"Là con gái thật tuyệt" or "It's great to be a girl" -  This is the signature slogan from Diana, one of the most popular sanitary pad brands in Vietnam, alongside Kotex. Walking across the colorful aisles of sanitary pads in supermarkets or watching playful advertisements portraying girls in my dream fashion style, I never quite understood what being on menstruation is like until I got it for the first time: 

I searched my mind to tell my mom what was happening. However, I struggled to find a word in Vietnamese that captured the meaning of menstruation. Of course, I knew the scientific terminology, but nowhere had I heard anyone using such a word except for my biology book. I then chose to use the expression I saw in sanitary pad advertisements, “that time of the month,” to tell my mom. Such a term still sticks with me today as my way of expressing that I am on my period. Not only did the language from those advertisements stick with me, but my understanding of menstrual experiences was shaped by those ads. 

In this blog post, I will explore several Kotex and Diana advertisements over the last ten years and analyze those under the lens of Foucault’s docile body and the relationship between power and knowledge. From the analysis, I hope to reveal how mainstream sanitary product advertisements created a misrepresentation of menstruation experiences.

For this blog post's scope, my artifacts include six advertisements, three from Kotex and three from Diana. I will use screenshots and clip cuts when elaborating on my analysis. I could not find clips with English subtitles, so aside from the slogans (which I can self-translate), there is not much spoken in Vietnamese. While six seems like a large number to cover in just one post, the contents shared among those advertisements are similar. One slight difference between the two brands is that Kotex focuses more on the blue color, targeting audiences (primarily girls with solid personalities). On the other hand, Diana mostly portrayed their main lead with pink girly characteristics (Marketer Vietnam, 2013). In terms of time, the differences between advertisements are only concerned with the fashion choice of leading actresses. I will give a brief overview explaining the campaign from Diana in 2017, which, in my opinion, is a good representative of other advertisements on the market.

Basically, the ad tells the story of a girl shopping in the supermarket. She saw a handsome guy while waiting in line for check out and was interested in him. Suddenly, the fan nearby blew at her skirt. Immediately, everybody in the line left for another line. When she walked over, everyone left again. She thought they did not want to stay close to her because of the unpleasant smell from her period. However, she realized people moved the line because the cashier told them to. She also reassured herself that there was no smell from herself because she was wearing a Diana pad. The ad conveys that their product can completely cover all bad smells when women are on their period and can make them more confident despite being on their period.

Menstruation is a natural and normal process that half of the world's population experiences, yet it remains taboo in many cultures. In Vietnam, where menstruation is still stigmatized, sanitary product advertisements are essential in shaping societal attitudes towards this topic. Unfortunately, many of these ads fail to represent the real menstrual experience, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and the taboo.

The widespread popularity of Vietnamese sanitary product advertisements makes this topic especially important. These ads are ubiquitous in television, print media, and online platforms, shaping the perceptions of millions nationwide. By failing to represent menstruation accurately, these ads can worsen the menstrual taboo and alienate minority groups that do not fit the stereotypes in the advertisement. This can lead to shame, embarrassment, and a lack of understanding about menstrual health.

Furthermore, analyzing these ads can be a form of empowerment for newer non-mainstream advertisements aiming at a more diverse and accurate representation of menstruation. We can create a roadmap for more inclusive and representative advertising by identifying how current ads fall short. This can help break down taboos and promote healthy attitudes towards menstruation.

To support my argument, I draw on Gaybor's Global body politics. This framework highlights how bodies are politicized and controlled by societal norms and structures (Gaybor, 2022, p. 2390). In the case of menstrual health, the taboo surrounding this topic serves as a form of control over women's bodies. By analyzing and critiquing the representations of menstruation in Vietnamese sanitary product advertisements, we can challenge these norms and empower women to take control of their bodies and health.

The core of my analysis will involve a combination of three frameworks: Foucault’s “Docile Body” and “Power and Knowledge,” and Rubin’s “Thinking Sex.”

Foucault's docile body theory argues that the body is not a neutral entity but a socially constructed and controlled entity constantly subjected to various disciplinary methods (Foucault, 1975). The body is molded into specific shapes and forms through multiple means of discipline, such as government, training, and transformation, all to serve the needs of society and the economy (Foucault, 1975). In the context of menstrual health and hygiene, this theory helps explain how women's bodies are subjected to societal norms and expectations, such as the expectation to be active and confident even when menstruating, which I will elaborate more on in this blog post.

Foucault's concept of power/knowledge posits that power is not solely held by individuals or institutions but dispersed throughout society and embedded in our knowledge systems (1980). This means that knowledge is not neutral but reinforces existing power structures and maintains the status quo. Using this concept to understand sexuality, Foucault expressed in his work, Domain, that our perceptions and attitudes towards sex are not innate but socially constructed through various means of control and regulation (1990). This theory is particularly relevant to my analysis of sanitary product advertisements, as these ads often depict menstruation as a private, shameful matter that should not be discussed openly. This reinforces the taboo surrounding menstruation, which is, in turn, perpetuated by societal norms and expectations.

Rubin's work on sex, on the other hand, focuses on the idea of sexual hierarchies, where certain types of sex are considered morally superior to others. This hierarchy is constructed by societal norms and expectations, which dictate what is considered acceptable or deviant sexual behavior. According to Rubin, those who fail to conform to the sexual norm are often considered deviant and a threat to the community. This theory can be applied to the representation of menstruation in sanitary product advertisements, as these ads often perpetuate a particular normative understanding of menstruation that reinforces the taboo surrounding it. This reinforces the idea that menstruation is a private, shameful matter that should not be discussed openly, and those who do so may be perceived as deviant.

Together, these frameworks provide a comprehensive approach to understanding how sanitary product advertisements perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to the menstrual taboo.

The first issue I identified in the Vietnamese sanitary product advertisements is the discourse that menstruation products are only for women. No matter how hard they try to diversify their portrayal, the main character depicted in all of the ads is always a young, conventionally attractive woman, typically under 30. The color scheme used in the ads is also typically very girly, often featuring pink hues or pastel blue. By focusing exclusively on young, cisgender women, the advertisements overlook that trans women and older and younger girls also have periods.

This focus on a narrow, normative representation of menstruation reinforces a heteronormative lens of seeing the world, which is a concept described by Rubin. According to Rubin, certain types of sex are considered "morally better," and those who do not conform to that sexual norm are seen as deviant and threatening to the community (2002). By promoting a narrow, normative representation of menstruation, these advertisements perpetuate this heteronormative worldview.

Bobel, a scholar on Gender and Sexuality Studies further complicates simplistic notions that all women menstruate in her work, "The messy politics of menstrual activism." Many women, such as those who have gone through menopause, had hysterectomies, or are pregnant, do not menstruate (2020). Additionally, young women, women with severe eating disorders, women on certain kinds of birth control, and some competitive athletes may also experience menstruation irregularities (Bobel, 2020, p.1009). By ignoring the diversity of menstruating individuals, Vietnamese sanitary product advertisements contribute to harmful stereotypes and fail to accurately represent the real menstrual experience.