Menopause should mean fewer trips to the feminine hygiene aisle, right?
Not if Kimberly-Clark has its way. The company is about to extend its Poise line of products for women of a certain age. Included: a lubricant for vaginal dryness, cooling towelettes and a roll-on gel for hot flashes, and panty “fresheners” and a “vaginal wash” for vaginal odor — all addressing what the company says are common problems in over-40 women. The line already includes panty liners for women with “light bladder leakage.”
The theme of the marketing campaign: “The Second Talk” — meaning a talk about menopause equivalent to the one young girls get about their periods.
“There’s not a lot of conversation happening about menopause,” a company official tells the Associated Press.
Never mind “Menopause the Musical” or the decade-long debate about hormone therapy for hot flashes. It’s probably true that women don’t do a lot of chatting about vaginal dryness (though lubricants, moisturizers and estrogen products have long been available for that problem). And those cooling towels sound harmless enough (though not as nice as having fewer hot flashes in the first place — something an encouraging new study suggests many women might do by losing weight).
