An American visitor to Australia discovered that tampons in Australia are not the same as those in the United States. Gabrielle Uhrig travelled from Arkansas to Adelaide in December 2021 and posted a video last week explaining her misunderstanding.
Tampons in the United States often come with single-use plastic applicators and are larger in size, according to Ms Uhrig.
She had purchased a pack of U By Kotex micro tampons for $4.25 and was astounded by the difference. ”How come no one has mentioned this?” she wondered. She went on to say that it’s not even the size of her pinky finger.
‘Someone mentioned I’d be surprised at how few feminine alternatives there were here, but this isn’t what I expected when they said few.’
Ms Uhrig also stated she had trouble opening the tampon since she had never used one like it before and didn’t know how to use it without the ‘plastic insertion piece.’
Her video just added to the confusion, with Australians in the comments bewildered by the idea of a tampon applicator, claiming it would be more difficult to use. ‘I’m the opposite lol, I’ve never used an applicator and think it’s way more complicated than the one you have there,’ a person remarked.
Another remarked, ‘I always thought applicator tampons were for learning how to use tampons.’
Most European nations, according to several commentators, do not use applicators either.
Ms Uhrig went on to explain how tampons functioned in the United States in a follow-up video.
She exhibited a snapshot of the plastic applicator in the video and claimed she initially opened numerous Australian tampons assuming the component had been left out by accident.
She explained how she was confused when she opened something that had no plastic (applicator) piece over it. She opened many more to be sure it wasn’t merely damaged or missing a component. In her words, ”I truly had no idea that there was tampons without applicators … it’s just crazy how different the world is.”
In Australia, tampons with applicators are available, although they are far less frequent than those without.
