Being the sole possessor of a Y chromosome in my household I have more than a passing familiarity with the feminine hygiene aisle. I remember one time being sent to the local supermarket on one of those missions from god runs. A middle age black lady was running the cash register, she had the look of "the wisdom of the ages" in her eyes. She took one look at my order that consisted of:
- One box maxi-pads
- One bottle Midol
- One bag of pretzels
- Three Hershy bars
- One box of Tampons
Yes I have been a victim of P.M.S.(Pre and Post). So I thought I was at least sympathetic to the issue. But a commercial that has been playing on the tube lately brought up an angle that I had never considered. Always brand pads has a program where they supply pads to girls in South Africa. Because of having their periods stops them from going school one week a month they some times fall behind in school. They have a built in biological disadvantage when it comes to school attendance. I also would not be surprised if their culture did not have some sort of taboo or rules concerning the menses cycle. Perhaps considering menstruating women unclean for a period of time.
I don't think that a giant multi-national corporation does this for just to be nice. I'm sure they get a nice juicy tax break and they probably will get a lot of business down the line from an emerging economy. None the less it is amazing how something so simple that we take for granted can make a such a huge difference in someones life. But I wonder how the village elders feel about all those girls now able to get an education. They have got to think about the old ways slipping away. After all in similar cultures young women represent the largest labor contingent. How are you going to keep them barefoot,pregnant and working the field once they find out about the outside world. Eventually it means the collapse of their way of life. Pretty amazing thing to achieve for little absorbent pad, eh?
This situation also reminds me of another situation that cropped up a few years ago in Ethiopia. It seem that in a typical Ethiopian village that man can defecate when and where wants. High Noon in the village square a man can drop trou (or whatever they wear) and pop a squat. Road, back yard, front yard, rain or shine. Women however are not allowed to defecate during day light hours. That's right, a women doing a number 2 in daylight is considered obscene. A bewhiskered old fart of a village elder dropping a deuce with his wrinkled old but hanging out is perfectly acceptable. Can you imagine having to hold it in all day. What if you had dysentery? (and Feminists in America think they have it bad)
To make things worse all this freelance pooping was causing all sorts of health problems. So not only for comfort and dignity of the women, but for health of everyone something had to be done. The solution? Outhouses! Who would have thought that a few 18th century out houses did more than for that country than billions of dollars of foreign aid.
Sign me:
Glad to be living in America
Emoose out
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