Hey mom, do you douche?
Strange advertising designed make women think they smell
Hey horny readers! This week’s newsletter was inspired by a recent commercial that I just couldn’t shake.
As always, thank you so much for reading. If you’re enjoying it, please share with friends, so they can be hilariously informed.
Adult Sex Ed comedically challenges why we think what we think about sex. In case you’re new, I’m Dani Faith Leonard, a comedy writer, film producer, and performer. In 2018, I started a comedy show called Adult Sex Ed and launched this newsletter last year. Each week, I take a fun deep dive into a topic that I’ve been researching. Want to know more? Read the whole description on substack here.
Ready to plug the holes in your education? Okay, let’s go!
Recently, a saw a commercial that i just couldn’t shake. It’s a Secret whole-body deodorant ad, advertised for women. It’s for your pits, as most deodorants are, but also for your vagine. You can watch the commercial here.
The commercial is meant to be fun and not necessarily shame-y. They make claims like “four out of five gynecologists would recommend whole-body deodorant.” For the record, most gynos don’t recommend spraying fragrance on a vulva. Maybe it’s that fact, plus the fact that a quick reddit search will reveal that people hate this ad, but comments have been turned off.
Secret isn’t the only brand in this area—there’s Lume, which launched first. There are even products for men, like Dove Men Care. But there was something about this commercial that reminded me of historical ads geared towards women.
Beginning in the 1920s, Lysol was advertised as a feminine hygiene product, designed to protect women against odors. Sometimes, it was code for birth control because that was another use for Lysol, obviously harming (and sometimes killing) people in the process. Ads for body sprays and douches geared towards women presented having body odor as a grave offense that would cause them to lose their husbands.
Later in the 1960s, ads for Pristeen, a spray deodorant presented the classic sad women and the text called vaginal odor “worry-making” and “troublesome.” I guess that’s why she’s soooooo sad. I mean, did she kill that grass with her odor?
Here’s an important detail: when I was researching Pristeen, I came across this headline from the New York Times archive in 1973: F.D.A. ASKS LABEL ON SPRAY PERILS. Based on complaints that the F.D.A received, the brands were asked to include warning labels that the product was for external use only, not to be sprayed directly on the skin. Then, there was this quote: “Vaginal sprays are often advertised as “hygiene” sprays, but the F.D.A. said that it knew of no medicinal or hygienic benefits derived from the sprays.” Still, the market value at the time was $67 million, which is about a half-billion dollars today.
While odor-shaming still seemed to be an extremely popular advertising tool, in some cases brands relied on peer pressure, just like this Secret ad! Everyone is doing it, you need to spray your vulva too! And there were also ads that made hygiene seem like a fun family bonding experience. In the 1980s, douche brand Massengill made a series of commercials which featured mothers and daughters going after that fresh feeling. Watch some of those clips and others from advertising history below.
If the mother-daughter angle doesn’t appeal to you, there’s always a commitment to success. Just like the women in the Secret ad who are succeeding in their own fields, Summer’s Eve wanted to make sure they geared their products for the working woman. If you want to ask for a raise at work, you should start by…cleaning your vagina?
If you want to get a raise at work, you might have to talk to a douche, but you don’t need to take advice from one. Or from a full body deodorant either. I’ll stick to who I know always has my back and call my mom.
#momdoyoudouche
Don’t miss a newsletter!
Subscribers can access all issues here. Here are some newsletters related to this one:
No comments yet?
I feel qualified to respond to the subject and it’s easy answer with complex reason.
The answer is hopefully never! All the ads you see on TV or a billboard that raise the subject are lying to you or at least giving you misinformation.
I’m 74 years old was kind of born married and I feel I’ve been around women l enough to feel comfortable with my reply .
For the most part a woman never has to use a douce. However if a woman has concerns she should speak.with or even mss as ke an appointment if she thinks she should .
But on a regular basis of maybe one a year a pap smear might be in order.
But as far as Douse it’s usually never needed !
There was woman age 24 who helped my wife do housekeeping now and then was pounding on my front door and I opened the door I knew this woman for 5 years and she was in a full blown panic attack . She was wearing very loose fitting shorts and pulled them to the side , she shifted a little and what looked very much a quart of cottage cheese came falling down and a large amount just fell there with her about to faint . I asked her to come in and guided her to bathroom . I told her ..hey don’t worry calm down Donna can help you in a minute as my wife was walking our way. I told my wife she needs your help my wife said me?
I told my wife I think she’s got
Chlamydia and is freaking out
Turns out she did but the much bigger problem was she was douching about three times a day !
Oh my god!
It was good thaf she had me snd my wife go calmly over the situation with her .. Turnsj our she’s had it about a more then a week and only hsd her girlfriends who all told her something else . All wrong that I’d imagine was passed down from one teen to another. . She took a shower. And my wife gave her some clothing and sat down with a cup of tea. She had no idea what was going on. My wife advised. Her to make appointment with her doctor.
She had a hard time understanding how little it takes to have a healthy vagina and all it really takes is a reasonable amount of showers and eating healthy amount good sleep. Mother Nature does the rest. Then explained nothjng else is usually needed sometimes chemistry. Gets messed up a doctors visit sometimes is in order but it’s rare event,
It appears from her first period she was dousing and.got into a routine.
She was advised to not do that and she had a bunch of her girlfriends over several times for cookie and tea!
I went to park and fed birds and other critters
A lot of mothers need go get over their own problems and learn to be there for their children girls and boys!
.You don’t need any of that stuff maybe a gentle body wash buts that’s all
It’s got to be a wild conversation when a woman communicates that most men enjoy everything about their wives. Yes ..I’ll go on if you’d like but very truly a man loves the scent of his wife.
In fact I’d venture to guess just As much. As a woman loves the scent of her husband or lover.