LETTERS.

LIL-LETS

`Devil woman' sanpro ads are just an insult to the target audiences

I'm writing in regard to the Lil-lets non-applicator tampon commercials. No, guys (and I can safely assume such, as very few women occupy the top slots in advertising), it's not OK for anyone, male or female, to be seen screaming, thumping, stamping on and hacking at a cushion (substitute a young child, old person, small furry animal or understanding partner) because the girl's a tad miserable and "we know how you feel".

It's not OK to portray women (and in today's wonderfully liberal society, perhaps you lot need reminding that these can include scientists, designers, company directors, merchant bankers, politicians, corporate advisers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, pilots, welders and shopworkers) losing all self-restraint and reason and scrawling all over their faces while kicking and screaming because they are (supposedly) feeling a bit out of it.

And it's not OK to portray this as normal female behaviour, something that the rest of us have to accept at every phase of the moon.

It may come as an immense surprise to ad makers, but there are many, many women who do not, nor have ever, suffered from PMS or period pains and the supposed accompanying bizarre behaviour. (I'm one of them.)

And we get a little sick of being portrayed as hapless, scrambled, violent, tearful, hysterical, unreliable and thus off work for a week every 28 days. In a world where only men get flu (common cold), migraines (headaches) and food poisoning (stomach upset/hangover), it's particularly galling. Ads aimed at "poorly" men see them tucked up safely in your beds. We devil women get to wreak havoc.