DESPITE being forced to pull down its advertisement due to uproar from a religious group, female hygiene product maker Libresse Malaysia received support on social media for its courage in starting a conversation over menstruation and vaginal health.
“Why is this a problem? Libresse is doing a great job educating women about their private part. It’s actually sad that you need a company to educate us.
“This should be taught in school and at home coz some women still don’t know how to take care of their own private part,” said user Ay.
User Shazalia Sapri added: “What a shame. You should work on something reliable than questioning these Libresse advertisements!”
Last week, Libresse published an advertisement using the theme “V-Kebaya”, where it launched a limited-edition line of sanitary pads using packaging that was decorated with floral pictures, inspired by the Nyonya kebaya and vulva.
The new theme was aimed at breaking encouraging women to feel confident about their bodies, including their privates.
It was part of their long-running “Know Your V”, aimed at campaigning to educate women on their genital health.
However, Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), a Government-linked body aimed at propagating Islam, took offense of the advertisement which accused the advertisement of “exploiting” and “disrespecting” women.
“This advertisement clearly undermines the dignity of women and violated the norms of decency in our Malaysian society.
“Displaying the vulva motif openly on clothing, packages, bags, origami and other items, is not acceptable in our culture nor allowable according to our religious values,” its women council wing chairperson Dr Safinar Salleh was reported saying.
Narrow-minded
However, netizens were unimpressed with Safinar’s argument and called out the religious group.
“Libresse is clearly using floral-likely images for their latest ads, they’re not even using the real images/doodles of women’s Miss V.
“We really need to break the taboo of being such a close-minded person when it comes to the menstruation topics,” said user Shyra.
User Belle noted: “Seriously Libresse lah paling banyak educate girls and women about their own private part. masa sekolah dulu dia pernah bagi pads with cute books full of great infos about vagina without any sexual intend. full of cute pics too!! it’s necessary though.”
Another user called Whispered Din had cheeky reply to Safinar, noting, “Thanks ustazah, I’m going to go buy Libresse now!” – Sept 19, 2021.
