Men Face Backlash After Trying To Sell Pink Gloves For Changing And Hiding Tampons

A group of men decided they had a brilliant idea for a product aimed primarily at women and it has backfired spectacularly.

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According to an Instagram post translated from German, two pals lived with women back in 2010 and were horrified at the lack of a “good solution” for discretely disposing of tampons and sanitary pads. So a decade later, they decided to market pink gloves—called Pinky Gloves—to be used specifically to avoid getting menstrual blood on one’s hands while swapping out products and to hide tampons from any sensitive souls who might look in the trash bin after them.

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So these dudes designed pink gloves so tampons and pads can be disposed of properly and discretely. I shit you not. (The text is translated from German). pic.twitter.com/cn5spME2OT

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 14, 2021

If everything about those statements has left you totally confused, you’re not alone. 

There are plenty of things needed when it comes to making sure people have helpful resources for dealing with the inconvenience of menstruation, but not accidentally touching blood isn’t high on the list of priorities for just about anyone who actually menstruates. 

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In fact, increasing the stigma of menstruation by acting like the sight of a used tampon is so horrifying that an entire product needs to be created and carried around by half the population just to ensure no one will ever catch a glimpse of period blood in the trash is probably the opposite of helpful.

Pinky Gloves (@pinky_gloves on Insta) is a German start-up ran by men who think menstrual blood is unclean and that gloves are necessary when changing tampons or pads.

Where do we even begin? There is nothing unhygienic about period blood. This is period shaming. pic.twitter.com/Cu8LdeH7qT

— Clue (@clue) April 15, 2021

Naturally, the men who woke up one morning and thought “wow, let’s make cash off something we know very little about by doing the least innovative work possible” are getting dragged to all hell on Twitter for their efforts.

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Sounds like these men don’t wash their hands after using the toilet…ewww

— Gau – Member of Slugclub (@Gau88) April 15, 2021

my god these two guys made a start up selling PERIOD GLOVES so you don’t touch any blood changing your tampon jesus christ WHY ARE MEN pic.twitter.com/E9KtahVYSY

— Kasia Babis (@kasiababis) April 16, 2021

And on top of that, if we ever would have considered this a problem to be fixed, that us women wouldn’t have thought of gloves ourselves just because they weren’t pink

— Marleen // #BLM // Zwarte Piet is racisme (@monxies) April 15, 2021

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not only did they make it pink, but added an absurd pink tax: normal latex gloves in germany cost half the price they suggest to theirs (and i couldn’t find what they’re are made of)

— (๑˙❥˙๑) (@ohnonessuxa) April 15, 2021

Which is why never eat peanuts etc out of a dish on a bar. They go straight from a pee to sticking their unwashed hands in a communal dish. Level of eg hepatitis is frightening.

— Heather Lydia Peck (@HeatherLydia1) April 15, 2021

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As if hands can’t be washed…

— Get Me Off This Ride PODCAST (@GetMeTFasap) April 16, 2021

The swift backlash to the products prompted an acknowledgement of “blind spots” from the company on Instagram. But this is one of those situations where it’s just impossible to believe things would have ever gotten this far if they had asked for, received, and listened to input from like any women or people with periods at all.

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*First Published: April 18, 2021, 9:18 am