# God Bless merchandising! - Cute menstrual pads for 8-12 year old girls. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589 "2011-04-16T05:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/21 "2011-04-16T19:27:26Z")
Also, don’t forget, this is one place where you truly can’t blame the manufacturer for creating a problem so they can provide the solution. It’s not like Kotex found a way to make girls start their period earlier because they had this product ready to go. And since there’s really nothing wrong with trying to get young girls to buy their product over someone else’s, I guess, I don’t see a problem. And now that I’m clicking on the link, I have to say, and maybe this is because I’m a father, but that thing looks like a diaper (as far as the artwork on the pad itself). ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/22 "2011-04-16T19:41:11Z")
I wonder, would they be a better fit for women who are 5’ and under? I know some women that size who buy girls’ underwear as it tends to fit better. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/23 "2011-04-16T20:25:22Z")
IIRC, Kotex has done something similar FOR YEARS. I remember when I first started my periods… over… erm… 15 years ago, and I had to wear the Kotex Teen packages because they were slightly smaller. I didn’t like them much, and changed to Always with wings as soon as I could. These, though, are definitely an improvement. My memories of the Kotex Teen was that it was a very thick pad, which was the norm then although some brands were starting to come with the thinner versions, and without wings. The wings part I hated, because, for me at least, if it doesn’t have wings the middle part ends up being scrunched and the pad is then useless. I still see no sense in design for something that will get covered with blood, tissues, and other fluids. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/24 "2011-04-16T20:49:38Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I just bought some colorfully packaged ones from Target. Kotex has its marketing down. There’s just something happy about [aqua blue wrapping paper](http://blogs.glam.com/glamblush/files/2010/05/u-by-kotex.jpg)! > > While searching for a pic, I came across a [very bad Halloween costume](http://www.jasonrivera.com/images/articles/20101028_2_824/2cervupgb5.jpg). > > I waaarrned you. So, I’m probably missing a really obvious pun or something, but why is it a ninja? Or is that just an excuse to have tampon nunchucks? ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/25 "2011-04-16T22:27:48Z")
For some reason I had to post this: [Weird. Period. - Failbook - Failing On Facebook](http://failbook.failblog.org/2011/04/14/funny-facebook-fails-weird-period/) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/26 "2011-04-16T23:18:51Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I would have been thrilled with this product as a kid. It would have made the whole transition just a little bit more fun. You have the option of having a [party in your pants](http://partypantspads.com/), if you like fashion prints in your reusable menstrual pads. I’ve never actually used them, but they are intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/27 "2011-04-16T23:20:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, don’t forget, this is one place where you truly can’t blame the manufacturer for creating a problem so they can provide the solution. It’s not like Kotex found a way to make girls start their period earlier because they had this product ready to go. True. A lot of the blame needs to be placed upon childhood obesity rates. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/28 "2011-04-16T23:21:10Z")
I thought I’d find them annoying, but I don’t. Nice to have them in the right size for smaller girls. Now, if they came in superhero designs, that’d be cooler. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/29 "2011-04-17T00:04:03Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Hell, I got MY period when I was 10. It was quite a shock, I had a vague idea that I’d get it…but I sure didn’t expect it that early. My mother hadn’t expected it that early, either, and I got a very quick lesson in Feminine Hygiene 101. That was 44 years ago. > > And I got a hysterectomy about 10 years ago. Let me tell you, of the two, I’m happier about the hysterectomy. When I was told (at 42) that I’d need a hysterectomy, my first thought was, “I will never ever have a period for the rest of my life!” ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/30 "2011-04-17T03:38:01Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > While searching for a pic, I came across a [very bad Halloween costume](http://www.jasonrivera.com/images/articles/20101028_2_824/2cervupgb5.jpg). > > I waaarrned you. I actually find that kind of an inspiring costume. Inspriing in if I was planning an adult Halloween party I might be tempted to copy it if only because for so many men I know a pad or tampon, a very common fact of life for most women, is considerably more frightening than Freddie Kruegar and Hannibal Lechtor combined. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/31 "2011-04-17T04:00:09Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > And thinking back to the massive pads my mom gave me - in the olden days before they were adhesive and you needed to use a belt - these would have made the whole evolution a bit less awkward. I noticed I had a small spot of blood in my underwear when I was changing for ballet class. I went into my mother’s room and told her I thought I had started my period (I was 11, btw), and showed her my underwear. She agreed, but because she was so unprepared for it to have happened so early, all she had on hand to give me was a maxipad with loooooong ends and a belt that the ends hooked onto. I had to wear this to _ballet class_ under my leotard and tights. You bet your sweet bippy I’d have been thrilled with _anything_ skinny and sticky, never mind how it was decorated. Nothing says my mom would have had them on hand, though. The moral of the story is; parents with young girls, go buy a box of these and put them on a shelf so you’re ready when it happens! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/32 "2011-04-17T04:12:51Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I am apparently an 8-12 year old girl, because I would totally use them if they were grown-up size. Seriously. Those are cute. As long as they don’t have glitter ON said pads, what’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/33 "2011-04-17T04:42:47Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You have the option of having a [party in your pants](http://partypantspads.com/), if you like fashion prints in your reusable menstrual pads. I’ve never actually used them, but they are intriguing. I do and I love them. So I’ve had cute pads for ages. (I wanted to use a Diva Cup, but turns out, CRAMPS. So its cloth pads). ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/34 "2011-04-17T07:00:27Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Actually I think it’s great that you took her. Having one’s dad treat it like just another bit of shopping is a hell of a lot better than having this thing that’s happening to your body be something that makes you disgusting to your father and has therefore to be hidden from him as it was back when I started. Hey I thought it was no big deal, honestly. I was more annoyed because I don’t have the requisite plumbing to make a knowledgeable purchasing decision, so I bought them with the same mindset I use with underwear and socks; buy the cheapest ones available. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/35 "2011-04-18T00:01:32Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > Hey I thought it was no big deal, honestly. I was more annoyed because I don’t have the requisite plumbing to make a knowledgeable purchasing decision, so I bought them with the same mindset I use with underwear and socks; buy the cheapest ones available. 😃 No, no, oh please, oh no. I weep. Generic period products are not cost-conscious, anyway. The few dollars more to buy the good stuff is made up for in the cost of the clothing you don’t ruin when the generics inevitably fail. And if there’s glitter, all the better! Now _that’s_ how you have a happy period, Always people! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/36 "2011-04-18T01:13:36Z")
Actually, the generic (store) brands knock-offs of Always thin with wings are usually as good as the original. Not all the time (always? heh), but usually they are. It may be that that product has been out for so long that both generic and brand are now similar. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589/37 "2011-04-18T02:17:38Z")
When I got my period I was almost 14 and approaching average height for a woman, but my hips were still best fit by a size 10 in girls. You can bet I would have liked something designed for my body. My mom got me the smallest pads she could find and they were still very awkward for me to manage. It’s worth noting that worldwide average age of menarche is 11.5 years, but here in the USA it is 12.5 years. Currently, less than 10% of US girls start their period before they are 11 years old. Girls these days have more body fat and the average age of puberty has skewed a little earlier. Only about 6 months earlier than it was in the 70s, though. There is no epidemic of menstruating 8-year-olds, in case anyone was wondering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-merchandising-cute-menstrual-pads-for-8-12-year-old-girls/578589.md?page=1)