Empower! It’s Time To Normalise That Time Of Month
With campaigns like Kotex Malaysia’s #SheCan project, high school girls all over Malaysia can learn how to manage their periods with dignity.
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Dirty, disgust, shame, even fear are some words that have been associated with a woman’s period.
The history of menstrual taboos has been around for a long time and across nearly all cultures. Many of the world’s major religions refer to a menstruating woman as “unclean” and suggest isolation during that time of the month.
Unfortunately, the stigma continues to manifest. And with stigma, comes the embarrassment and silence that harms women.
100 years on and brands still struggle to market and embrace periods
The world’s biggest feminine care brands, Kotex and Tampax, have been trying to market their products for around 100 years and still struggle to break the taboo of periods.
In a visual feature by marketing and advertising industry publication Campaign Asia, marketing feminine care was steeped in euphemisms that play into the shame and embarrassment.
For example, a Tampax ad from 1936 marketed tampons as devices “worn internally”.
The vagueness in feminine care marketing continued decades on using phrases like “in complete comfort”, “free yourself to be yourself”, “save your beach day” referring to a woman’s period.
It wasn’t until 1985 where our very own friend Courtney Cox used the word “period” in a TV commercial.
Thanks to Monica Courtney, all the elusive phrases finally revealed a name.
As ground-breaking as it was at the time, girls are still reluctant to talk about periods.
Normalising periods one emoji at a time
The lack of conversation about periods has resulted in what is called ‘period poverty’.
Period poverty is defined as having a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints. It even has a direct link with self-perception and mental health.
In Malaysia for example, an average pack of 16 sanitary pads costs around RM10 and a pack of 16 tampons costs RM28.
Although menstruation is a natural biological function for girls once they reach puberty, period products are not often regarded as a basic necessity which means a family whose income has been hit by the pandemic will likely disregard it as the priority is to put food on the table first.
In an effort to end the shame and eradicate period poverty, an addition to the emoji library was made through an online vote by Plan International UK in 2017 for what a period-themed emoji should look like.
Two years later in 2019, the winning emoji – a red droplet symbol – was launched.
Lucy Russell, head of girls’ rights and youth at Plan International UK, told the BBC that the silence around periods has had “a negative impact on girls – girls feel embarrassed to talk about their periods, they’re missing out, and they can suffer health implications as a consequence”.
Why do we need to talk about menstruation?
Being a young girl myself once, periods can be embarrassing to discuss.
Imagine being 12 and asking your father for money to buy pads. At that age, you don’t even dare to tell him who you’re crushing on at school.
In summary, communication and proper knowledge are vital for girls to be able to talk to their families so that they are properly cared for.
It’s time to empower
Popular menstrual hygiene brand Kotex Malaysia has launched their #SheCan campaign to empower high school girls all over Malaysia to manage their periods with dignity.
The aim is to educate 100,000 high school girls in 100 schools about the importance of menstrual hygiene, mental health and body positivity, in a bid to help fight period stereotypes within society.
For far too long, girls have had their aspirations and goals hindered because of their periods. As a brand that champion’s women’s progress, it is our priority to help put an end to this stigma. Building on the success of the Kotex Hygiene Talks in 2020 and the theme of this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day, we want to help break the silence and stigma around menstruation. More importantly, we want to support today’s high school girls on their journey to become tomorrow’s generation of confident women,
– Radhika Agarwal, Marketing Manager for Kimberly-Clark Malaysia
Play games and learn
Kotex Malaysia has built a microsite that gamifies as a way to engage today’s digital-first generation of girls.
They have engaged with influencers Cupcake Aisyah and Kashika Selvam to share their period experiences within different levels of the game itself.
Through the collaboration with these influencers, who resonate strongly with the current generation, Kotex aims to break the stigma about periods and educate young girls on the importance of talking about these issues openly.
If you or a friend or family member want to join in on breaking period stigmas, visit the #SheCan website at www.kotexshecanproject.com.
The campaign is recognised by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and by participating in all three game levels, you could win your high school a share of the RM100,000 Kotex #SheCanFund which would go into building better learning facilities like e-learning equipment.
Additionally, high school girls from participating schools will also receive free sanitary products to further highlight the importance of period hygiene.
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