I disagree on the sanitary towel one. A relative of mine went off on a MASSIVE rant about seeing an ad about heavy periods, saying she was going to complain to the brand, the channel, and the ASA. Disgusting how they talk about periods on TV, she said.

But I think it's kind of shameful that we can't talk about periods openly. As someone who had heavy periods that turned out to be a symptom of a medical issue that went undiagnosed until I tried to have children, I feel sure that if we normalised talking about periods I might have learned earlier what's "normal" and what's not. And i always think of that poor poor girl who killed herself because she started her period and didn't know what it was and killed herself because she thought there was something wrong with her. Which was what led to the creation of the Samaritans. And there have been other similar stories of suicide around the world where people were scared or ashamed of their periods. Why? Why is something that is part of (almost) every woman's life, for a significant chunk of it at least, come with such stigma? If you saw blood in an ad for something else, like an injury on another part of the body, would it concern you? Why is it any different?

That's my stance. Same with towels/tampons being out visibly in public toilets in cafes etc. I think if people take offence to that then it's just a sign we need to work harder as a society to normalise and acknowledge a basic bodily function.