# Tampons - gfactor delivers! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 6, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634 "2006-06-06T17:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/1 "2006-06-06T17:04:51Z")
Just wanted to be the first to say “Good Job!” on the [tampon report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtampons.html). Well written, informative and exhaustive. I think I know about 17 times as much as I ever wanted to on the subject of tampons and sanitary napkins. Also, he (she?) managed to refrain from any tasteless jokes and so didn’t make a bloody mess of the thing. 😃 [sub]I’m not that good at refraining myself.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/2 "2006-06-06T17:21:15Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > Just wanted to be the first to say “Good Job!” on the [tampon report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtampons.html). Well written, informative and exhaustive. I think I know about 17 times as much as I ever wanted to on the subject of tampons and sanitary napkins. > > Also, he (she?) managed to refrain from any tasteless jokes and so didn’t make a bloody mess of the thing. 😃 Your thread title makes me think of poor GFactor driving about in something like a milk truck, cheerfully dropping off the weekly order of sanitary napkins. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/3 "2006-06-06T17:38:34Z")
I was going to start the thread! I think it’s a great article, too, and absolutely fascinating…I plan to forward it to many many people. It does disgust me, though, thinking of how many centuries women were ashamed or embarrassed or thought disgusting/unclean for a perfectly natural function. Even now it has a slight taboo around it. I don’t generally get on this sort of soapbox, but it really irks me. And this upset me and weirded me out, too: > [@gfactor](#): > > Tampons and other menstrual products continue to be controversial. The [London] Times Online ran a story on May 7, 2006 entitled “Celebrities Back Tampon Rebels of Zimbabwe,” which tells of Thabitha Khumalo, who “has been arrested 22 times, tortured so badly that her front teeth were knocked into her nose and had an AK-47 thrust up her vagina until she bled.” Her crime? Protesting the critical shortage of tampons and pads in Zimbabwe. When economic problems there caused tampon maker Johnson & Johnson to leave, the price of tampons skyrocketed. A box of twenty currently costs about $16 U.S. in a country where the minimum monthly wage is $32. The article’s author, Christina Lamb, tells us: > > So desperate is the situation that women are being forced to use rolled-up pieces of newspaper. Zimbabwe already has the world’s lowest life expectancy for women–34–and Khumalo believes these unhygienic practices could make it drop to as low as 20 because infections will make them more vulnerable to HIV. “It’s a time bomb,” she said. 20 tampons for $16? When you only make $8 a week? While the article says there is a “critical shortage of tampons and pads” it doesn’t really say if pads are in the same situation, or worse, or better. Makes me curious. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/4 "2006-06-06T17:41:16Z")
So, from now on whenever I think of tampons (not very often) I will think of gfactor. For what that’s worth.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/5 "2006-06-06T17:45:39Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > Just wanted to be the first to say “Good Job!” on the [tampon report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtampons.html). Thanks. > [@](#): > > Well written, informative and exhaustive. I think I know about 17 times as much as I ever wanted to on the subject of tampons and sanitary napkins. My job here is done. ::Climbs onto cotton pony; rides into sunset:: 😃 > [@](#): > > Also, he (she?) Er, he. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/6 "2006-06-06T18:03:22Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I was going to start the thread! I think it’s a great article, too, and absolutely fascinating…I plan to forward it to many many people. 🆒 > [@](#): > > It does disgust me, though, thinking of how many centuries women were ashamed or embarrassed or thought disgusting/unclean for a perfectly natural function. Even now it has a slight taboo around it. I don’t generally get on this sort of soapbox, but it really irks me. Yeah. There’s a lot to that, and there’s been a lot written about it. Sad, really. > [@](#): > > 20 tampons for $16? When you only make $8 a week? While the article says there is a “critical shortage of tampons and pads” it doesn’t really say if pads are in the same situation, or worse, or better. Makes me curious. Here is a link to the Dignity. Period! website. That’s the campaign that is discussed in the news article. [http://www.actsa.org/Get\_involved/zimbabwe\_sanitary\_campaign.htm](http://www.actsa.org/Get_involved/zimbabwe_sanitary_campaign.htm) Seems like the pad situation is similar. What I find puzzling is the sort of rampant consumerism. I’ve read the news reports on this issue, and they really don’t answer several key questions: 1. What did the women of Zimbabwe do before commercial tampons and pads were available? 2. Why can’t they do that now? I understand that they might prefer disposable products to flannel, but they need to use newspaper? The closest I could come to an answer is this: > [@Celebrities back tampon rebels of Zimbabwe](#): > > Khumalo, 45, general secretary of the Women’s Advisory Council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, and a mother of two, started her campaign after she saw a woman walking awkwardly on the street: “She told me she was going home from work because she had her period and **could no longer afford sanitary protection or cotton wool.** ” So she can’t afford cotton wool. Seems like old clothes, rags, or athletic socks would still work better than newsprint, but what do I know. Whatever the case, it doesn’t sound like a good time. Maybe some of those floral configurations would help? > [@vetbridge](#): > > So, from now on whenever I think of tampons (not very often) I will think of gfactor I’ll take what I can get. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/7 "2006-06-06T18:05:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Celebrities back tampon rebels of Zimbabwe Coupla band names in there. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/8 "2006-06-06T18:12:42Z")
Well, I don’t think they have athletic socks! But as late as my mother’s generation in India they were using cloth rags which they then washed. And I’m sure in a good portion of India they are still using cloth rags. The linked-to campaign is engaging in a bit of hyperbole, it seems to me. I have no doubt that life in Zimbabwe is very hard for women. But it seems to trace all of their ills back to having no commercial sanitary products. STDs and vaginal infections, domestic abuse, and the mere difficulty of being a woman…all these problems seem to be traced back to having no sanitary products. As **Gfactor** says, what’s the deal? Why can’t they just use what they’ve always used? I’d be more concerned about a) education about STDs and natural bodily functions, b) improving the wages and working conditions or women there, and c) almost anything before I thought about commercially available sanitary products. I’m guessing that this is one of the things Dignity! Period finds a relatively easily solved project. Rather than going after the things I listed, which are very difficult and are far in the future, they attack a goal that can be reached. I’m not sure I admire that. On the one hand, it can be accomplished; on the other hand, it seems kind of like a publicity stunt. “Look! We reached our goal!” And I work for a nfp, and all nfps engage in these kinds of publicity stunts at times. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/9 "2006-06-06T18:21:54Z")
Good job, **Gf**. Your reports just keep getting better! Glad you’re on board. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/10 "2006-06-06T18:44:55Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > Good job, **Gf**. > > Your reports just keep getting better! Glad you’re on board. Thanks. More on the Zimbabwe situation: > [@](#): > > Of course many developing countries don’t have access to modern sanitary methods. In Zimbabwe’s case however there was for many years pretty much full access to tampons and towels. Consequently the knowledge of more traditional methods has been lost. Occasionally women in today’s Zimbabwe will hear a story of how a certain type of tree bark was once used, but with just tiny fragments of information about the preparation of these methods it is being used the wrong way and also leading to infection. > **[Comment, opinion and discussion from the Guardian US | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us/commentisfree)** > > Latest opinion, analysis and discussion from the Guardian. CP Scott: "Comment is free, but facts are sacred" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4805516.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4805516.stm) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4816558.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4816558.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/11 "2006-06-06T19:08:12Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Your thread title makes me think of poor GFactor driving about in something like a milk truck, cheerfully dropping off the weekly order of sanitary napkins. One wonders why Kozmo ever went out of business. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/12 "2006-06-06T21:20:57Z")
In the spirit of constructive criticism, I have to say that while I found the article to be filled with interesting tidbits, I was less than enthusiastic about the style and organization of the piece. Let me start by saying I admire **gfactor** and all of the staff’s ability to write something for publication; clearly a lot of time, research, and effort went into the piece, not to mention the sheer anxiety of having total strangers criticize your work. Aware of this, please understand I post only in the hope that the criticism will be helpful. The style of organizing sections of the article around multiple quotes from other sources is a practice I personally find uninspired. For example, the interesting anecdote regarding John Williamson and his father’s reaction could probably have been handled in a couple of short sentences tamed to emphasize the old man’s bizarre reaction. Ditto the description of the ingenious marketing methods for eliminating the “shame” of purchasing commercial tampons. The idea of commercially-available tampons butting up against the entrenched prudishness of American society is a good theme within the article. I personally would have built the writing around this theme, highlighting this as the link between the various historical mileposts in the evolution of commercial tampons. This last point is why (for me) the article fell flat and lost my interest halfway thru; the laundry-list of items came, at times, as a disorganized jumble. Please take these comments as a kind reflection of one reader’s reaction–judging from the posts in this thread I’m in the minority. And again, the wealth of data in the column, combined with research that was obviously thorough and well-considered, is much appreciated. Compared to this, the criticisms I raised are minor, and I sincerely hope to see more in the future! ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/13 "2006-06-06T21:28:00Z")
In the spirit of constructive criticism, I have to say that while I found the article to be filled with interesting tidbits, I was less than enthusiastic about the style and organization of the piece. Let me start by saying I admire **gfactor** and all of the staff’s ability to write something for publication; clearly a lot of time, research, and effort went into the piece, not to mention the sheer anxiety of having total strangers criticize your work. Aware of this, please understand I post only in the hope that the criticism will be helpful. The style of organizing sections of the article around multiple quotes from other sources is a practice I personally find uninspired. For example, the interesting anecdote regarding John Williamson and his father’s reaction could probably have been handled in a couple of short sentences tamed to emphasize the old man’s bizarre reaction. Ditto the description of the ingenious marketing methods for eliminating the “shame” of purchasing commercial tampons. The idea of commercially-available tampons butting up against the entrenched prudishness of American society is a good theme within the article. I personally would have built the writing around this theme, highlighting this as the link between the various historical mileposts in the evolution of commercial tampons. This last point is why (for me) the article fell flat and lost my interest halfway thru; the laundry-list of items came, at times, as a disorganized jumble. Please take these comments as a kind reflection of one reader’s reaction–judging from the posts in this thread I’m in the minority. And again, the wealth of data in the column, combined with research that was obviously thorough and well-considered, is much appreciated. Compared to this, the criticisms I raised are minor, and I sincerely hope to see more in the future! ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/14 "2006-06-06T22:31:11Z")
Thanks for you input **CJJ** \*. That’s something I’ve definitely been thinking about. ---
**Author:** ![danbognich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@danbognich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danbognich)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/15 "2006-06-06T22:33:56Z")
I really enjoyed this report. It’s full of great information. However, I must point out an instance of apparently conflicting data. "In 1935, Kimberly-Clark was offered the patent rights for a “different method of taking care of menstrual needs,” according to Spector, but declined, taking the view that the $7,200 price would be “just like throwing money out the window.” Bad call. The product would eventually become Tampax, the first tampon with an applicator. It was patented by Dr. Earl Haas, who didn’t get anywhere with it. According to Harry Finley of the Museum of Menstruation and Women’s Health, “After failing to get people interested in his invention (including the Johnson & Johnson company), on October 16, 1933 he finally sold the patent and trademark to a Denver businesswoman, Gertrude Tenderich, for $32,000.” How could K-C decline to buy the patent in 1935 if it was sold in 1933? Obviously Gertrude Tenderich could have offered it to K-C at a huge loss, but it’s clearly implied otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/16 "2006-06-06T23:09:41Z")
> [@danbognich](#): > > How could K-C decline to buy the patent in 1935 if it was sold in 1933? Obviously Gertrude Tenderich could have offered it to K-C at a huge loss, but it’s clearly implied otherwise. The books are full of inconsistencies, sadly. That was one of the challenges of this report. Apparently Tenderich was trying to sell the patent. Here is a quote from _Shared Values_: > [@](#): > > in 1935, Henry Stueck, [a K-C salesman], found himself driving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, with Hank Joas, an assistant general sales manager [with Cellucotton Products]. Joas had made the trip to investigate a story about a woman who had been trying to develop and sell a device she had patented. . . . the product eventually became Tampax tampons. The seller was female. Haas is male. A second source for the 1933 sale to Tenderich is _Kotex, Kleenex, and Huggies_: > [@](#): > > The first commercial tampon was invented by Earle Haas, a general practitioner who developed Tampax in 1932. Working in the back of his garage, Haas sewed 5-inch cotton strips together with cord, leaving a string that could be used to extract the tampon from the vagina without touching the cotton. Using a device resembling a set of pliers, he compressed the sown [sic] cotton strip into a small roll to form the tampon. He encased it in a set of paper cylinders that enabled women to insert the tampon without having to touch it. Haas named his invention Tampax, a combination of “tampon” and “vaginal pack.” Unable to garner interest among sanitary napkin producers, including Johnson & Johnson, **Haas sold his rights to the Denver businesswoman Gertrude Tenderich in 1933**. After selling the tampon privately for a year or so, Tenderich and several Denver investors incorporated the Tampax Sales Corporation to market the product nationwide in 1934. By that year several small manufacturers sold a variety of other tampons, including Wix, manufactured by the Minneapolis based Wix Company. (Emphasis added.) Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/17 "2006-06-06T23:18:20Z")
> [@gfactor](#): > > Museum of Menstruation and Women’s Health I had no idea there was such a place. And at the risk of perpetuating unnecessary social taboos, I don’t think it’s a place I’m going to try to visit any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/18 "2006-06-07T02:30:31Z")
Interesting stuff, but I would have thought that any self-respecting history of tampons would have to include something on [Toxic Shock Syndrome](http://www.io.com/~wwwomen/menstruation/tss.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/19 "2006-06-07T12:09:45Z")
Great job Gfactor. Apparently back in my mom’s rural old days women used folded, re-washable towels that were sold for that purpose. I still saw them in the market by the time I could understand what they were, but not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634/20 "2006-06-08T16:42:14Z")
A few years back, the American Chemical Society ran a sort of poll, asking members to nominate 10 products related to chemistry that we considered had changed the world. The entries had to explain why. Talking about it with my family, Grandma (in her 80s back then, 92 now) expressed the following views: The Pill is touted as being “chemistry’s gift to women” but it ain’t so. It’s yet another excuse for men to claim it’s _our_ responsibility to handle anti-babies! On the other hand, I would gladly kiss Mr. Tampax, or whomever invented those. They were too late for me but God they’re wonderful! FWIW my entry got one of the nominations 🙂 I lost the diploma, though ☹ (Please note that those are Grandma’s opinions. If you want to flame her, you have to do it in Catalan) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tampons-gfactor-delivers/359634.md?page=2)