A bridge too far ...?

My first post in Chat, and I’m afraid I have to lower the tone! If we hate(d) having our tampons on show, what about this - the Free Bleeding movement. helloclue.com/articles/culture/whats-all-fuss-about-free-bleeding-why-does-it-matter

No, no and again ,no.

Revolting!

Hello grannybeek.
Well, that makes for interesting reading.
I'm at a loss to know what to say about what I read..
None so queer as folk!

Oh, you can buy underwear that printed with "Not this week" and so on ...

I'm surprised people aren't wearing them superman style, over their trousers.

If a "person " bleeds, that person is a woman .no matter what they style or identity themselves.

It never bothers me to be seen with Tena pads in my grocery bag, or to watch their advertisements on the television.

At least the ads have made incontinence more "normal" to people. I remember trying to talk my elderly mother into using Tena pads for her (very obvious) incontinence, but she'd never heard of them and didn't want to use them under any circumstances. Perhaps if they'd been more visible / normal to her , she could have accepted them instead of putting hand towels on her chairs to catch the leaks.

It would be very selfish to stain someone else's sofa! I would not pee or poop in my pants why would I bleed everywhere?
If I have a nosebleed I would not ignore it and allow blood to mess up others' belongings!
There is no shame in menstruation and I hate all that nonsense in some cultures of keeping women out of circulation during the time they menstruate. I know thst many women suffer because of menstruation & lack of tampon/ towels/ cloths etc. but that is not a reason for women who do have access to sanitary towels etc abandon them in some sort of misguided sisterhood!

I also think it wrong to mess up other people's things but shopping for sanitary items doesn't bother me at all and I don't care two hoots where it lands in my shopping bag. Why should normal human functions be so secretive? OK I accept doors on toilet cubicles for example but shopping for menstrual products? I don't get the problem

Surely free bleeding is unhygienic and I don't like my laundry to look dirty before I put it back on. That goes for food stains, grass stains, etc. Nothing to do with being squeamish about blood (although it smells horrible when left for any length of time) but just basic hygiene. Oh, and it doesn't matter where the blood comes from, it just makes your clothes look dirty.

Poppyred or anyone else who wants to see Tena for men advert.

ITV HUb, Endeavour, Cartouche, first advert break.
( I've not been looking specially, just happened to be watching it now and remembered this thread!)

Morse was incontinent???

Not interested in the freeflow - seems inconsiderate of others' seating and wasteful of clothing.

But being open about periods and incontinence products makes sense.

Merlotgran ??

Thank you ILovecheese x

TV advertising for sanitary stuff started in 1971. A fact I remember well as I saw one, aged 16, whilst sitting with a new boyfriend and his family having Sunday tea around the telly. It couldn't have been more embarrassing for all concerned.

When I had my first p****d my Mum told me I had to stay away from boys, to not climb trees anymore and to stop whistling! I thought my world had come to an end. I gave up the tree climbing eventually but still whistle loudly when I am doing my carpentry work. I soon realized that I had joined the secret world of female bodily functions and resented it bitterly. Even to this day I could never discuss or hint at these functions with my husband or male doctors. As for the advert of the group of young women cycling talking about having an opps moment, why would any women think this is natural or a matter of course? Come on girls if you are having 'trouble downstairs' (still can only discuss this in euphemisms) get to the doctors and ask for a prescription of hormonal treatment to clear it up and do your pelvic floor muscles as this is not something we have to put up with. Leave the oppsies for the cat!!!

How patronising can you be Hilly60? I do my pelvic floor exercises, I have hormone treatment and still have difficulty. I have no problem in discussing it with my doctor, my husband or on here. If I had an allergy which caused my nose to run all the time, nobody would think anything of it so I'm not sure whey it should be any different for my bladder.

I even used Innovo to try to improve my bladder weakness (was lucky enough to be chosen here on Gransnet for the opportunity to use and review it). Whether or not it strengthened my pelvic floor muscles or not, I can't honestly say, but for me there was no noticeable improvement in the number or frequency of 'oops moments'!

What a shame I am sorry to hear it didn't work for you icanhandthemback. I am lucky it worked for me and now I can weight train and do high kicks to my hearts content. How patronising is that? X

Just like to add that there are pads/ pants available for men as well, although rarely see adverts for them.
I personally wouldn’t want any personal items in my shopping bag to be on show, Hair remover, anything for dentures , personal hygiene , covers up grey products, potions for stomach , indigestion & definitely not the small bottle of gin !

I think at work, he’ll would have frozen over before I openly discussed being on my period or carried openly my Always to the staff loo.

I once employed a female worker who mentioned this once, my facial expression must have made it plain that female solidarity did not mean sharing that unless it made you ill.

I defy anyone to assure working women that if you are open, some bloke on the quiet isn’t going to use it to undermine a woman’s work decision by saying to other blokes in the office ‘’You know she was on her period that week, don’t you?’’.

OMG, how things change! When I was a little girl my Mum asked me to go and buy some fire lighters. For some unknown reason I thought it was an euphemism for sanitary towels! You should have seen her face when I returned with a box of Dr. White’s

I have to be honest I prefer to keep things like that to myself. I don't even like to see them advertised, but perversely I'm grateful that they are, as I know about things like tena lady - I'm still too embarrassed to buy them though! I once had to explain to a (male) supervisor in a call centre why I had been unavailable to take calls for so long and I had to tell him I had an unusually heavy period and had flooded - I was mortified, but I am pleased that employers are being encouraged to be a bit more understanding about things like periods these days.

I once got out of a parking ticket by telling the traffic warden (male) that I had had to dash and find a loo as my period had started unexpectedly. He was completely unembarrassed, as was I.