New Tampax Period Education survey finds 68% of Gen Z women & girls say they received little or no period education before their period began; 43% of Black Gen Z women & girls have never used a tampon at all.
CINCINNATI, Oct. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampax, Procter & Gamble's leading tampon brand, is partnering with actress and executive producer Marsai Martin, women's college basketball national champions Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson, and Dr. Nicole Sparks OB/GYN, to continue its mission of equipping women with medically accurate education and sparking conversation to help them make informed decisions about what period protection is best for them.
Tampax recently conducted the 2023 Tampax Period Education survey1 to help understand the period and tampon education gap among young women. The results indicated that not receiving medically accurate education about periods and tampons has perpetuated fears and misinformation, leading many to believe that tampons aren't for them:
68% of Gen Z women & girls say they have received little or no period education before their period began, and more than half are uncomfortable discussing their period with close friends.
This lack of education extends to tampons, with 83% of Gen Z women & girls saying they received little or no education about tampons before their period began.
The research also found that the lack of education is prominent among multicultural Gen Z communities:
43% of Black Gen Z women & girls have never used a tampon at all, despite 41% of Black Gen Z women & girls who have used tampons saying tampons have allowed them to have more freedom on their period.
36% of U.S. Hispanic Gen Z women & girls who have never used and don't plan to use a tampon say it's because they heard they are uncomfortable, despite 61% who have used tampons saying they're comfortable when inserted correctly.
"We've learned that if no one around you talks about periods or uses tampons, chances are you won't either," says Balaka Niyazee, Senior Vice President of P&G Feminine Care North America. "Our mission is to help women better manage their periods with medically accurate information and superior protection. By partnering with Gen Z trail-blazers Marsai, Angel, and Flau'jae and expert Dr. Nicole Sparks, we hope to create an open space for conversations and education about periods and tampons."
"I'm excited to join forces with Tampax," said Marsai Martin. "By sharing our personal experiences, we hope to inspire women to embrace the possibilities that come with using tampons, so they don't feel like their period is holding them back."
"I didn't understand how to use tampons for a long time," shared Flau'jae Johnson. "I'm thankful my mom was there to walk me through how to use one for the first time before a big college game. It's important to have open conversations about periods and tampons – it could really change your experience."
"When we don't talk about tampons, it perpetuates myths and fears about using them," says Angel Reese. "That's why the work we're doing with Tampax is important. We're here to change the game."
Since its invention over 90 years ago, Tampax has paved the way for women to be educated about their periods and tampons, with the first door-to-door education program in the 1940s. Tampax's mission to educate has spanned decades and most recently, in 2020, the brand reached millions of people with straight-talk period edu-tainment through its "Time to Tampax" campaign.
With "A Better Way to Period," Tampax invites women everywhere to discover the protection, comfort and freedom that lives on the other side of trying tampons.
Do You Want In?
Learn More: Visit https://tampax.com/en-us/ for more real-talk education, and join Tampax on social to get the conversation and education 'flowing' in your own community
Connect: Follow @Tampax on Instagram and @TampaxOfficial on TikTok for real-time updates and more fun with Marsai, Angel, Flau'jae, and Dr. Sparks
Engage: Share your stories on social by tagging #ABetterWaytoPeriod
Watch: Subscribe to our YouTube channel for access to exclusive videos with our collective of influential voices and experts
1The Tampax Period Education Survey, 2023
Please refer to the full survey results for the phrasing of each statement shown to U.S. adults. Responses were presented in random order to ensure a higher degree of accuracy in the data and included a mix of true (correct) and false (incorrect) statements.
Survey Methodology The survey was conducted by Ipsos on behalf of MSL & Tampax between June 15-19, 2023. A sample of 1,440 women and girls from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English, with 910 women ages 18-26 and 530 girls ages 11-17 recruited through their parents. The poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for all respondents.
About Tampax Procter & Gamble's leading tampon brand, Tampax, exists to help women and girls better manage their periods through superior internal period protection and medically accurate period education. With more than 80 years of period protection expertise, Tampax meets a variety of needs with a product lineup that includes Tampax Pearl, Tampax Radiant, Tampax Pure Cotton, and Tampax Pocket Radiant. Only Tampax tampons offer a LeakGuard™ Braid and five absorbency sizes to help provide leak-free periods. In 2021, Tampax launched The Flow It Forward Project, an initiative aimed at ending the misinformation surrounding period care and tampons and promoting equal representation and access to medical resources. Through Flow It Forward, Tampax is proud to partner with United Negro College Fund, Black Women's Health Imperative, and The Period Education Project. For more information, please visit tampax.com/en-us/flow-forward/.
About Procter & Gamble P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at https://www.pg.com/news.
Share this article