Many years ago, men used sanitary pads first before women. Experts came up with the absorption material to help injured and bleeding men. However, the pads proved more useful for the monthly bleeding of women.
In this article, you’ll read:
- Men Used Sanitary Pads First Before Women
- What Did Women Use for Their Period Before Sanitary Pads and Tampons?
- The First Disposable Sanitary Pads Intended for Women’s Use
Men Used Sanitary Pads First Before Women
In celebration of the Menstrual Hygiene Day on the 28th of May, let’s look at how sanitary pads were first used. Back then, experts came up with the first-ever disposable sanitary pads for men, not women. At that time, men used it to cope with other kinds of bleeding.
Around the 1700s, then-president Benjamin Franklin thought of creating a highly absorbent pad for bleeding soldiers. He wanted an absorbent material crafted with easy disposal after use.
Franklin wanted to help wounded soldiers control bleeding of a different kind back then. He also proposed this for the convenience of men in battle.
Afterwards, experts eventually came up with sanitary pads with easy access on the battlefield. The materials they used included wood pulp bandages. These materials contain decent absorbency and convenient disposal.
What Did Women Use for Their Period Before Sanitary Pads and Tampons?
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Before the 1700s, women were, of course, menstruating as well. Did you ever wonder how they dealt with their menstrual hygiene at that time? Without disposable sanitary pads and tampons, women needed resourcefulness to use some form of menstrual protection.
Back then, women used menstrual rags. Aside from that, women also lined their underwear with any cheap and absorbent material or cloth.
In China, women crafted their sanitary pads by tightly wrapping sand in a piece of cloth. Once the pad is wet, the women discard the sand and wash the pouch for the next use.
Other women from different countries used moss or grass. With this one, people wonder if they also had to grapple with frequent infections in their private areas.
Up until now, it’s still unclear why American and European women in the 1700s to 1900s don’t use menstrual rags. According to some, it could be because of the extreme poverty the majority of the population has to go through. Back then, some could afford to use knitted pads, sheep’s wool, or rabbit fur.
The First Disposable Sanitary Pads Intended for Women’s Use
In the 1890s, the first disposable sanitary pads for menstrual use finally came out. These were inspired by French nurses who used pads for soldiers to use on the battlefield. It was a pad stuffed with absorbent wood pulp to stop excessive bleeding during a battle. Below, we listed some of the earliest brands that produced sanitary pads.
Johnson and Johnson’s Lister’s Towels
The Johnson and Johnson’s Lister’s Towels came out in 1896. It was one of the first sanitary pads invented back then. Unfortunately, they could not properly introduce it to the market; that’s why not many women knew about it.
Kotex
Do you ever wonder how women discovered sanitary pads when most people could not even talk about it? Fortunately, in 1921, Kimberly-Clark got around it by getting women to ask for pads by the brand Kotex. Kotex is the short term for cotton-like texture; the name is still synonymous with sanitary pads today.
Back then, some women were embarrassed to approach the male clerk for Kotex, so they had another option. Boxes of disposable sanitary pads were placed on the cashier’s countertop. In that way, women could simply pick up a box and drop the money into a particular payment box. It makes Kotex one of the first self-service items in America.
Sanitary Pads Now Are Different From What Women Use Before
Image source: iStock
The early sanitary pads were nothing like the version we are familiar with at present. Before, sanitary pads resembled cotton wool held in netting with loops on each end.
Additionally, women wore sanitary pads with a belt to keep them in place. Unfortunately, this method provided little success because they tended to shift forward or backwards.
After a few more decades, experts finally came up with the sanitary pads we know today. Women eventually got access to stick-on pads in the 1980s.
Tampons as Contraception
The earliest version of tampons was not always used for period protection. People in the past, particularly the ancient Egyptians and Romans, used fashioned tampons as contraception. In other records, they used tampons to stop the bleeding of bullet wounds.
Tampons were also used as pessaries for delivering medicine into the vagina and cervix. Concerning this, the effectiveness of tampons as a form of contraceptive is highly questionable.
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