The world keeps getting stranger. . . .

In what is clearly about semantics and not about truth, it appears that some marketers of tampons are widening their reach to include not just women.  Ah, but you say, what men would be interested in tampons?  Those who identify as men but who have female reproductive organs or those who are not quite sure what they identify as but have female reproductive organs.  The advertising battle is about money and if accepting the confusion over gender is a ploy for sales, then it appears some manufacturers are not above marketing to the quirks and curiosities of the current gender confusion.

“Periods aren’t just an issue for women, as trans men and non-binary people may also have a womb and periods," says a Finnish maker of tampons.  They have come up with “Tampons for Men,” sold in a navy blue box that says “For Men” and “Struation” wrapped around another side, reading “For Menstruation.”  The company wants to “raise the issue of genderedness of hygiene products and anxiety related to menstruation in trans men” because “for trans men menstrual pain is not just physical pain,” stating that “93 percent of trans men have experienced menstrual-related gender dysphoria.”  I would suggest that 100% of trans men have experienced gender dysphoria.

Tampax, an American company, campaigned on this several years ago “Fact: Not all women have periods. Also a fact: Not all people with periods are women. Let’s celebrate the diversity of all people who bleed!” Project Untaboo shared on Instagram that “Period equity means standing for all people who bleed.”  Callaly, a British company, has a campaign called “Tell the Whole Bloody Truth” to highlight the narratives of “people with periods” who represent a range of disabilities and gender identities.  The companies have no real interest in the dysphoria but if they can find a profit in it, they will accept whatever lies work in the marketplace. 

We live in an age in which the truth hurts.  The truth is that all of those who are interested in these products have female reproductive organs.  Until very recently, that alone was enough to classify them as women.  Only now in our so-called age of enlightenment have we passed over the obvious to accept as truth the odd, the strange, and the invented.  A sideline of all of this is that it further confuses those who are already confused.  No man uses a tampon.  Only women.  But the blunt truth of this will soon be lost as advertisers accept the imagined over the reality and jump on the bandwagon of profit with a willingness to call people whatever they want to be called so long as they purchase their products.  Such pandering is not uncommon or unusual to the marketplace but things are definitely getting stranger and stranger.  If you don't think this is happening, goggle tampons for men.  You will soon be able to get them at Amazon.  They deliver free if you have prime.