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See more advertising for teens: Saba ad, Pursettes ad, Are you in the know? (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964), Ads for Teens


German menstrual education in the magazine Bravo (early 1980s)

The contrast between northern European and American attitudes about sex education couldn't be clearer than in this photo from a short article in Bravo, a magazine for teenage Germans. The article explains something about tampons, including the embarrassment some people feel about buying them. The article starts off (my translation), "Heike [a girl's name] waits in the drug store until she's the only one left in the store. Then she says, 'A box of mini-tampons, please.'" No, no, she's not in the store in the photo; she's at home. But some people, no matter where they live, feel embarrassed about menstruation.

As you can see elsewhere (here, for example), Germans are more used to seeing the body in publications and in public than America would tolerate; women sometimes sunbathe nude or semi-nude in city parks in Germany, and in public saunas no one wears a thing - a shock for most Americans. And Scandinavia truly pushes the envelope.

 

The caption on the photo translates, "When girls have a period, they need hygienic protection."
The large words at left translate, "Does one feel the tampon in the vagina?"


See more advertising for teens: Saba ad, Pursettes ad, Are you in the know? (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964), Ads for Teens

news | first page | contact the museum | art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | belts | bidets | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | costumes | cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous people | FAQ | humor | huts | links | media | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | menstrual products safety | science | shame | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | washable pads | LIST OF ALL TOPICS

© 2000 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org