{"id":11358,"date":"2012-07-03T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=11358"},"modified":"2012-07-03T09:54:37","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T08:54:37","slug":"actipearls-and-having-a-happy-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/07\/03\/actipearls-and-having-a-happy-period\/","title":{"rendered":"ActiPearls and Having a Happy Period"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cHi, nice to meet you. You’re looking great today, really confident
and independent, good for you! A shame about the smell, though. I mean,
really, everybody’s noticed it. And we all know it’s coming from,
ahem,
down there<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no, no, it’s OK, don’t get offended, it’s not
your fault. You can’t help it, I understand that. Your genitals are
disgusting and they stink, especially when they’re bleeding and
there’s nothing you can do about it. You didn’t ask to be born
with such a terrible curse, and nobody expects you to take responsibility
for it. Help is at hand, though! If you give me lots of money every month
for forty years of your life, we can help! Because believe us, you need
it…\u201d<\/p>\n
I will admit up front that I am not a trained marketer, but it’s
plain to see that the above isn’t the most convincing of sales
pitches. Unfortunately, it’s a far more honest pitch than the
current campaign for Always sanitary towels<\/a>, which proudly declare
the addition of \u201codour neutralising ActiPearls\u201d as the next step
in the evolution of “feminine hygiene” products. What the ads
coyly decline to mention is that they’ve taken lessons in odour
neutralisation from the Lynx school of \u201csynthetic chemical stench and
hygiene are THE SAME THING.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is straight-up vagina-shaming. It’s insulting and inexcusable.
And giving me yet another reason to be pissed off when I’m already
simmering with ire about the massacre going on between my legs is
inadvisable. So congratulations, P&G: you’ve lost my custom for
the next thirty years.<\/p>\n
The packaging claims to \u201cneutralise odours rather than just masking
them\u201d. This is at best a delicate glossing over of the truth.
It’s impossible to tell whether \u201codours\u201d (those vaginal
FIENDS!) are neutralised or not because of the perfume.<\/p>\n
Oh God, the perfume.<\/p>\n
I appreciate that scent perception can be a highly subjective thing, so
I’ll attempt to keep the description as general as possible.
Cloying, synthetic, sweet florals with an undertone of disinfectant, false
and stereotypically feminine. It hits you as soon as you open the
packaging, before even unwrapping the first towel. A scent that lingers
for hours even if you switch to an unscented brand immediately after using
one of these. A scent that does not mask menstrual blood, but mingles with
it into a nauseating aberration.<\/p>\n
What I Expected<\/em><\/strong>
\n