Weekend Onesie: Lysol - Am I Not Your Girl?

Weekend Onesie:

Lysol

Am I Not Your Girl?

Stop pulling my leg, because that's not my leg.

They Candid Camera did!

File Under: Things You Can't F#cking Make Up.

Lysol actually did a whole ad campaign aimed at women with 'stinky coozes' - for centuries!

Yes... Madison Avenue learned that shame moves product!

Seems those supposed 'stinky coozes' were at the root of all marital problems. 

And, as we all darn well know, spraying your privates  with Lysol (and risking death) is preferable to being alone. Because apparently a woman's worthiness is wholly dependent on the man she keeps (and eventually smothers in his sleep.)

And wait... it gets worse. They also promoted it as a form of birth control. 

From Rose Eveleth at Smithsonian Magazine: "The ad had women claiming, 'I use Lysol always for douching.' At the time, Lysol was 'an antiseptic soap whose pre-1953 formula contained cresol, a phenol compound reported in some cases to cause inflammation, burning, and even death,' says Mother Jones.  and the thought of using that for douching is enough to make anybody wince."

According to Lisa Wade at The Society Pages: "These ads aren’t only frightening women into thinking their genitals smell badly. According to historian Andrea Tone, 'feminine hygiene' was a euphemism. Birth control was illegal in the Unite States until 1965 (for married couples) and 1972 (for single people). These Lysol ads are actually for contraception. The campaign made Lysol the best-selling method of contraception during the Great Depression."

So, keep in mind that the Lysol back then was a whole lot stronger than what we are familiar with today. And while definitely creating a less than welcoming atmosphere for daddy's baby batter, it also caused a great deal of tissue damage. Yes, back in the day, people died from being exposed to Lysol - many of them women using it as a form of birth control. 

As Nicole Pasulka from Mother Jones reported: "By 1911 doctors had recorded 193 Lysol poisonings and five deaths from uterine irrigation. Despite reports to the contrary, Lysol was aggressively marketed to women as safe and gentle. Once cresol was replaced with ortho-hydroxydiphenyl in the formula, Lysol was pushed as a germicide good for cleaning toilet bowls and treating ringworm, and Lehn & Fink’s, the company that made the disinfectant, continued to market it as safeguard for women’s 'dainty feminine allure.'"

By 1968, Lysol was pretty much advertised only as a home disinfectant, with TV commercials selling it as a great way to rid your home of germs.

Well, let's hope it stays that way... I mean, why turn back the clock now... right, Clarence Thomas?

Despite what a group of deplorable politicians think...

This isn't 1952!

So make sure you vote as if it isn't!

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home -

Sinéad O'Connor

Recommended by others...

Don't worry. It's not poison!

Sewing fear...

And doubt...

Preserve your daintiness!

And poise!

Marriage and motherhood!

Attain and maintain perfection!

Beware of the 'other' you.

And remember... death before divorce!

Never change!

Or there will be consequences.

Learn from their stories...

So many stories!

Don't put your love to the test!

Am I not your girl?

The Home You're Tearing Down - Loretta