I’m always confused as to why men (and even women sometimes) get all grossed out at the very mention of ‘periods’. And no, I’m not talking about that dot at the end of a sentence. I’m talking about the red, gooey blood that comes out of us women every month. Aunt Flo, on the rag, shark week, time of the month, surfing the crimson wave, women’s trouble and menstruation – you know, that thing that gets men really freaked out for some reason.
For years men have been trying to avoid talking or thinking about our menstruation. You’d think that if they accidentally mentioned it our period will come flowing out and brand them for life. The easiest way to get your male boss off your back is to say you have ‘women’s problems’ and watch him shrink a little and slowly back out of the room. For someone who proudly bleeds every month, I really don’t get what the hell the problem is. So it really thrills me to bits when I come across ads such this as one from HelloFlo below:
That’s right bitches! The period fairy exists! She’s just been pushed out of history, but don’t you worry. Herstory remembers and we’re out to find a she-ro to make it vagical again! Bam!
This ad comes after the viral success of their previous campaigns that also took the topic of menstruations and blew it out of the park. In Camp Gyno when a pre-teen girl gets her ‘red badge of courage’ she uses it to get popular and dole out advice about periods as the self-styled ‘Camp Gyno’. “For these campers, I was their Joan of Arc,” she says. “It’s like, I’m Joan, and their vag is the ark.”
In First Moon Party you see another pre-teen girl carefully applying red nail polish onto a pad trying to pass it off as her first time when she feels left out that she’s the only one amongst her friends who hasn’t gotten her ‘flow’. Of course her mom discovers her lie and decides to throw her a First Moon Party complete with vagina cake, ovary apples and pin the pad on the period game – and let’s not forget the vagician!
I mean, have you heard a kid use the word ‘vag’ before? Or have you ever seen any tampon/pad commercial that used the colour red when trying to show us the period ‘blood’? Neither have I. Which is what makes these commercials brilliant. They speak the truth, and see, it’s not gross at all – like they say in the Period Fairy commercial, “Instead of talking about it never, let’s talk about it always” and make it the norm. So no one has to fear the period.
It’s come to a stage so dire that HelloFlo founder Naama Bloom struggled to find an investor who was interested enough to back her start-up. So much so that she had to bootstrap it and do it on her own. Even Cindy Gallop – founder of MakeLoveNotPorn and IfWeRanTheWorld – tweeted her displeasure of male VCs/investors not funding the company:
Can you believe male VCs/investors won't fund brilliant #femalefounder @naamabloom @helloflo? https://t.co/Jg8YBYgJje #changetheratio
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) May 12, 2015
Like @makelovenotporn, @naamabloom @helloflo funding challenge is 'fear of what other people will think'. NEEDLESS. https://t.co/OWLHsx7Ncr
— Cindy Gallop (@makelovenotporn) May 12, 2015
#fundfemalefounders RT @nicolecardoza @cindygallop @makelovenotporn @NaamaBloom @helloflo Ridiculous. I'd give you all my money if I had any
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) May 12, 2015
Well, she wasn’t alone in her delight and displeasure. So far the ads have blown up all over social media racking up the views (and hopefully sales) for HelloFlo with the running hashtag being #MakeItVagical.
It’s about time that we stopped fearing the vagina, unless it’s to fuck it. The vagina is indeed a vagical creature that not only gives and receives pleasure, it also bleeds and doesn’t die, creates and births life and takes a pounding like fucking champ.
