Chinese Women Fired Up by Too-Short Sanitary Pads

A trend emerged on social media in China this month with women posting videos of themselves measuring sanitary pads. It wasn't some bizarre fad but a protest against companies accused of cheating women with feminine hygiene products significantly shorter than advertised. "Will cutting a few centimeters help you strike it rich?" one user asked in a Nov. 3 video, in which she measured pads from nine brands, finding all fell short of the stated length, per the BBC. Women who saw the video started measuring their own pads, leading to calls for boycotts and eventually complaints about "inadequate sex education, body shaming and the lack of female corporate leaders," per the New York Times.

Chinese news outlet The Paper measured 20 different sanitary pads, finding 90% were at least a centimeter (0.4 inches) shorter than stated. In most cases, the layers meant to absorb menstrual blood were even shorter. Initially, Chinese brands reportedly didn't see what all the fuss was about given the national standard states the length of a pad can be within 4% of what is labeled. But a woman who measured three brands she had at home found they were up to 17% shorter than labeled, per the Times. When they failed to work for her, "I'd wonder if it was that I had gone too long without changing them," the woman says. "It was only after everyone pointed it out that I realized it was a manufacturing problem."

Popular Chinese brand ABC triggered a huge backlash after telling a complaining customer that they could choose another brand, per the BBC. It later apologized and vowed to ensure "zero deviation" from the stated length. Other brands, including Shecare and Beishute, have also apologized, while Chinese authorities have said they'll revise the national standard for sanitary pads, which offers no guidance for how long the absorbent layer should be. Still, there are concerns of censorship in the feminist discussions, with state media outlets painting this as a cause for consumer rights, not women's rights, the Times reports. According to the BBC, one popular phrase on social media states, "Sanitary pads yield a centimeter; women yield for a lifetime." (More China stories.)