Analyzing the gender stuff going on in it is fascinating but it’s not the only thing that we should be concerned about. The commodification of health that’s going on here is very important. Especially since this is targeting children not older teens or women. This is geared toward girls 12 and under or what advertisers call tweens. The role that marketing like this plays in reproductive health education is extremely troubling. Stuff like this or only a little less terrible is what passes for health education in this country now and the consequences are not insignificant. Even in the comments criticizing it you can see it. Critiquing this as if it is legitimate health education material is misguided. It’s attempting to sell a product that is all and that is why it is so very wrong on so many levels. what’s next? Selling pain medication to 10 year old girls for their cramps and bloating on the disney channel with a celebrity spokesperson? would that be too far? Marketing anything to kids is fucked up and they are continually pushing the limits of what is acceptable in society. We’ve really got to push back against this stuff like we did with marketing cigarettes to kids instead of letting them co opt “health education” into their product propaganda. Stuff like this should be illegal. We need to educate girls and boys about their bodies and how to care for them correctly. That includes their psychological and social development that goes along with it.

I think it’s a little misleading that Zack, who has had a vagina for all of nine days, uses a tampon for the very first time like it’s no big deal. Even though my parents did a good a job of explaining what was going on with my body, my mother explained how to put in a tampon and I read the instructions that came with the box, it was difficult the first few times. Zack has only had a vagina for 9 days in this scenario, and there’s no mention of trying to find the right angle or even the right hole. I think this might be misleading to girls using a tampon for the first time.

Tampon companies try to downplay the difficulty of inserting them so teens will use them. While it gets easier, I would have been freaked out if everyone told me it was easy the first time I used a tampon, and then I had trouble inserting one.

I think the best place to start is with the construction of the closet seeing as that is where Zack wakes up. Throughout the blog Zack maintains the privacy necessary to conserve his “secret” but there are four exposure fantasies. In the first one he tells a nurse and she responds professionally, then his French teacher who is indifferent, and he shows himself to his sister who “always wanted a sister.” In these three situations Zack is in control of the situation and there are supportive reactions. Adversely there is the fantasy of Zack being pants-ed by a teammate in front of the entire soccer team, this results in the male couch saying, “that explains his defensive skills” and the boys laughing at Zack. Through his dreams we see that Zack has a concept of gender where women are naturally sympathizing and men are cruel.

Alienation is another key concept presented in the blog. In the beginning we see Zack alone outside the nurses office, he tells us who he is but makes a point of refusing to tell us where this places him within a theoretical non-space that cannot be identified aside from the clarity that he is in high school. He continues to tell us that something weird happened to him and emphasizes it by stressing “really weird” creating a divide so that even the audience is not inclined to relate to him. He actively interacts with very few people throughout the clip and the majority of the time he is alone. There is the common barrier of the unapproachable love interest. The choice of French class as the course that we witness not only sets him in a controlled isolating environment but the language barrier further alienates him from relating to the people around him, particularly because he informs us that he is bad at French. Then there is soccer practice where Zack is by the bench drinking and observing the boys from a distance, this distance is exaggerated during the pants-ing fantasy and as Zack looks back at the field while leaving. I’d like to note that his jersey number is 0, this attaches a sense of worthlessness and also holds vaginal symbolism. Followed by the fear of exposure in the locker room and his decision not to go to the party. Clearly he is destined for isolation.

The internet search is particularly interesting because it isolates Zack on a trans-historical global scale. It is also particularly frustrating because Zerophilia certainly would have appeared (Tampax is clearly giving themselves a bit too much credit for this idea they find so novel) and also an FTM experience could be relatable to him. This scene makes any resources that Zack could have unattainable and also makes this sex-change concept seem particularly unreal to the audience. There is almost an implied logic that if it is not on the internet then it must be fictional.

And finally we get to a few of the blatant sexist dynamics within the clip. The visual is particularly striking given the presence of uniforms, obviously a device to emphasize the gender divide. A more detail oriented question to consider is why are all of the boys out of dress code while the girls are immaculate? The majority of the ties are worn lose and the boys shirts are un-tucked (unlike the girls), this discrepancy reeks of privilege. Within the plot we follow the transition of Zack’s identification as “a normal guy” to his final ability to somehow relate to women through his period. For some reason this change begins with inexplicable politeness implying that women are inherently nicer than men. This progresses into baking brownies and watching a romance with his sister suggesting that sibling rivalry does not exist between sisters. And the next scene depicts weight gain and clothing issues as an inexplicable phenomenon that would startle any man. Then Zack is immersed in a cooking channel while having yogurt for breakfast before snapping at his best friend while it is clear that Zack had no good reason to be late and his friend was justified in calling Zack out on it, but that can be attributed to his new “feminine” mood swings. As said above, the fantasy of Zack’s soccer coach makes a joke about his lack of defensive skills when Zack’s vagina is exposed. This shows through Zack’s consciousness a sexist notion of women’s athletic abilities and can also be considered a sexual threat if we consider Zack to be defending his vagina that is exposed to the entire male soccer team (recall the dual notion of his jersey number being 0). Zack further describes himself as feeling “gross” related to his experience of his period to come and also drawing on his inability to shower. The guys are clean and Zack is gross by relating to women. Finally his period comes and he has the brilliant idea of sneaking into the women’s bathroom to get the glorified Tampax tampon out of a machine (as if those things were EVER filled). With his leak plugged Zack confidently asserts that if half the population can deal with having periods then he can too with the optimistic conclusion that “they seem to be doing pretty well” solidifying his inability to recognize any of the sexism prevalent in this twelve minute clip.

There are many reasons why people might think periods suck that have nothing to do with society and everything to do with the fact that having blood run out of you is at the least inconvenient and messy and for many people is indeed very painful (and that pain is NOT just in their minds because society brainwashed them).

I never had cramps or PMS, but there were many times when I had such heavy periods that it was constantly overflowing pads and tampons and getting all over my underwear/clothes/sheets. It sucks. Even with a light period, the very fact that I have to stick something up me to stop blood from coming out all over my clothes SUCKS.

(Lisa, I definitely see that you were going after different ideas, but to be honest your post does that too. I do like the post, though; your point at the end wasn’t something I had picked up on before!)

rather i was pointing out that, along with bleeding/bloating/etc., body dysphoria of trans people is among the many non-socially constructed factors that would cause someone to dislike hir period.

This ad also skeeved me out with it’s gender essentialism.

please don’t minimize the experiences of those people whose periods really do suck,

- who need bed rest for a week because of severe cramping;
- who bleed so badly that they get iron deficiencies;
- who suffer from PMS or endometriosis.

and the boy’s reaction of “having a period is awful” is perfectly normal in a male; almost all the trans men I know feel similarly, because their brains weren’t wired to handle a body with a female reproductive system.

it’s a huge and stupid generalization for anyone to say “periods suck!”, but it’s equally as untrue to say “periods don’t suck, all your negative feelings are socially constructed.” it varies from person to person, and broad statements aren’t constructive.

What?

Don’t they know that wrestling with your gender identity if the body you were born into doesn’t correspond to your mental model is a LIFETIME activity. It’s not something to throw onto unsuspecting cisgendered teenagers.

Two things that came up for me repeatedly in watching the video that no one has addressed yet:

1. Showing your naked body to cisgendered folks results in ridicule. Your sister, someone who should love you as you no matter what, is exempt from accepting your body even if might not fit the mold of society’s beauty and gender standards? The policing of people’s bodies by their families, communities and the world at large (via media for example) is something that I would love to see change. Dove did their “natural beauty” campaign and while there are still holes in it – at least it tried to allow for variety in female bodies.

2. The “my clothes didn’t fit anymore”. On a purely visual cue here – he is struggling with BAGGY pants! For crying out loud – a skinny 16 year old boy trying to put on his baggy pants and getting frustrated elicits absolutely NO SYMPATHY from me or, I imagine, from any woman who has actual issues fitting into clothes not just when your period brings on a bit of bloat but ALL THE TIME when the clothes just aren’t made to fit real bodies.

One more potshot – his “man pad”? Really? Is he the first person in the world to ever think of wadding up toilet paper in an emergency? It’s kind of funny to think that Tampax has to go to such lengths to prove their superiority. Comparing Tampax to a wad of toilet paper – it’s not much of a contest. Are they afraid to go up against other forms of period management products like the keeper, homemade pads or even Kotex?