Abstract
This article examines advertisements (magazine adverts, commercials, informational videos, etc.) for menstrual products in the U.S. over the later half of the twentieth century alongside feminist discourse between the “second” and “third” waves of feminism. Changes in both of these realms points to a correlation between academic theory and popular messaging: Second-wave feminists wanted to minimize periods in order to liberate themselves from male superiority, and mid-century menstrual products campaigns minimized the menstrual experience to show that the products could help women “pass” as non-menstruators. Third-wave feminists encouraged women to talk about and explore their menstrual experience, both the good and the bad aspects of the process. Late twentieth and early twenty-first century period product advertisements embraced the menstrual experience (the blood, the cramps, the uncomfortableness) and marketed their products as the path to an easier period.
Recommended Citation
Weis, Courtney J.
(2025)
"Selling Women “New Freedom”: Connections Between Twentieth-Century Menstrual Product Advertising and Feminist Theory,"
The Millennium: Vol. 1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/millennium/vol1/iss1/3
