In 2022, 22 states in America applied a “tampon tax”(1), meaning that they would collect taxes on the sale of menstrual products. The debate around the removal of those taxes on the principle that period products should be considered as essential on the same level as food, is an illustration of the increasing importance of the discussion around menstruation in the United States. Although periods have always influenced the lives of a very big portion of the American population, the conversation around this topic has often been filled with taboos, misconceptions and stereotypes. From an historical perspective, it can seem surprising that periods are not the focus of more studies and research even though they have an influence on how certain individuals will think and act at a certain time. This lack of interest for the subject can be explained by several factors. First, the long lasting taboo around menstrations especially in western cultures reduces the number of resources available that openly discusses this topic. Thus, it can be more difficult for historians to understand how people have dealt with periods over time.(2) Secondly, periods have long been considered a female subject and not one that affects society as a whole. Given that studies show that women have not been integrated into historical narratives the same way men have,(3) it can seem logical that menstruations have not piqued the interest of many historians. 

Therefore, menstruations are not only a subject that is still relevant today, it is something that has inhabited the mind of all Americans that were subjected to it. While the latest debates focus on whether or not the qualification of period products as essential items should mean that they are exempted from taxes, it is necessary to keep in mind that throughout history period protection have been used consistently but have also evolved. Tracing back the history of period protections in the United States allows a better understanding of the daily life of menstruating people. Furthermore, the evolution of those products also mirrors the changes of society. In this paper, the term women will not be used to refer to menstruating individuals. Even though it is necessary to acknowledge that women have been the largest group to experience periods and that menstruations have been deemed a womanly subject for a long time, the use of the term menstruating people enables to take into consideration transgender individuals while excluding from the talks the younger or older people that do not have their periods anymore. This paper will therefore attempt to show that, until very recently, the evolution of period product was not correlated with a lessening of the taboo over menstruation, but on the contrary that many innovations were sparked by the will to keep periods in the private sphere. 

It is important to understand that the effort to break away from the taboo around periods is a very contemporary concern. The existence of advertisement for period protection before the Second World War could be interpreted as a sign that it was more accepted to talk about menstruation in society. However, these advertisement were targeted towards women and their central selling argument was to make period unnoticeable. Indeed, the motivation behind a lot of the evolution behind period protections was to make menstruation an even better kept secret. Evolution in period care did not start because of a women's movement, but rather because of a process of industrialization that transformed almost every aspect of daily life. 

The pre-victorian era: periods as a individual private issue

To understand how menstruations were taken care of before the advent of commercial period products, it is necessary to have an accurate idea of what clothing was like at the time. Indeed, the biggest concern when it came to periods was not to avoid a stain on one’s underwear, as most Americans did not wear any at the time.(4) Furthermore, in the 18th and then beginning of the 19th century, periods being a domestic and personal concern, products to deal with it were often homemade and reusable. Menstruating individuals would use layers of fabrics that they would tie around their waist and between their legs the way one would do to create a diaper. Linen was a popular fabric due to its absorbent properties. However, free bleeding was also very common at the time, especially in the last days of one’s period. The blood would then be washed out of the dress fabric. Often, menstruating people would choose to wear dedicated clothes for that time of the month to avoid ruining good ones. Indeed, there was a financial criteria to take into account as well. The clothes that were used were not particularly comfortable and women might complain of pain from abrasion or of the inconvenience that they created when one had to go to the bathroom.(5) Hence, because of their usual lack of underwear, periods also changed the routine of the person who had them when it came to using the bathroom. They had to take the cloth off and then on again afterward, a rather long process. Nonetheless, it remains difficult to know for sure all the techniques used at the time. It is possible to assume that those hygiene concerns and their solutions were privately discussed among women and that ways to cope with it were orally shared.

Indeed, those sanitary napkins were mass produced and were not reusable but disposable. However, the advent of new period products was rather slow. Those new sanitary napkins were not widely used before the 20th century. It is possible to imagine that menstruations had been a “woman’s business” for so long that it was difficult for a company to try and meddle in this very private, intimate and feminine area. Furthermore, it was hard to break the tradition of silence around this topic. Menstruating individuals would rather deal with it in the privacy of their own home, rather than going to a shop to very publicly buy those newly available products. Hence, a lot of those protections were sold through catalogs, (7) but again the problem of the societal taboo around this subject prevented the company from advertising their new products properly. All these reasons explain why there was not a drastic change in the care for menstruation at the end of the 19th century.

The Kotex revolution: the first successfully advertised period protection 

As many other medical innovations, period products evolved massively during World War I. Indeed, ideas to create new period products came from surgical designs that were perfected on soldiers. Bandages that sought to reduce excessive bleeding in a cheap and efficient way in the French battlefield, inspired the new generation of menstrual products.(9) Kotex was the first company to successfully win over the market for sanitary napkins.(10) Its success was due to a clever advertising campaign, which did not attempt to break away from the taboos surrounding periods, but rather to work with it to their own advantage. It was obvious that one of the obstacles to the commercialization of sanitary napkins was the shame and discomfort that menstruating people felt when they had to shop for the products they needed. Kotex played on the brand name so that menstruating individuals would not have to ask a clerk for “sanitary napkins” but simply for a “Kotex”.(fig. 4) Furthermore, the company also made sure that the packaging of the sanitary napkins showed no signs of what was inside. Therefore, the taboo did not disappear, but language was adapted to allow for discretion. Kotex also launched advertisement campaigns that used a lot of euphemism to refer to periods. The ads did not specifically mention periods but they gave great details on the product like its composition or its size. This was the first nationwide advertisement campaign for period products which marks a real shift in the evolution of menstrual protection.(11) Indeed, although the first ads showed women using Kotex at work, quickly, the advertisement focused on women having out of the ordinary activities such as dancing or driving boats.(fig.4)

The adverstisement and marketing was specifically targeted to women. Periods did not become less taboo, nor was there any attempt to confront non menstruating people tp the new products. Within the ads, the idea that period care should be something transmetted from an older woman to a younger one remains. For instance, the little comics of the Kotex ads have the mother explaining why the Kotex pad allows the young girls to dance or play.(fig. 6) Even when period products entered the capitalist market, it stayed within the feminine sphere. The idea is that thanks  to the period protection, women can now do anything during their mesntruation because other people won't know about it. Very often the emphasis is made on hidding the period and not on the comfort of menstruating people. For instance, in Molly grows up (1953), a short film where a young girl named Molly learns about menstruation in class and gets her first period, this remains a private affair. When the students ask questions to the teacher about menstruation, one of the first one is whether people can tell that one is on their period. Secret is still at the center of the discussion around periods and one could even argue that it comes before the comfort of menstruating people. Companies play a role in the secrecy over period through the focus of their advertiseent campaigns. The short film was produced by the Personal Product Company which notaly sells period products. Thus, through the companies that sell them the evolution of period protections has contributed to the taboo and percepetion arounf periods. 

The obstacles to innovations for black women

Sanitary napkins kept evolving throughout the 20th century to become the modern pad which is widely used today, other types of products appeared. However, the recognition for those responsible for the improvement of menstrual hygiene also mirrors the discriminations faced by certain populations in the United States. Indeed, Mary Kenner was the inventor of the adjustable sanitary belt which she patented in 1957.(12) She wanted to improve the existing products which often moved and were therefore uncomfortable. However, as an African American woman she struggled to get the recognition she deserved. For instance, in the 1950’s the Soon-Nap-Pack Company showed interest in her new sanitary napkin design, but when they learned that she was black they withdrew their offer of working with her.(13) Mary Kenner never received any money for her invention and she was not celebrated as the someone to have participated in the evolution of period protection until much later. Adhesive pads that became the norm and prevented the item from slipping were not invented or commercialized until the 1970’s. 

However, many obstacles prevented this invention from becoming popular. Firsty, the commercialization of this object began shortly before World War II, and thus it was greatly affected by the shortage of rubber at the time. This led to a stop of production for some time, before being relaunched after the war. Secondly, the method of using the cup made some menstruating individuals uncomfortable. They did not like the idea of placing an object directly into their vagina, nor the fact that they had to empty and then clean the cup. At the time, disposable protections had become the norm and menstruating individuals were not ready to come back to a more time consuming product. Due to the lack of sales, Leona Chalmers company closed in the 1970’s.

The controversial arrival of the tampon on the market

Many of the problems that the Tassette faced were also obstacles to the popularization of tampons. Devices that work like a modern tampon have probably been used for centuries, using different types of fabrics. They also became industrially produced and commercialized in the 1930’s. It was an applicator tampon invented by Earl Haas, a physician in Colorado. (15) The presence of the applicator was important because it served so that menstruating people would not have to insert the object by placing their finger into their vagina. A lot of people at the time feared that this gesture would bring sexual pleasure to a woman or break their hymen. Tampons that did not require an applicator only appeared in 1945 and were designed by a female German gynecologist Judith Esser Mittag. Although pads were still the preferred method to deal with menstruation, tampons grew in popularity during the Second World War, notably due to women becoming more active. Tampons were items that sparked a lot of fears, about potential sexual pleasure and loss of virginity, but that offered other advantages. They were marketed as the most discreet type of protection, one that would hide from everyone your period. There was also a division among physicians and doctors on whether or not to recommend tampons. In the early 1950’s, the majority were wary of the item, but some praised its hygienic advantages and the reduction of risks linked to anal bacteria compared to pads. (16)

The politicization of menstrual health

The discussion about period protection has been increasingly politicized in the late 20th century. State interference with companies that provided those items aimed at protecting women’s virtue and health. Indeed, the question of period care had become a medical issue. This evolution was in part motivated by the scandal of the Rely tampon. The Rely tampons were commercialized by the company Procter and Gamble and was advertised as a super absorbent item due to its composition that did not contain cotton but was fully synthetic. During the 1970’s this brand of tampon became associated with Toxic Shock Syndrome which even led to the death of some women.(17) This led to the tampons being taken out of the market in the 1980’s. Due notably to this health crisis, the government sought to regulate tampons more strictly. Therefore The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and The Medical Device Amendments of 1976, made tampons medical devices and not cosmetics anymore. (18) This meant that they were subjected to more testing before commercialization, but also that brands did not have to display their ingredient list anymore. This last consequence has been a subject of controversy until today. 

In conclusion, today there has been an evolution of the perception of periods, but this is a very recent change. It is illustrated by the more comprehensive advertisement, for instance the recent appearance of red liquid in them. For long, period protections and their innovations and been motivated by a desire to keep them in the private sphere. However, recent movements have placed menstrual products in the spotlight and thus in the public sphere such as their environmental impact or the health issue that they could create. 

End notes 

(1) “Tampon Tax - Alliance for Period Supplies.” Alliance for Period Supplies - It’s That Time. *, September 21, 2022. https://allianceforperiodsupplies.org/tampon-tax/. 

(2) Gershon, Livia. “The Secret History of Menstruation.” JSTOR Daily, March 19, 2019. https://daily.jstor.org/the-secret-history-of-menstruation/.

(3) National Women’s History Museum. “Where Are the Women?,” n.d. https://www.womenshistory.org/social-studies-standards.

(4) Erwing, Elizabeth. Dress and undress: a history of women's underwear, 1978, New York: Drama Book Specialist, https://archive.org/details/dressundresshist0000ewin/page/46/mode/1up

(5) Grabowski, Amelia. “Period Drama: That Time of the Month in Victorian America.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine, January 19, 2021. https://www.civilwarmed.org/menstruating/.

(6) “Lister’s Towels: The First Sanitary Napkins | Johnson & Johnson Our Story,” n.d. https://ourstory.jnj.com/sanitary-napkins-ladies.

(7) Ali, Zoia. “The Evolution of Menstrual Products: From the 1800s to Present.” The Girls Company, March 12, 2021. https://thegirlsco.com/blogs/news/the-evolution-of-menstrual-products-from-the-1800s-to-present.

(8) Kurjanen, Heli. “Short History of Menstrual Cups - When Were They Invented?,” February 22, 2019. https://store.lunette.com/blogs/news/short-history-of-menstrual-cups. 

(9) Canadian Science & Technology Museum Corporation. “Disposable Sanitary Napkins: First World War Nursing Sisters Credited with Inventing the ‘Unmentionable,’” n.d. https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/innovation/disposable-sanitary-napkins-first-world-war-nursing-sisters-credited-inventing-unmentionable.

(10) Eschner, Kat. “The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads.” Smithsonian Magazine, November 9, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/surprising-origins-kotex-pads-180964466/.

(11) Watson, Imogen. “From ‘Gory’ to Glory, the Evolution of Period Advertising.” The Drum, April 16, 2021. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/10/12/gory-glory-the-evolution-period-advertising.

(12) Mills, Alec. “Mary Kenner, African-American Period Pioneer.” DAME., October 17, 2020. https://wearedame.co/blogs/the-pioneer/mary-kenner-african-american-period-pioneer#:~:text=In%201956%2C%20determined%20to%20improve,the%20underneath%20of%20a%20pad.

(13) Rye, Alex. “Mary Kenner (1912-2006) •,” January 23, 2023. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mary-kenner-1912-2006/.

(14) “Short History of Menstrual Cups - When Were They Invented?,” February 22, 2019. https://store.lunette.com/blogs/news/short-history-of-menstrual-cups.

(15) “Menstrual Tampon | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia,” n.d. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/menstrual-tampon.

(16)  Freidenfelds, Lara. "The modern ways to manage menstruations", The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America

(17) Office for Science and Society. “Killer Tampons from Outer Space or Why We Don’t Hear About Toxic,” n.d. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/killer-tampons-outer-space-or-why-we-dont-hear-about-toxic-shock-syndrome-anymore.

(18) Harvard Law School Library. “The History of the Regulation of Menstrual Tampons,” n.d. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8852185/Kohen.html?sequence=2.