Saturday, August 28, 2010

Commercials for "Feminine Hygiene Products"

Is anyone else annoyed by that new Vagisil commercial that equates "feeling confident" with having a scentless hoo-ha? (I would have embedded the clip in this post but I couldn't find it anywhere.) I wish that I could write that this is one stupid commercial dreamed up by one misogynistic ad exec but unfortunately, I've spent the last thirty-three years watching a barrage of commercials that implied that women can only feel good about herself if her nether regions are "fresh".









Seriously? I know that eighty kazillion studies have proven that unrealistic images of the female body hurt women's confidence. I know that real life sexist/discriminatory treatment from parents, teachers, employers, and even strangers damage a woman's faith in herself. I know that being the victim of rape, intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, and other types of gender-specific violence can wreck a woman's self-esteem. But a vajayjay that probably doesn't even smell bad? C'mon!

Newsflash! If a woman doesn't have an infection and practices good personal hygiene--you know, washes herself with soap and water everyday--her genitals still aren't going to smell like fresh cut roses. They aren't supposed to.  And guess what? A clean uninfected penis has an aroma to it, too.

That being said, I wonder why there isn't a market for Penisil wipes or washes.

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