Ten years ago, reusable and washable menstrual protectors were in trouble a slightly hippy and saccharine image. At worst, we’d never even heard of it.
Few years ago, they were the marks of the menstrual cups (or cups) that swarmed on all my social networks — after this object gained notoriety, especially thanks to the video by Sophie Riche and Marion Seclin for Madmoizelle. And, indeed, I bought myself a cup.
Not a day goes by today that I don’t see an advertisement online. boasting the latest organic vintage panties, comfortable, with a nice design and worn by models who are not necessarily white, slim and shaved. I give you a thousand: I also fell in love with some menstrual underwear.
It only took a few years to washable pads, menstrual underwear and other menstrual cups are becoming essential on the menstrual hygiene market where the disposable has however dictated the law: reusable protections are now visible and easily available in supermarkets, and no longer confined to the shelves of organic shops. Furthermore, their use is socially appreciated.
According to Libre Service Actualités (LSA), a media specializing in the analysis of trade, retail and consumer trends, there have been a boom in reusable protectors and above all a change in our consumption patterns.
Why do we rely on reusable protection?
The recent boom in reusable protection is due to a combination of factors, according to Élise Thiébaut, author of several books on menstruation, including The rules… What an adventure! with Mirion Malle. He explains to Madmoizelle:
“Since we’ve talked more openly about periods, we’ve dared to ask the question of comfort, and I think many period products aren’t as comfortable as they claim: perfumes or just plastics, not to mention the toxic residues, macerates, produces irritation , inflammation, vaginosis, mycosis…”
Beyond comfort, the composition and health risks of some materials used sometimes have effects on the endocrine system, according to the specialistthere is also “also an ecological awareness among the younger generations” : even if the sanitary pads and sanitary pads we throw away represent very little compared to all our waste throughout a lifetime, the idea has gained ground that every small gesture makes a difference. If wearing a cup saves me a few used towels ending up in the wild, then baw!
Finally, the economic reason it could also be a decisive motivation, for example for female students suffering from menstrual instability – despite a certain purchase cost, reusable protections pay for themselves in a few cycles.
It is also the organic protections that prevailed. Those of specialized brands, but also the “green” variants of the best known names: without additives, unbleached, without perfume, in organic cotton… Élise Thiébaut analyzes for Madmoizelle:
“There has been a mobilization on the quality of periodic protection, the questioning of the presence of toxic or potentially toxic products, residues, reports that have confirmed it, alarms on toxic shock syndrome, a fact that we have started, for reasons of public usefulness, and I wonder if it weren’t possible to do otherwise. »
A return to the old? Truly ?
Is it a paradox to see the return of the washable, the reusable? While the 1970s arrival of the disposable napkin, easy to use with its self-adhesive strip, was sold as progress to make our lives easier during these few more or less hellish days every month, it has the hype around menstrual pads and menstrual panties a slight throwback flavor ?
Élise Thiébaut insists on qualifying this idea vigorously:
“Progress is a myth!” To say that throwing away the things we’ve washed before is better, that it saves us time, or anything else, is highly questionable. These are marketing arguments that aimed to promote a certain idea of femininity, but at the same time to reinforce the stereotypes that accompany it. »
Far from a homecoming, wearing vintage panties today is not like it was half a century ago — neither in terms of comfort, much less in terms of maintenance. The comparison therefore does not hold.
The idea “return to the old”Élise Thiébaut sees it as an attempt to discredit these products:
“It’s part of the marketing arguments, because in terms of profit for big menstrual hygiene companies, there is mechanically a loss in moving away from disposable products to reusable products. »
This is particularly visible in the stamp sector, which has been particularly affected by the controversy over its obscure composition and whose sales have declined in recent years. According to an IFOP survey for 20 minutes and the Eve and co brand produced in March 2021, its use has dropped very dramatically: from 33% of people using them in 2003, we’ve dropped to just 19%.
Brands cook periods with a feminist sauce
Reusable sanitary pads contribute to change the look on the rules, to participate in the removal of the taboo? For Élise Thiébaut, it would be exactly the opposite:
“It’s because we took another look at the rules, why that we have reinvested this experience that today we are able to consider a more relaxed relationship, more open to menstrual blood and therefore to periodic protection. »
Furthermore, the brands – those of disposable as well as reusable – are not mistaken. Marketing around the rules now play a more offensive and more uninhibited map. They also want to break the taboo of rules, show that you can do anything even when you have them, highlight less stereotypical bodies.
They also inject themselves feminist values in their communication, in particular through social networks, as underlined by Chloé Cenard, author for the University of Bologna of an analytical work on the representation of rules in French advertising. A form of “femvertising”contraction of “feminism” AND “advertising” (in French, advertising), which does not go unnoticed.
The most eloquent example is the very recent use of the red liquid, and no longer the euphemistic blue screen to show the absorbency of a pad or tampon in commercials.
A way also to capture the spirit of the times for Élise Thiébaut, who does not hide that this attempt seems to her a little behind and above all very opportunistic :
“The story of the blue bloods always made me laugh, no one stopped them before! Brands make themselves cheap virtues. »
And to create a link between another everyday object that also embodies the tension between reusable and disposablebaby diapers, highlighting a paradox: “We don’t show brown and yellow to show pee and poop! »
Yet, just by showing us fake blood, brands suddenly seem full of audacity, and sometimes expose themselves to censorship.
Reusable protectors more present, but not yet acclaimed by all
If they have the wind in their sails, reusable pads are not used by everyone. According to the IFOP survey for 20 minutes and Eve and companions, disposable sanitary pads are still in the lead the means used, especially at the beginning of menstruation.
Respondents prefer comfort (82%) and health (66%) criteria. in the choice of their protection, disposable or reusable. Furthermore, the economic question and the environmental question ultimately appear to be a minority: 34% and 33% of the interviewees state that these criteria are decisive.
Despite their spectacular leap into our daily life, reusable pads therefore do not yet dominate this market. And the giants of hygiene have certainly not said their last word…
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
