trans men? They seem to have fallen into both categories. But the point is that the word ‘women’ is nowhere.

This oversight indicates a naive allegiance to the contemporary cult of wokeness, without any serious critical thinking about the implications for a women’s health brand to avoid using the word ‘women’ in their marketing.

Periods are emotive for women. They’re a huge part of our lives, symbolic of so much: fertility, youth, becoming a woman, being a woman. For some of us, they are synonymous with debilitating pain and inconvenience. Period products are tied up with the feminine psyche in a way that other ‘feminine’ products aren’t: they were created specifically to help women lead normal lives while our womb linings bleed out of our vaginas. To deny that that is a female experience is to completely disregard the struggles women have faced to get to where we are today.

Young people (girls, especially) learning about menstruation need to know the facts: not a narrative designed to make 0.6% of the population feel more comfortable. Puberty is confusing enough as it is without tampon brands trying to make us think that men have periods too.

If a woman does not identify as a woman anymore and wants to identify as a man, is he really bothered about whether Tampax’s Instagram account makes it known that they cater to him, too? Does he really need the public, posturing validation of Proctor & Gamble? Does he really need everyone to acknowledge the existence of his vagina, despite his identifying as a man? God, why?

Sometimes, people must accept that they just don’t fit into the accepted norms. And that’s more than okay. I, as a left-handed person, have adapted to a right-handed world. People with amputated hands must buy gloves in pairs. Men who don’t have beards, just… don’t buy razors.

Can you imagine Gillette for men posting: Not all people who have beards are men, and not all men have beards?

Occasionally, there’s a gap in the market, where an underserved community really needs a particular product. Maybe, instead of women’s health brands trying to fall over themselves to erase the word ‘women’, they could create a brand of tampons, marketed directly to pre-op trans men? Or perhaps, someone who is so outraged by the whole thing, could take it upon themselves to do so?

As for Tampax’s social media team: it’s time to start listening. As 99.4% of your consumer base, it might be worth considering what women have to say.

Stop erasing the word ‘women’ from existence.