In the month since a recording of Donald Trump saying he "grabs [women] by the pussy" has emerged, a national conversation has been sparked about sexual assault of women—much of it centered around the aforementioned p-word.
New York-based company Thinx, which makes underwear for use during menstrual periods, decided to reference the Republican presidential candidate's comments in its latest ad campaign, which it planned to debut in the Montgomery and 16th-Mission BART stations on November 10th.
Along with advertisements citing "Period-Proof Underwear" and "Patriarchy-Proof Underwear," Thinx planned to use the phrase "Pussy-Grabbing-Proof Underwear." But BART has rejected the ad, citing the use of the word "pussy," which it believes is profane.
"Crude descriptions of sexual anatomy, regardless of sex, are vulgar," says BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost in a statement. "This is not the kind of atmosphere appropriate to generate inside BART stations. While we understand the spirit behind 'reclaiming' vulgar words, our advertising standards make it clear that BART is not the suitable setting to begin such a campaign."
Trost cites BART's advertising policy, which bars "words recognized by the community as vulgar, indecent or profane for display in a public setting that includes minors."
Miki Agrawal, Thinx' CEO and co-founder, disagrees with BART's assessment. "We're a feminist brand, and this whole conundrum with 'pussy-grabbing,' that it's been pushed under the rug as 'locker room talk' ... A person running for President is saying these things, and should he be elected, that would set women's rights back for many years. We wanted to take a stand on the concept of consent."
"This term was everywhere," Agrawal said. "It was used in national publications, on every TV network. It's been used all over the country, and it's no longer a shock."
As for the potential of children seeing the ad, Agrawal points out that aside from its regular appearances in the news after Trump's comments, the word "pussy" is already in many kids' lexicons, from The Owl and the Pussycat to the singing group Pussycat Dolls to the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, which made headlines and appeared on television for its opposition to Vladimir Putin.
"If a kid sees it, they'll think of a cat," Agrawal argues. "But adults will understand the gravity of the assault statement that was made."
This isn't the first time a transit system has rejected Thinx' advertisements. Last October, the New York City subway system turned down a different Thinx campaign that featured yonic imagery and the tagline "Underwear For Women with Periods." (The tagline has since been changed to "People with Periods," and the company's proposed BART campaign features a transman as a model.)
At the time, Agrawal told reporters that one of the New York MTA's objections was to the word "period" itself, citing rules against ads for "sexual or excretory activities" or "sexually oriented businesses." But after receiving numerous emails and tweets from women arguing that periods were both non-sexual and a normal part of life, the agency relented, allowing the ads to go up the following month.
The "Pussy" element was the only element of Thinx' campaign not approved by BART. Should the agency continue to oppose the use of the term, Agrawal says the company will still move ahead with the BART campaign, but she's hoping they'll reconsider.
"There is power in reclaiming words aimed at disenfranchised groups," she said, encouraging those who support the use of "pussy" to tweet or email their support to BART. "We want to reclaim this word and use it to give agency to women."
