The History and Controversy of Women using Tampons

Hi everyone. So I know this topic is a little weird, but my little sister wrote a paper about women using tampons and the history and violence surrounding this issue. A lot of the information I didn't even know and I was shocked by the violence many women experience in cultures where tampon use is not really accepted. Below are excerpts from my sisters paper and I'm curious if any of you have heard about this before...

While 70 percent of American women use tampons, only 100 million of the world's 1.7 billion menstruating women do. In Asia and Latin America, two of the most populous parts of the world, only 3 percent of all women use tampons.

[T]here is evidence of tampon use throughout history in a multitude of cultures. The oldest printed medical document, papyrus ebers, refers to the use of soft papyrus tampons by Egyptian women in the fifteenth century B.C. Roman women used wool tampons. Women in ancient Japan fashioned tampons out of paper, held them in place with a bandage, and changed them 10 to 12 times a day. Traditional Hawaiian women used the furry part of a native fern called hapu'u; and grasses, mosses and other plants are still used by women in parts of Asia and Africa.

Apparently, as time passed, tampons went underground. By the 1930s, when commercial tampons became available, some women were already making their own "out of surgical cotton, cutting strips to size and rolling them tightly for insertion, or they bought natural sea sponges at cosmetics or art supply stores and trimmed them into reusable tampons," Friedman writes. "But these women belonged to an exclusive margin of society; they tended to be actresses, athletes, or prostitutes--all dubious professions, in the eyes of 'respectable' women."

Tampons and other menstrual products continue to be controversial. The [London] Times Online ran a story on May 7, 2006 entitled "Celebrities Back Tampon Rebels of Zimbabwe," which tells of Thabitha Khumalo, who "has been arrested 22 times, tortured so badly that her front teeth were knocked into her nose and had an AK-47 thrust up her vagina until she bled." Her crime? Protesting the critical shortage of tampons and pads in Zimbabwe. When economic problems there caused tampon maker Johnson & Johnson to leave, the price of tampons skyrocketed. A box of twenty currently costs about $16 U.S. in a country where the minimum monthly wage is $32.

The article's author, Christina Lamb, tells us: So desperate is the situation that women are being forced to use rolled-up pieces of newspaper. Zimbabwe already has the world’s lowest life expectancy for women--34--and Khumalo believes these unhygienic practices could make it drop to as low as 20 because infections will make them more vulnerable to HIV. “It’s a time bomb,” she said. The shortage is forcing schoolgirls to stay at home when they start menstruating.

Violence Against Women

I began thinking back about our class discussion on violence against women after getting an email from my sister (it's listed below). It's sad that we live in a culture where women have to be repeatedly warned about these types of dangers and how unsafe it is for women to walk or be out alone at night, etc. As a kid (and still today) I remember thinking how unfair it was that my sisters and I were warned about what can happen to girls, but never heard anyone caution my brothers.

One instance distinctly stands out in my mind... it was early evening in the summertime and I had to drive (I was 16 at the time) to the pharmacy by our house. It took only about 3 minutes to drive there and about 8 minutes to walk so it was very close, in a good neighborhood, and I'd been there many times before at later hours than this. As it was, my dad just happened to be home that night and insisted that my younger brother go with me and implied it was for safety or 'just in case'. Now my independent streak was of course a little insulted by this, not to mention that my brother and I were not very close at the time and I found it rediculous that he was going because he was not only younger, but much, much smaller than me. Needless to say I was a little irritated that my dad insinuated that because I was a girl I needed a guy (even if he was younger and smaller apparently) for safety reasons. How sad that women in our society have these threats... and to think that ours is nothing compared to some other countries and cultures!!

I'd be very curious to hear if anyone else has experienced similar situations or if any guys feel that I'm off base here and that guys also have to be careful or get 'warnings' as they are growing up.

So here is the email that my sister sent me...

Because of recent abductions in daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation... This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips ,forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.
1 . Tip from Tae Kwon Do :The elbow is the strongest pointon your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guidein New Orleans If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM .Toss it away from you.... chances are that he is more interestedin your wallet and/or purse than you,and he will go for the wallet/purse.RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car,kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the holeand start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their carsafter shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit(doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and thisis the perfect opportunity for him to get inon the passenger side, put a gun to your head,and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR ,LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE. If someoneis in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF,repeat:DO NOT DRIVE OFF!Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car.Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seatthey will get the worst of it .As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your bodyin a remote location.
5 . A few notes about gettinginto your car in a parking lot, or parking garage: A.) Be aware:look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor ,and in the back seat B.) If you are parked next to a big van,enter your car from the passenger door .Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the womenare attempting to get into their cars.C.) Look at the carparked on the driver's side of your vehicle,and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alonein the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk backinto the mall, or work, and get aguard/policeman to walk you back out.IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevatorinstead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be aloneand the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gunand you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target)4 in 100 times; And even then,it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ.RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always tryingto be sympathetic: STOPIt may get you raped, or killed.Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking,well educated man, who ALWAYS playedon the sympathies of unsuspecting women.He walked with a cane, or a limp, and oftenasked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle,which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point:Someone just told me that her friend hearda crying baby on her porch the night before last,and she called the police because it was lateand she thought it was weird. The police told her"Whatever you do, DO NOTopen the door." The lady then said that it sounded like the babyhad crawled near a window, and she was worriedthat it would crawl to the street and get run over.The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way,whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."He told her that they think a serial killerhas a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coaxwomen out of their homes thinking that someonedropped off a baby He said they have not verified it,but have had several calls by women saying thatthey hear baby's cries outside their doorswhen they're home alone at night. Please pass this on and DO NOT open the doorfor a crying baby ---- This e-mail should probably be taken seriously becausethe Crying Baby theory was mentioned onAmerica 's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiledthe serial killer in Louisiana

Made of Honor

This Friday I saw the movie Made of Honor. It was a typical chick flick. Two great guys the girl has to decide between. The man that she is engaged to is Scottish. As they as getting ready for the wedding day there were many different tradtitions they went through the weekend before the wedding. One of them I found very interesting. The men had to go through a bunch of different strength tests. Who ever won the tests...won the girl. It seems like fun and games but that kind of stuff really does happen. Another thing I find funny is that it is always the man doing the work. It's the typical I'm a strong man...you're a weak woman...you need someone to help you and I'm strong. There were some other things in the movie I found interesting and had some gender connections to it.

The Politeness Theory

In general women are more polite than men especially in arguments and when seeking compliance. I guess I think this is true. My times when I have had a confrontation with a girl they are very polite and usually backdown or minimize the situation as much as possible. Being polite can be good but it can also be bad. It's good because people think of you as a nice person and you keep a good face making people like you more. It can also be very bad. You might not always get what you want because you are trying to be polite so you end up doing whatever the other person says to do...even if that's not what you want. There are some women who can remain polite while being aggressive. This is what our society is teaching our young women to be as they go out into the real world. They should stand by what they believe in while maintaining a positive out look on life and other's opinions.

Romantic Relationships

Julia woods talks about the different models of affection and needs of both men and women. She says men are more instrumental and women are more expressive. Men need autonomy and women need connection. With that we think that men aren't as "into" relationships as women. We also think of women being the more romantic ones. In another one of my communication classes we talked about how men are actually more romantic. They are the ones who do the romantic things like send the girl flowers or chololates. It also talked about how women are more satiflied with the romantic side of the relatioship than men. In a way this does make sense. When you think of Valentines day you think of the flowers and chololates usually both associated with being given to the women. What do men usually receive? Many times women have a hard time thinking of a gift for their man so they end up getting something that isn't as special for them. This isn't because they don't love them, it's because there is that general rule that the man should send the woman flowers and chocolates.

After that lessons I started to think more about what we had talked about that day. In the end I felt that women have more romantic hopes and men have more romantic reactions.

Do you think men or women are more romantic?

The Rules

A few days ago I was talking to my partner. We were talking about the rules, specially the rule on when to call back after the first date. I told them that we talked about how one of the rules was to wait about 5 days to call. They thought htis was crazy and I agreed. We both thought that the person would lose interest if or think that they lost interest if you waited that long to call. As we were sitting their we came up with our own set of rules. Since we're already together it was more so for those who are fresh to the dating scene. We thought if you really liked the person and wanted to hang out again, then you could call the next day or wait two days. Any longer than that and we think you're out of the game. If you had fun but want to remain friends, you should call with in the next week or so. If you had a horrible time then either delete them from your phone book or put them in the never call category.

Jealousy

The other day in one of my classes we were talking about jealousy. As we were going throught the powerpoints, one of the bullets said women use jealousy as a tool more than men. I thought this was interesting. Would we all use jealousy the same amount? Don't both genders have the same amount of jealousy? Apparently not. It said that women use it more time than men do in order to make the opposite "want you more." Women have more of a tendancy to make their man jealous. They do things like go on a date with someone else, say they're ok with something and then use that same situation against them later on, and let them know that they should be put number one in their life. Now I know there are some people who do this but I wouldn't say one gender over the other. What do you think?

Unpleasentness

Why is it that women need to please everyone, or when something that is causing controversy is talked about the topic is down played. it seems to me whenever I hear about situations as these, women try to act all nice nice when they are upset with the situation or actions of someone else. Women seem to not like confronting unpleasant situations. am i wrong or is this just my perspective?

Spring clothing choices

One thing that is hindering some women's communicative effectiveness is one aspect of their non-verbal communication--their choice of clothing. When the spring and summer seasons come along, the clothing choices for many women get more and more scandalous.

It is important to understand that people's impressions of women are not based soley on her verbal communication, but also on her nonverbal communication. Some people may interpret those short shorts as "I'm easy". You may think I am a chauvinistic pig for saying that, but think about it: Would you show up for a job interview in your pajamas? You need to dress for the impression that you want people to have of you, both in social and professional situations. The same can be said for men, but it is much less common for men to wear revealing clothing than takes away from his professionalism. So, in short, be mindful of what you wear. You are always communicating, wheather it is verbally with your speech or nonverbally with your gestures or clothing choices.

Gender Conflated everyday

I find myself constantly using generic wordage to describe things or ask questions. I find it very hard to be self-conscious about which gender specific descriptions are correct. What can i do to change and promote sensitive word usage to others. I want to be "politically correct" but also careful not to fall into what society believes to be ok. Is this a good goal or is it not that big of a deal? idk but one small thing at a time adds up.

HomeDepot

On March 6^th we talked in class about Passing and the 5 D’s…distancing, dodging, distracting, denial, deceiving. I had a teacher last semester who to the best of my understanding and past experiences was a lesbian. She once told a story about how her and her “friend” were at HomeDepot and she hit her head on something … and on and on… What I am getting at here is that she didn’t say her partner or anything and there was this catch in her voice when she said my “friend” I feel bad for the lady. It would suck to have to do that all the time. I hope there comes a point when she nolonger has to do that. Has any one else seen or even done something similar?

Levi Jeans

Has anyone seen the Levi jeans commercial where the guy pulls up his pants and a phonebooth pops up with an attractive women in it. So he pulls his pants down and then yanks them up and the girl and him walk off together? Well, have you seen the Levi Jeans commercial where the guy pulls up his pants and an attractive GUY pops up and the same process goes on for the remainder of the commercial except it's a guy. Here is the link to the youtube video. http://youtube.com/watch?v=bB90Vkyqrts The only TV station that I have seen the gay levi jeans commercial is Bravo. My opinion is that there is a different demographic of people that watch Bravo so that is why this commercial is on Bravo and not on the normal primetime television stations. Does anyone else have an opinion about it?

Marky Mark!

In class on the 22^nd we talked about women in the media and how Calvin Klein objectified women. Well are they glorifying Marky Mark of objectifying him too. I don’t mind looking at the add myself but I would have to say they seem to be playing the show it off game here. Who is this targeted to? Men so the can look like this. Women so they will buy it in hopes that their men will look like this. Or gay men because they want to see it, buy, and look like it…?

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One Stall Rule

We all have heard about the nonverbal rule for men on how they are not supposed to stand next to another male when going to the bathroom. No one ever talks about why this is the way it is and why there has to be at least a stall between another man. It's never taught to a man that if there are three stalls and two are being used, you must wait until someone is done and then use their stall instead of the empty stall between them. Also, why is it that it is acceptable for women to go to the bathroom in groups, but when men go to the bathroom, they go alone? Why do we have different standards or rules for different genders when we all do the same exact thing in a restroom?

HUGS...

What is it with guys and hugs? Why is there this thing with shaking hands? Can a guy not hung another guy and have it be okay. What I hate the most are the situations where you don’t know if it’s a hug or a hand shake and you do the juggle and end up doing both awkwardly. I have this friend that loves getting hugs but I never knew this because he never said anything till just recently. He admitted wanting one but not saying anything because he felt uncomfortable. Why? Why has society deemed it not okay for guys to hug?

Please read: Final thought on women in the workplace

Women can be effective leaders; there are studies and real life application of that statement. The common beliefs found in society about the effectiveness of female leaders are completely unacceptable, and lacks any proof. Women need to have a bigger role in the professional environment, meaning higher-level managerial positions and effective polices to promote equal rights to promotions.

Women need to realize the expectations that peers and subordinates hold them too. If these expectations are not respected or breached, the leaders’ ability will become hindered. Equal respect and democratic leadership will enhance the leaders appeal, effectively increasing the ability of the group to accomplish goals. With gender education will come increased awareness and understanding of society’s pressures on gender expectations. This awareness will also decrease the negative feedback and will help eliminate the gap between perception and actual level of competency women face in the workplace. These ideals will need to be reinforced by policies and empowerment provided by male peers. With the enhanced understanding by both sexes, the workplace will become an equal opportunity for each individual to accomplish career goals and ambitions.

Ads on Facebook

Has anyone noticed yet that the ads on Facebook are now gender/sex specific. Facebook caught on. I was talking to a friend about it yesterday and she loudly proclaimed “yeah I always get adds fro music I like and shoes…what’s with that. I was wondering why.” Has anyone else noticed the on their Facebook account? I have.

Discrimination

The "Workplace Communication" study also highlights the glass ceiling found in organizations in the professional environment. Women seem only able to reach a certain point until their advancement slows due to the perceptions found in the media and common beliefs of society. When women harshly criticize each other and feel that men are stronger leaders, it is very difficult to advance because of all of the negative feedback. This discrimination seems to bypass gender lines and point to women being discriminated against by everyone not just men, as most may believe. It is important that women realize the negative forces against them. The ability to lead effectively starts with the confidence to continue pursuing positions of higher authority, responsibility and leadership. When the attitude and the increased awareness of the groups expectations female leaders will be better equipped to meet both the expectations of the group and the organization.

Donald Trump analysis

Workplace Communication article by Kinnick and Parton (2005), studied the show The Apprentice and the application of leadership and interpersonal skills to win tasks. The ability to effectively lead a team in a focused direction to meet a goal and has good leadership qualities, would makes good business managers. The study looked at the individual competitors and the analyzed their effectiveness according to Donald Trump. This study also analyzes the affects of the cultivation theory, a theory that explains the cumulative effects of mass media messages and how it shapes our views about what the world is like by providing constant and stable examples of a distorted made up reality and another study found exposure to stereotypic commercials spoiled woman’s aspirations in future leadership roles and woman who saw the gender stereotypic commercials tend to choose support roles rather than leadership roles in group situations (Kinnick & Parton, 2005.)

This study affirms the media effects theory that often misleads individuals by representing fictional perception of workplace norms, values and behavior, becoming the model for these individuals on how to act in real life. The study found that during the boardroom scenes that women were twice as likely to be criticized on interpersonal skills then men were, while men’s poor listening skills was the only interpersonal skill criticized. Both of these attributes are stereotypical of the genders, leading to the conclusion and affirming the shifting standards effect.

Small Group analysis

Democratic style of leadership was the most popular type of leadership, the type of leadership most men use as leaders. While women tended to pick an autocratic style of leadership. The style choice not only affected the morale of the group but also the competence rating of the leader. The article stated that men affirmed the belief of men being aggressive and women passive, and that women were most often the writers/secretary of the groups. The two conclusions from the small group analysis, seems to confirm the stereotypes that are believed by as a society, and doesn’t allow for abnormal gender roles.