Haley Stodart

Material Culture
Professor McCleary
13 April 2022

The Mainstream of Menstruation Material Culture

Pads, tampons, period packages: the sound of these words and the sight of these objects

makes most Americans look down, change the subject, and feel the need to flee (either with the

objects hidden from the public eye or away from the individual holding them). Since these

products are used by half the population around the globe, one would think there would be a

sense of normalcy and comfortabilty surrounding menstruation material culture. However, in this

nation, there is a discomfort surrounding women’s hygiene and biological processes, a

discomfort “that is especially apparent in our continued reliance on the euphemism “femimine

hygiene,” a term which we often use to discuss products associated with menstruation, genital

cleanliness, and contraception. Use of this euphemism allows us to avoid any direct reference to

female anatomy.”1 Within America, female anatomy and menstruation is often talked around or

hidden away, all through the aid of material culture.

Hiding menstruation is an experience I can attest to first hand, as a young woman

growing up in the United States. For the first time in my life, I am a primary source. However,

before beginning this menstruation research, I was told by my mother that I should change this

topic, as she felt that it was “inappropriate.” She, and many others in our society, would prefer I

not discuss such a topic or material culture, and instead continue to go on as I was taught to; this

means not discussing my period, hiding my tampons in my sleeve or a small bag as I carry them

1
Smithsonian Institution, “Feminine Hygiene Products,” SI.edu, accessed March 2022,
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/health-hygiene-and-beauty/feminine-hygiene-products#:~:text=Tampons%20were%20u
sed%20in%20medical%20practice%20before%20they%20were%20introduced%20for%20menstruation.&text=Sev
eral%20patents%20for%20menstrual%20tampons,Haas

1
to the restroom, and constantly checking my backside in the mirror to ensure nothing has leaked

through.2 These challenges of hiding my period–and evidence of its products–are aided by

modern pads and tampons, objects that have changed over the years to become more discreet

themselves. Due to their value, you would think these material culture luxuries–which weren’t

available to women in the past–would be embraced and highlighted within various research

topics in the U.S. However, this is not the case, as evidenced by the limited research surrounding

this topic.

Most of the sources surrounding tampons, pads, and menstruation in general are from the

late 20th century, and are far and few between. After accumulating the available magazines,

newspapers, advertisements, and books together, I still found myself with scarce sources that

continued to use the language listed above (“feminine hygiene”), demonstrating how even after

gaining the courage to discuss the topic, these sources had to do so discreetly. Despite source

limitations, it is clear through this research that the material culture of menstruation, and the

evolution of the technology and advertisement surrounding pads and tampons, demonstrates how

America’s discomfort with menstruation has persisted despite modern attempts to normalize such

a topic.

Menstruation: The Background

Before we touch upon the material culture of menstruation though, we must first address

what menstruation is as a process and within society. According to the baseline Google

definition, menstruation is “the process in a woman of discharging blood and other materials

from the lining of the uterus at intervals of about one lunar month from puberty until menopause,

2
My personal experience was echoed through my research, especially by Elizabeth Kissling. When
discussing the way in which women manage their menstrual cycle in public, she states “Women must find easy to
take breaks away…locate or carry menstrual supplies without drawing undue attention to themselves…It was like a
whole procedure, to make sure nobody saw, that none of the guys saw,” Elizabeth Kissling, Capitalizing on the
Curse: The Business of Menstruation, (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006), 19.

2
except during pregnancy.”3 Despite its description as a natural and necessary process, the

keywords in menstruation’s definition that American society focuses on is: woman and blood.

Menstruation is a unique process because it is one of the few things that is experienced by

all women (and women alone). While not every woman will choose to get pregnant or follow the

same life plan, scholar Lauren Rosewarne notes how “menstruation traverses class and race,

sexual preference, politics, religion, and personal choice…that of the deluge of things that make

women socially, sexually, and aesthetically disparate, menstruation exists as a common

experience.”4 In addition to sharing this common experience of menstruation, women also

endure having negative perceptions–or taboos–thrust upon them due to their periods.

In their book The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation, historians Janice Delaney,

Mary Jane Lupton, and Emily Toth highlight some of these historic taboos–or concerns–with

menstruation from around the world, some of which include menstruating women being harmful

to the hunt or considered capable of contaminating growing plants.5 Despite these ludicrous ideas

taking form, one would assume that developments in scientific study and medical knowledge

would dissipate them. However, persistent concern surrounding a woman on her period

continued:

“When we move from myth to medicine, we see that even the scientific explanations for

menstruation have been colored by the same fear and explanations…We can hardly be

surprised that menstruation remained a medical mystery for so long. Those studying

3
Google, “menstruation” accessed April 2022,
https://www.google.com/search?q=menstruation&oq=menstruation&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i433i512l3j0i131i433i512
j0i512j0i433i512j0i512l3.4211j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
4
Lauren Rosewarne, Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television (Lanham, Maryland:
Lexington Books, 2012), 13.
5
Janice Delaney, Mary Jane Lupton, and Emily Toth, The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation (New
York: Dutton, 1976), 10-11.

3
 it–men–didn’t menstruate, and as these men of science pursued their objective

explorations into the female reproductive system, few (if any) thought to ask a woman for

basic facts and figures about the monthly cycle. The weird theories put forth in the

advancement of menstruation knowledge reveal at least as much about the men as they do

about the menses.”6

Despite the larger leaps in advancement regarding science and medicine–and the perceived leaps

in women’s rights and feminists movements–taboos perservere in society and American culture.

They hinder not only women’s activities but also their ability to talk openly about menstruation.

“It is acceptable to discuss menstruation only in highly limited and circumscribed ways, such as

complaining about menstruation symptoms, mocking menstruating women, or helping to sell

something related to menstruation. In these context, menstruation is either an illness to be

managed or a hygienic crisis to be cleaned up or hidden.”7 These perceptions can be observed

through the construction of modern menstrual material culture objects, which have a long, often

disregarded, history.

Menstrual Materials: A History

Starting with the pad, or “sanitary napkin” as they are often referred to in public spaces,

before the 20th century, women used a plethora of items–predominantly scraps of cloth or fabric,

but also plants and anything viewed as absorbent–to manage their period bleeding. These items

needed to be pinned up or held with special belts, and they were often reused. According to

Alejandra Borunda at National Geographic, “the [menstrual] tools left much to be desired. They

were often bulky and unwieldy, and they had to be washed and dried–which meant they would

6
Delaney, Lupton, and Toth, The Curse, 45.
7
Kissling, Capitalizing on the Curse, 1-2.

4
be displayed publicly.”8 To stray away from the bulk of external period protection, tampons

became another option, yet they had struggles of their own. According to Ashley Fetters from

The Atlantic, women in ancient cultures would fashion tampons out of wool, plants, and more.

Before the 20th century, sponges and other clothes were common, and “some of the earliest

tampons recognizable as we know them today–intra-vaginal devices made from a string and a

wad of something absorbent–were documented in the 18th/19th century Europe, but for purposes

other than menstrual management.”9 Some of those purposes included the treatment of

non-menstrual absorption, such as battle and war wounds, but it wasn’t until they were

commercialized in the 20th century that pads and tampons came into the mainstream of

menstruation use.

For pads, it would be Kotex who would bring the object to the center stage. Though

Johnson & Johnson marketed a disposable pad in the late 19th century, they were met with

limited acceptance, but the use of surgical dressings and cellucotton (an absorbent material made

of wood pulp) during the first World War to help with soldiers’ wounds spurred the creation of

Kotex pads, which used the same materials.10 The first ever brand of disposable “sanitary

napkins” to hit the U.S. mainstream, Kotex’s first box was sold in a Chicago department store in

the 1920s.11

8
Alejandra Borunda, “How tampons and pads became so unsustainable,” National Geographic, last
modified September 6, 2019,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-tampons-pads-became-unsustainable-story-of-plastic
9
Ashley Fetters, “The Tampon, A History: The cultural, political, and technological roots of a fraught piece
of cotton,” The Atlantic, last modified June 1, 2015,
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/history-of-the-tampon/394334/
10
Kat Eschner, “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads,” Smithsonian Magazine, last modified November 9,
2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/surprising-origins-kotex-pads-180964466/
11
Eschner, “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads,” Smithsonian Magazine.

5
 For tampons, it was Tampax who led the way into the mainstream. Started by Earle

Cleveland Haas, he created the first commercial applicator tampon as a way to help his friend

and wife, both of whom were active women struggling with bulky pads and intra-vaginal

alternatives, such as the ones mentioned above. Haas created a tampon made of a variation of

cotton. He then added an applicator to cover it and assist in insertion for two reason: 1) so

women did not have to touch the tampon and 2) so the women did not have to touch themselves12

Explained further by Alejandra Borunda, “members of the public were squeamish about the idea

that women–especially young women–might come into contact with their genitals during tampon

insertion.”13 Tampax– a name derived from the combination of “tampon” and “vaginal

packs–fixed this problem with their applicator, which made it possible to insert a tampon without

the dreaded self-touching.14

The aversion towards genitalia and material contact is why most tampons sold in the U.S.

have an applicator, whereas in Europe personally inserted–or digital–tampons are much more

common. This is predominantly because digital tampons are more environmentally friendly, as

they contain less plastic, which is a serious concern abroad.15 Unfortunately, the concerns of

global warming do not outweigh the desire to avoid coming into contact with menstruation (as a

process or topic of conversation) in the United States.

12
Fetters, “The Tampon, A History,” The Atlantic.
13
Borunda, “How tampons and pads became so unsustainable,” National Geographic.
14
Fetters, “The Tampon, A History,” The Atlantic.
15
Louisa Wright, “Period products: How menstruation is managed around the world,” DW.com, accessed
April 10, 2022,
https://www.dw.com/en/period-products-how-menstruation-is-managed-around-the-world/a-60776504

6
 The Mainstream Menstrual Material

After understanding the historical technology of menstrual material culture, it also is

clear why Tampax and Kotex hit the mainstream unlike their predecessors: disposability. Women

survived for thousands of years on reusable, bulky menstruation objects which were often

uncomfortable to wear and address in public. However, this state of discomfort fostered

continual adaptations, or upgrades, to the objects; in the 20th century, those upgrades became

disposable. Unlike the products used previously to deal with menstruation, these new pads and

tampons would be brand new, used once, and then disposed of, highlighting their “sanitary”

nature. This was emphasized by Kotex first, as they “gave women a medically sanctioned

“hygienic” product to buy, rather than a made-at-home solution, [and] established a precedent of

how menstruation products were marketed.”16 Part of this marketing was to advertise the name of

the company instead of the product themselves. By making their name synonymous with the

material object, they “saved women from having to publicly discuss menstruation–especially

with male shop clerks.”17

This aversion to public discussion could be seen with a Kotex newspaper advertisement

from 1924. When offering free samples of the newest Kotex product, the company states in the

ad “Don't let Introduction Week slip by without stopping in one of the stores listed below. There

you will find the KOTEX Sample Table. Each sample wrapped in plain paper. Pick up one and

put it in your bag. No embarrassing questions to ask or answer.”18 Here it is clear that “In these

16
Eschner, “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads,” Smithsonian Magazine.
17
Eschner, “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads,” Smithsonian Magazine.
18
“Free Sample of Kotex,” The Augusta Herald (Augusta, Ga.), November 19, 1924,
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053972/1924-11-19/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=01%2F01%2F1763&n
ottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F2021&words=KOTEX+Kotex+sample+Sample+SAMPLE+table+Table+Tables&sear
chType=advanced&sequence=0&index=0&proxdistance=5&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=&andtext=KOTEX+Sam
ple+Table&page=1

7
ads, menstruation is always a problem. It is a hygiene crisis that one must clean up, in secret, so

that one’s public projection of ideal femininity is not damaged or polluted.”19 It is not portrayed

as the natural process that it is, but instead an issue to hide, and these ads reinforce that in

society, further encouraging the shameful and embarrassing nature of menstruation as well.

This “don't ask, don’t tell” policy became even more commonplace after the installation

of menstrual product dispensers in bathrooms in the 20th century.20 There, a woman could

acquire all the menstrual material objects she needs away from the uncomfortable stare of men

and sometimes even that of other women. The bathroom period product storage containers–just

like the disposable pads and tampons–were additional technological tools used to aid in the

hidden nature of menstruation, demonstrating how these technological advancements came to be

due to the discomfort surrounding menstruation

Advancements in technology didn’t stop with disposable nature and bathroom storage

though. For example, as the development of absorbent materials, better designs, and anatomical

understanding progressed, the bulky nature of the first disposable pads began to disappear.

Thinner, more comfortable menstrual material objects began to emerge, including adhesive

undersides in the 1970’s and 80’s. This technological advancement eliminated the need to pin or

use special belts to hold the pads/sanitary napkins in place.21 In addition, to help adjust with a

woman’s body and her movements, ‘wings’ for the sides of the pad were invented to keep the

pad in place in one’s underwear, ensuring that the pad does not shift or bulk up and that blood

does not go anywhere it shouldn’t (or god-forbid be seen).22 Furthermore, scents became an

19
Kissling, Capitalizing on the Curse, 12.
20
Kissling, 10.
21
Kissling, 17.
22
Kissling, 17.

8
addition, were added as well, a technological advancement that actually dates as far back as

1925. As shown by a Kotex ad in the Waynesboro, GA newspaper The True Citizen,

“Kotex–deodorized–alone permits the immaculacy, the personal daintiness demanded by the

fastidious woman.”23

With this advertisement, it is clear that technological advancements on pads denote

society’s discomfort surrounding menstruation (such as the possible scent that could arise) and

how a respectable woman would do something to hide such a thing. This technology is also

continually popular, as seen by the pad in Images 5-7. Here, not only are the adhesive undersides

present, but so are the wings that contain their own adhesives.24 This proves not only the

effectabily of such technology, but the persistent concerns surrounding menstruation that

continues its production.

Technological advancements can be seen with tampons as well. As the understanding of

menstruation grew, menstrual companies made a critical discovery: vaginas were not fully

cylindrical like the tampons they were producing. According to Ashley Fetters, “Radical

re-engineering ensued. Today, while digital tampons like O.B. are cylindrical when they expand,

some applicator tampons expand into blossom or upside-down umbrellas shapes, while others,

like Tampax, expand into shapes reminiscent of stingrays or kites.”25 Companies also improved

upon the withdrawal cord, sewing it into the tampon for security and comfort upon removal.

These advancements are still present today with modern constructions of tampons. Still

23
“Free This Week Only, A Sample of KOTEX,” The True Citizen (Waynesboro, GA), May 16, 1925,
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053289/1925-05-16/ed-1/seq-7/#date1=01%2F01%2F1763&n
ottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F2021&words=deodorized+Kotex+KOTEX%E2%80%94deodorized&searchType=adv
anced&sequence=0&index=0&proxdistance=5&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=&andtext=Kotex%E2%80%93deodor
ized&page=1
24
Images 8-10, taken April 12, 2022.
25
Fetters, “The Tampon, A History,” The Atlantic.

9
following Haas original format, most tampons are continually distributed in a plastic applicator

(cardboard applicators are available for environmental concerns, but they are much less popular),

and have a woven cord, expandable nature, and are packaged in their own individual wrapping

with an easy tear side. The easy tear allows women to put the applicator back in its package after

use to hide it, and any blood bodily fluids on it, from others as they discreetly dispose of it.26

Despite the fact that these technological advancements are portrayed as helping women feel

more comfortable, they still serve the purpose of dealing with the unpleasant idea society holds

surrounding menstruation, an idea that persists today.

Stories End in a Period

As a woman living in the current world, I don’t know if there will ever come a time that I

don’t automatically attempt to hide my menstrual products when in a public space. It has become

so ingrained in me, by my family and society, that now it is an unconscious action, one that I take

without even considering the alternative. However, there are those in my generation who are not

the same. Some women today are breaking the stigma of menstruation and pushing the

boundaries by proudly showing their pads and tampons as they go to the bathroom, refusing to

get embarrassed if they fall out of one’s bag, and openly talking about their period as if it is not

an issue. There is always pushback to progress though, and menstruation material culture is not

different.

Modern advertisements, which have moved from newspaper to screen, are a good

example of such, as they demonstrate that despite the active campaign to fight against period

stigmatization, there is continued discomfort surrounding menstruation and its material culture.

In 2015, the period product company Thinx (who created a brand of period underwear) put out

ads in the NYC subway system regarding periods and menstruation using imagery of grapefruit
26
Images 4-7, taken on April 12, 2022.

10
and runny eggs to allude to female anatomy. Despite using common foodstuff as a metaphor,

Thinx was told by commuters and transportation officials that their ads were “offensive and too

suggestive.”27 Fighting back, Thinx officials argued that they were well within the subway ad

guidelines, and that they even used imagery previously utilized by other advertisements.

According to Miki Agrawal, the founder of Thinx, there were breast augmentation ads seen all

over the subway that used the same fruit–a grapefruit–to indicate that a woman with boobs the

size of that fruit were happier than women with boobs the size of clementines, for example. This

ad, which was seen in various places throughout the subway system, received no complaints: “If

[the breast augmentation ad is] not offensive to women, that’s oppressive to women…we are

using the same fruit, a grapefruit, to represent a natural time for a woman, and that’s considered

offensive to women? That is a classic example of a double standard.”28

In addition to being a double standard, this modern ad also indicates the hypocrisy or

irony that can be found in the world of marketing when it comes to menstruation material

culture. One only has to look at the packaging of period products in the store isles today to see

such a thing. Observing the same product that started it all, Kotex has a new product line now

called “U by Kotex”.29 This new line “includes tampons, pads and liners available in brightly

colored and eye-catching designs, and serves as the Kotex brand's first step in redefining the

category by encouraging women to change the conversation surrounding feminine care from one

of shame and embarrassment to one of open, honest dialogue.”30 The boxes for these products, as

27
Imogen Watson, “From gory to glory: the evolution of period advertising,” The Drum. Last modified
March, 1, 2021. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/10/12/gory-glory-the-evolution-period-advertising
28
Watson, “From gory to glory” The Drum.
29
Image 1, taken on February 20, 2022.
30
“Press Release: Kimberly-Clark Introduces U by Kotex Product Line,” Kimerbly-Clark, accessed April
2022

11
seen in the image below, also state on the back “Join us to end Period Poverty…Everyone

deserves access to period products. As the founding sponsor of the Alliance for Period Supplies,

U by Kotex makes millions of donations to ensure every person has the products they need to

live fully and freely.”31 This message is wonderful, and something I was impressed with when I

found the box. However, if you look at the pricing of these objects, they are still averaging

between $4 to $10 per box, depending on the amount of products held within.32 If a woman

needs to purchase one box for each menstrual cycle–which is not an uncommon circumstance for

some people–that can add up to over $100 per year. For women with an irregular cycle, it could

add up to even more.

Furthermore, most women will purchase more than one product, having to pay for

tampons, panty liners, cleansing wipes, etc. in addition to the pads, which increases the cost even

more per year. Understanding the costs, one can see that the amount of money Kotex charges

women to even afford their products does not match their message of ending period poverty.

Also, the reason that women continue to buy the amount of products they do–in addition to

continual societal pressures–is because modern advertisements still use the same language as

those in the early 20th century. The same Kotex box that changed its name to “encourage women

to change the conversation” is still found in the “feminine hygiene” section and says “Clean

wear” and “100% leak free.” Though these messages may seem normal or harmless, they still

denote that a woman on her period is dirty and must hide such a thing from the public.

It is clear then that menstrual material culture–which includes the pads, tampons and

packages that the nation is hesitant to publicly embrace–has changed technologically,

https://investor.kimberly-clark.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kimberly-clark-introduces-u-kotex-product-li
ne
31
Image 2, taken on February 20, 2022.
32
Image 3, taken on February 20, 2022.

12
aesthetically, and publicly by means of advertisements through the years because of America’s

continual discomfort with menstruation. This discomfort has persisted despite modern attempts

to normalize such a topic, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. However, in the

world that I dream of for my future daughters, I hope that there will come a time when menstrual

material culture tells a different story within our nation’s history.

13
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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-tampons-pads-became-uns

ustainable-story-of-plastic

Delaney, Janice, Mary Jane Lupton, and Emily Toth. The Curse: A Cultural History of

Menstruation. New York: Dutton, 1976.

Eschner, Kat. “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads.” Smithsonian Magazine. Last

modified November 9, 2018.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/surprising-origins-kotex-pads-180964466/

Fetters, Ashley, “The Tampon, A History: The cultural, political, and technological roots of a

fraught piece of cotton” The Atlantic. Last modified June 1, 2015.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/history-of-the-tampon/394334/

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1925,

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xdistance=5&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=&andtext=Kotex%E2%80%93deodorized&pa

ge=1

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te1=01%2F01%2F1763&nottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F2021&words=KOTEX+Kotex+

14
 sample+Sample+SAMPLE+table+Table+Tables&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&i

ndex=0&proxdistance=5&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=&andtext=KOTEX+Sample+Tab

le&page=1

Google. “menstruation.” Accessed April 2022.

https://www.google.com/search?q=menstruation&oq=menstruation&aqs=chrome..69i57j

0i433i512l3j0i131i433i512j0i512j0i433i512j0i512l3.4211j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=U

TF-8

Kissling, Elizabeth Arveda. Capitalizing on the Curse: The Business of Menstruation. Boulder,

Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.

Rosewarne, Lauren. Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television. Lanham,

Maryland: Lexington Books, 2012.

Smithsonian Institution. “Feminine Hygiene Products.” SI.edu. Accessed March 2022.

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/health-hygiene-and-beauty/feminine-hygiene-products#:~:te

xt=Tampons%20were%20used%20in%20medical%20practice%20before%20they%20we

re%20introduced%20for%20menstruation.&text=Several%20patents%20for%20menstru

al%20tampons,Haas

Watson, Imogen. “From gory to glory: the evolution of period advertising” The Drum. Last

modified March, 1, 2021.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/10/12/gory-glory-the-evolution-period-advertising

Wright, Louisa. “Period products: How menstruation is managed around the world.” DW.com.

Accessed April 10, 2022.

https://www.dw.com/en/period-products-how-menstruation-is-managed-around-the-world

/a-60776504

15
See Images Below

Images

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- Image 2

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- Image 3

- Images 4-7

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- Images 8-10

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19