"Supports vaginal health" products.

[CTyankee]

There is a TV commercial running lately for products (yes, plural) that "support vaginal health."

Besides being incredibly sexist, it is also not even being helpful. In the ad the checker at the store, does a mock whisper of the word "odor" and the female shopper nods knowingly.

What is this, 1950?

I remember the revolutionary advice in my copy of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" by the Boston Women's Health Collective in 1970. 1970!! It's advice (IIRC): "wash your bottom once a day." Presumably both sexes could benefit from this advice. If there is a medical problem, you can seek the help of a (hopefully enlightened) gynecologist.

My grown kids benefitted greatly (evident from the way our paperback version got "worn&quot from that wonderful manual. Now my granddaughters are seeing this stupidity again. And my grandson, who is 9. Sheesh!

[Delphinus]

1. Grrrrrr...

Love a video from a few years ago by Dr. Jen Gunter taking down the Goop lady re: steam cleaning the vagina.

[demmiblue]

18. Lol... I was thinking of her as I was reading the OP!

Dr. Gunter is badass!

[yardwork]

31. Steam cleaning?!

[XanaDUer2]

2. That ad is insane

Harkens back to the FDS intimate odors ads. There is also a commercial for a product named Lume created by a female doctor (!) To help stop your stinky problems, one of which is strongly suggested to be vaginal odor.

I was told to wash the area with warm water, and that is enough. Ridiculous

[Freddie]

5. I hate those commercials

I shower and use (armpit) deodorant every day and now I still have to worry about stinking? Go away.

[XanaDUer2]

15. All Madison Avenue bullshit nt

[ProfessorGAC]

36. Those Lume Ads Are Nuts

If that woman really is a doctor, she should be ashamed of herself.
The claim is that other doctors prescribe too much. So, a deodorizing fragrance is the medical solution?
She the brags it's aluminum free (scare mongering based on one flawed study in the 80s) & that it's baking soda free. Baking soda? A household product used in cooking?
Her whole product line seems like a scam.

[XanaDUer2]

41. I think it's a scam

Remember back in the day, it was great to have baking soda in your deodorant? It was advertised as the leading active ingredient.

I think a female doctor pushing intimate deodorants is disgusting.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. What product, do you recall? Wondering if the ad is on youtube.

Sounds pretty obnoxious.

[CTyankee]

4. Maybe it is. You could google "supports vaginal health" product advertisement.

[LeftInTX]

21. Food supplements??

https://www.healthline.com/health/vaginal-health/probiotic-vaginal-health#:~:text=Lactobacillus%20acidophilus%20is%20the%20most,lactobacillus%20rhamnosus%20and%20lactobacillus%20reuteri.

I wash down there with pH balanced products formulated for that area. Regular soap is too harsh and irritating. Regular soap can also lead to urinary tract infections.

[PTWB]

6. What is the product?

If there is a cleaning product that is specifically formulated to clean sensitive areas such as the vagina, what is the problem with that?

Different people have different hygiene standards. If someone wants to clean more thoroughly than someone else, what’s wrong with that?

[MuseRider]

8. If you don't remember or

are not old enough it used to be that we were supposed to hide and deodorize our "lady parts" secretly because we only had them for our man's pleasure or maybe to chuck out a baby or 6. Other than being fuckable and able to cook we were gross, at least that was what it felt like growing up with all those ads.

[LeftInTX]

22. I buy products for down there

Regular products (soap and water) were causing irritation, so I wash with a pH balanced product.

[MuseRider]

25. That is your right to do that

it is not a post about it being wrong but how it is right now starting to be sold like it was back in the "women are for fucking and making dinner" days. Of course we all use what we like or need to. To sell it to us in a whisper like we are stinky, too awful to talk out loud about and unwanted without that product is disgusting.

[LeftInTX]

26. Without seeing the ad, I have no idea what it's about

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8618584/#:~:text=The%20naturally%20neutral%20pH%20is,is%20moderately%20acidic%20%5B2%5D.

The naturally neutral pH is equal to 7, but the normal vaginal pH ranges between 3.8 and 5.0, which is moderately acidic [2]. A lower pH value (more acidic) in the vagina than the blood or interstitial fluids can protect vaginal mucosa from pathogenic organisms [4]. The vaginal pH can be affected by overall health conditions, including age, vaginal hydration status, daily diet, and safe intercourse. The vaginal pH value is age-dependent. The normal vaginal pH value for a woman of reproductive age ranges from 4.0 to 4.5, but the value may be slightly higher than 4.5 among premenarchal and postmenopausal women [12].

The vaginal pH value clearly plays an important role in vaginal health, but it is important to note that maintaining a healthy vaginal pH is characterized by the metabolism of Lactobacillus acidophilus and other endogenous flora, estrogen, glycogen, and existing flora and pathogens.

I go by the science and do no use lye based products down there!

[MuseRider]

28. That is OK it was explained at the first

I just wanted you to know I was not suggesting anything about how you take care of your body. We all need washing and we all can do it but it does not have to be advertised as somehow dirty, stinky women parts in a low whisper. All it is is us cleaning our bodies but from the top of the thread it was said, in the ad, in a whisper and that harkens back to the days when all our stuff was either whispered about because we are so gross or there was a lovely little tropical song playing in the background to advertise what we could smell like if we used their product.

Sorry if you thought I was coming at you, I was not.

[yardwork]

32. Well said! That's it.

[CTyankee]

9. Because medical science doesn't support it, that's why and it matters. It's a non-issue and -- I"ll

say it again -- if there is a problem, then you seek a doctor who treats it. The ad makes it look like something normal is "bad." Again, "wash your bottom once a day" is pretty good advice and it is non-sexist.

[LeftInTX]

23. Yes it does support it. Tell that to the National Institutes of Health!

Regular soap is too alkaline for down there. A vagina has a slightly acidic pH. This acidic pH helps fight yeast and other irritating organisms.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8618584/#:~:text=The%20naturally%20neutral%20pH%20is,is%20moderately%20acidic%20%5B2%5D.

The naturally neutral pH is equal to 7, but the normal vaginal pH ranges between 3.8 and 5.0, which is moderately acidic [2]. A lower pH value (more acidic) in the vagina than the blood or interstitial fluids can protect vaginal mucosa from pathogenic organisms [4]. The vaginal pH can be affected by overall health conditions, including age, vaginal hydration status, daily diet, and safe intercourse. The vaginal pH value is age-dependent. The normal vaginal pH value for a woman of reproductive age ranges from 4.0 to 4.5, but the value may be slightly higher than 4.5 among premenarchal and postmenopausal women [12].

The vaginal pH value clearly plays an important role in vaginal health, but it is important to note that maintaining a healthy vaginal pH is characterized by the metabolism of Lactobacillus acidophilus and other endogenous flora, estrogen, glycogen, and existing flora and pathogens.

[yardwork]

33. Keep soap away from sensitive areas. Warm water is all that is needed.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. Synthetic Surfactants Are Not Alkaline

For those used in personal care products, the pH of the neutral active surfactant is 6.6-6.9.
In order to increase shelf life, sodium citrate (in equilibrium between the mono- & di-sodium salt) provides excess sodium ions in case heat or time initiates hydrolysis of the surfactant. Phosphates are also used, but in either case the pH of that desired ratio of mono- to do gives a pH of 6.55. None of those numbers are alkaline.
Because these are buffers, they have a very slow effect shifting pH. Slow enough, that simply rinsing with water within several minutes essentially eliminates their presence.
95%+ of commercial "soaps" have no soap in them.. Soap & detergent are chemically different and these products are based on detergents which work better, can be made into gels & liquids more easily & are WAY more hard water tolerant.
So, yes soap could be an issue, but without any real effort, soap can be completely avoided.

[LeftInTX]

39. Thanks!

[CTyankee]

42. See post 24.

[LeftInTX]

44. That post is about things you insert in your vagina

Lye based soaps are not good down there

[meadowlander]

24. The vagina is a self-cleaning oven.

Nobody needs products like these, they are not backed by medical science and they can cause more harm than they prevent by introducing infections, stripping the natural chemical balance which prevents them or triggering allergies. Also it perpetuates harmful and misogynistic cultural prejudices that womens' bodies are naturally unclean.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X2I_GdURYG4

[Hugin]

7. They have introduced a new word to my vocabulary...

‘Perineal’. As in perineal maintenance. No longer do I suffer from the embarrassment of explaining to a healthcare professional what a ‘taint’ is.

You’re in good company though, my SO violently changes channels when the ads you referred to appear.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Well, most of the things that showed up on a search were...

foods with the right vitamins. I suppose Dr Oz and his ilk have their fingers in such products.

But, vaginas can have problems, just like any body parts, so if something works to solve a medical problem, what's the big deal?

Next we'll try to ban antiperspirant stuff, even though all 15 known sexes use them.

And no woman should ever douche again.

[CTyankee]

12. You are right, what's the big deal? Well, it's a misleading (at the very least) and sells a product

that sells an idea that is false. There is nothing inherently bad about a woman's vagina, or a man's crotch for that matter. But men are not being sold special products for cleaning their penises. Underarms, yes, but both sexes have them.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. Well, men can get yeast infections, but it's not common...

enough to sell stuff yet. I hear about 3/4 of women will suffer from that, though, simply because of how they're built. Biggest problem seems to be they're allowed to advertise things they never could before.

What I find mildly annoying is the battery powered shaver that's supposed to be so comfortable. Unlike any other shaving device, it treats our privates with great care. It is not mentioned where the demand for this device comes from.

But, it looks exactly like the rechargable beard trimmer I already have. And which cost a lot less.

I hate to say it, but privates are often still better off private.

[MuseRider]

17. That was also used as a form of birth control

as well as making yourself smell like a tropical breeze!

Remember all those big, red bags with the tube? Many women had only that to use for birth control. I know my mother used it.

[TreasonousBastard]

29. At least it was a attempt at something useful, even if...

it didn't work all that well.

Behind most of the complaints here seems to be advertising a solution to a problem invented just to find a solution to sell.

[MuseRider]

46. I think we actually

have many things we "need" solutions for that are not real, you are right about that.

I am as bad as anyone at wanting the shiny things so I have to be careful. We all succumb to something now and then and then BAM the money starts to roll in. I wish I had every penny I have spent for things that did not need solving.

Oh well. I draw the line however and making an entire gender feel bad about something that is not there unless you do not wash yourself. It is all meant to demean us and make us afraid or embarrassed or feel lesser than. I do not understand the need to do that to women. Men already have the upper hand and will be getting almost everything they want when they can again control us by using our own bodies the way they want not the way we want.

[yardwork]

34. You really should wander back out of this conversation.

No offense intended.

[blogslug]

11. I remember an OG SNL commercial parody

Women talking to each other:

"My secret is this product!"

"What's it do?"

"I can't tell you that but it makes my life so much better!"

"What's it for?"

"I can't tell you that either but ever since I've been using it I feel like sunshine and spring flowers!"

(paraphrased by me)

[geardaddy]

14. Wasn't that how Lysol got started?

[XanaDUer2]

19. Psychologically horrible ad nt

[geardaddy]

20. Absolutely.

[TreasonousBastard]

30. The secret code back then was that it was really being sold as...

a spermicide, but that was illegal back then so odor was invented.

It didn't work as a spermicide, either, but sent plenty of women to the hospital because you just don't want Lysol on your lady parts, internal or external

😨.

[ProfessorGAC]

38. It's Not Even A Good Idea...

...on tough skin like our palms!
Classic Lysol has a benzyl chlorophenol in it as the active ingredient.
If benzyl, chloro, or phenol sound bad to you, it's because all three can be!
The more modern products (even by the same brandname) uses a molecule similar to Bac-Tine and is much harder to cause health effects on contact. (Requires much higher contact amounts, but is effective at far lower concentrations.
Using either internally was & is a monumentally bad idea.

[Me.]

16. Odor...Stinking ...Is A #1 On The Misogynist's Playbook

and is self explanatory

[meadowlander]

27. And it "supports vaginal health" in the same way Cocoa Pops are "part of a complete breakfast".

[milestogo]

35. I have yet to see an ad for a product that gets rid of masculine odor

Or an aisle in the store devoted to "masculine hygiene".

A few products have come out for this purpose over the years, and men do not buy them. They haven't had the negative socialization that tells them their bodies stink.

[darmok167]

40. I learned about baby wipes when I had kids...

...and that was a life changing experience for me. Haven't used wadded dry paper in years, unless it was an emergency at a public bathroom. I think more men would use them if they would ever just try them, but I don't think men in general care all that much about down there care. Perhaps because they haven't had to, like you said, but I think there's nothing more disgusting than skid marks and I can't believe that women tolerate that shit, no pun intended. LOL

[Demovictory9]

43. These.dude wipes are popular with men

https://dudeproducts.com/

[CTyankee]

47. Our plumber friend says: DON'T FLUSH WIPES EVER

They are not made to break down like toilet paper. He cites all those times in his 30 years as a plumber that he has had to unclog toilets where wipes are flushed down. Uh oh.

[Meowmee]

45. They do have them

But they aren’t advertised as fas I have seen anyway.

https://spy.com/articles/grooming/skincare/best-intimate-washes-for-men-penis-soap-172377/