[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Shaming the vagina: The psychology and pseudoscience of \u201chealth and freshness\u201d marketing” header_fullscreen=”on” _builder_version=”3.21″ title_font=”||||||||” title_font_size=”42px” title_line_height=”1.2em” content_font=”||||||||” content_font_size=”19px” subhead_font=”||||||||” subhead_font_size=”24px” background_image=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TAMPON1.jpg” parallax=”on” text_shadow_style=”preset5″ text_shadow_horizontal_length=”0.18em” text_shadow_vertical_length=”-0.02em” text_shadow_blur_strength=”0.51em” text_shadow_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n
By Jensen Edwards and Olivia Robinson<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_padding=”23px|0px|8px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”27px|0px|27px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_margin=”-30px||”]<\/p>\n In the feminine care aisle of many pharmacies and grocery stores, vaginal wipes often presented beside menstrual products like pads and tampons, conveying on the packaging that special hygiene practices are required during menstruation. [Photo \u00a9 Olivia Robinson]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”27px|0px|18px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n Chicken scratch in black permanent marker caught Courtney Howard\u2019s eye when she reached for a tampon at the University of British Columbia\u2019s women\u2019s centre. \u201cGet a Keeper!\u201d was scrawled across the box. It was an anonymous plea to the medical school student and other women to eschew disposable products in favour of menstrual cups.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI tried one first when travelling,\u201d said Dr. Howard, now an ER doctor in Yellowknife. In her mind it was her only option: she was worried that tampons wouldn\u2019t be readily available in the country she was visiting and she didn\u2019t want handfuls of the menstrual product tumble out whenever she opened her backpack. The silicone solution worked without a hitch. Menstrual cups are inserted into the vagina \u2013 similar to a tampon \u2013 creating a vacuum seal that traps menstrual blood. A couple of times a day, aficionados wash the blood out of the cup and then reinsert into the vagina. Dr. Howard was unfamiliar with them before she did her research, having grown up bombarded with white-pants ads from major manufacturers that have long dominated the menstrual product market.\u00a0She went on to do the world\u2019s first randomized controlled trial<\/a>, comparing tampons to menstrual cups in women who had previously used tampons. Ninety-one per cent of participants said they would continue to use the cup, after the trial.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Since the explosion of \u201cfemcare\u201d products in the 1920s, personal care companies have framed discussions about menstrual products with shame and euphemism. With little oversight and research, unregulated vaginal hygiene cleansers, deodorants and wipes populated shelves of drug stores alongside tampons and pads. \u201cClean and fresh\u201d has become their mantra, preying on people\u2019s fears that their vaginas are breeding grounds for \u201cdirty\u201d bacteria \u2013 fuelling a $2-billion industry in North America. Pseudoscience remedies are peddled by lifestyle brands and independent Etsy sellers alike. In all the noise, legitimate vaginal healthcare needs are often pushed aside \u2013 something that some doctors and science-minded menstrual activists are hoping will change.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”3px|0px|0|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ header_font=”||||||||” header_3_font=”||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#d37400″]<\/p>\n Most packaging for vaginal hygiene products like gels, sprays, deodorants, wipes, douches are littered with words like \u201cfresh\u201d and \u201cclean\u201d \u2013 language that suggests the vagina should be odourless, hairless and unobtrusive. It\u2019s a narrative that has been peddled since at least the 1930s, when fragrances were added to menstrual pads to mask natural odours. But that doesn\u2019t mean that the additives are necessarily innocuous.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Kieran O\u2019Doherty, a psychology professor at the University of Guelph, points out that the freshness claims can be at odds with vaginal health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to a study published in 2011,<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0using feminine hygiene products can disrupt the healthy vaginal microbiome, sometimes making the vagina more acidic than its normal pH of 4.5.<\/span><\/p>\n The vaginal microbiome consists of naturally occurring bacteria, viruses and fungi that, when in proper balance, help maintain health and help protect against pathogens like sexually transmitted infections. This community of symbiotic bacteria can be affected by things like antibiotics, sexual activity and vaginal hygiene practices.<\/span><\/p>\n In a 2018 paper in BMC Women\u2019s Health<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/span>, O\u2019Doherty and colleagues were among the first to look at women\u2019s vaginal hygiene behaviours through a psychological lens. They studied commercially available and naturopathic products and their associations with the health of vaginal microbiome.<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Doherty found that \u201ca least a quarter\u201d of Canadian women have used cleansers, deodorants, wipes and other such products at some point in their lives, albeit not regularly. He concluded that the women surveyed in his study were self-conscious about having the \u201cperfect genitalia\u201d and unrealistic ideals of \u201chairless, odourless vaginas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Many of the participants in his study described feelings of shame about vaginal odour. \u201cThe bigger picture is that these products seem to be targeted towards certain insecurities and these insecurities are fanned by the marketing and the existence of those products,\u201d O\u2019Doherty said. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s more where the problem is.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″]Error embedding FlippingBook shortcode, please check the flipbook url. (https:\/\/online.flippingbook.com\/view\/1023061\/)[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ background_color=”rgba(255,81,81,0.79)” border_style_all=”none” border_width_left=”14px” border_color_left=”#827ef1″ custom_margin=”-35px|8px||0px” custom_padding=”5px|10px|5px|10px”]<\/p>\n The Newer Knowledge of Feminine Hygiene<\/em> was a small booklet advertised in Canadian newspapers in the 1920s. Women could send away to the company to gain knowledge about \u201cfeminine hygiene\u201d and \u201cpersonal daintiness\u201d and how the vagina was plagued with unbecoming bacteria. The booklet is ultimately an advertisement for Zonite, a company that sold douching products, ointments and a \u201cmarvel whirling spray.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ background_color=”rgba(188,151,58,0.79)” border_style_all=”none” border_width_left=”14px” border_color_left=”#827ef1″ custom_margin=”-6px|8px||0px” custom_padding=”5px||5px|10px”]<\/p>\n Lactobacilli <\/em>\u2013 composing of Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus gasseri\u00a0and\u00a0Lactobacillus jensenii\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 are some of the most common bacteria found in healthy vaginal environments. Lactobacilli<\/em> converts lactose and sugars into lactic acid, which helps to stave off infections. [Source : https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3780402\/<\/a>]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”11px|0px|9px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″]<\/p>\nSelling shame<\/h3>\n
What is the vaginal microbiome?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n