Jessica Valenti was writing a column about the availability and cost of feminine hygiene products across the globe, so she turned to Twitter for help, innocently asking: “Twitter friends: Anyone know a country where tampons are free or somehow subsidized?”
Nothing could have prepared Valenti for the torrent of abuse that followed:
“Can i also pay for ur toilet paper & ur vagina cream?Anything else u need f/ taxpayers just let me know. I gotcha!”
“Omg... Is this next? Please tell me this isn't next... I'm demanding free jock itch cream and hand lotion...”
“If you're so worried abt tampon availability, maybe U need 2 stick a few fingers in UR you-know-what to stem the bleeding.”
“I think she meant where they sell them oversized, for her giant gaping vagina.”
“Someone should tell her children are having their heads lopped off in #Iraq. Life is about perspective. #Tampons”
"Yeah, it's called the Middle East where they sew your vagina shut for being a loud mouth"
The journalist compiled a list of all the worst comments she received here. What no one can understand however, is why such an innocent question about women’s health resulted in such anger.
Tampons, it seems, are still very much a taboo subject.
