“Ask me to borrow sanitary napkins” Chinese women’s pendant shocked foreign netizens: It turned out that not having menstruation is shameful

Recently, the “You can borrow me sanitary napkins” pendant that Chinese girls hang on their bags unexpectedly became popular on overseas social platforms. Many foreign netizens were surprised and said: “It turns out that there is no shame in menstruation in China” and “This is loyalty among women and the awakening of Chinese women.” He expressed his jealousy. Related discussions on social forums originated from aJapan A male netizen made a post saying he was “shocked” by a female high school student who openly flaunted a menstruation app on the train. A Chinese female netizen immediately responded to them, sparking a discussion about menstrual embarrassment and female mutual aid among netizens in many countries. Related topics are in Chinaweibo It also tops the list of hot searches.

According to widespread media reports, on October 31, a Japanese male netizen posted on a social platform that he saw the female high school student next to him on the tram watching a menstruation app. He said, “I was shocked. Do you want to see this kind of thing on a tram?” The tweet was viewed more than 2.4 million times on the X platform.

As soon as this Japanese male netizen’s post came out, a Chinese female netizen took it forward and responded, saying: “If you knew that Chinese women would put a small sign on their bags saying “If you don’t have any sanitary napkins, you can borrow it from me” to make it easier for women who urgently need sanitary napkins, wouldn’t you be scared to death?” This reply alone received more than 1.6 million views, and was later translated and forwarded by netizens in Japan, South Korea and other countries.

Many foreign netizens said, “This is the first time I know of this kind of mutual aid.” They both found this practical and were envious of this open environment. Some South Korean netizens said, “It’s true, it is popular in China now.” In the comments on the Theqoo forum, someone summarized this matter as “loyalty among women.” Many Japanese netizens lamented, “It’s so cute, so magical, I like it” and “I hope this kind of culture can spread.” He also told that if this had happened in Japan, people with such marks on their body could have been approached by strange men.

According to reports, Chinese women have made “Can you borrow me sanitary napkins” into beanie key chains and non-woven pendants, and hung them directly on schoolbags and backpacks when going out? There has been a long-standing practice of turning the topic of menstruation from a secret to a public gesture. Some people have postponed it for three years from now till September 2023. In November of the same year, an 11-year-old girl in Lishui, Zhejiang, also hung a sign on her school bag that read, “You can borrow sanitary napkins from me.” Her mother said that her daughter always kept a sanitary napkin in her school bag, and others could borrow it directly after seeing it.

After the relevant topic was forwarded on foreign social platforms, it triggered discussions about menstrual embarrassment and women’s mutual aid among netizens in many countries. However, some netizens said that in China, there are still some places where sanitary napkins have long been stigmatized, including store clerks packing them in black plastic bags, the elderly using pronouns such as “auntie”, and advertisements using blue liquid instead of menstrual blood. The use of sanitary napkin pendants is a conscious resistance of the new generation women.