Our Bodies Are Not Indecent

Menstrual blood is banned from broadcast media under the FCC’s “obscenity, indecency, profanity” clause, but blood from violence is…obviously not. Such censorship deepens stigma and ignorance of women’s health, bodies, and experiences. By censoring menstruation, we encourage societal stigma and ignorance.

So we drove these on a billboard truck around the streets of DC for a week—past the FCC building and the offices of CNN, NPR, and the Washington Post. We pitched this story to all the morning shows. We tagged every media outlet we could think of. We spoke with journalists. We started a shockingly successful petition.

The pick-up? Zero. Earned media? Zilch. Why? Because, as the producer of a major network morning show that you have definitely watched said off the record, “This is urgent and important and insane and I would love to feature it. But to piss off the FCC? I wouldn’t touch it with a fifty foot pole.”

CEO: Rachel Donovan Geller / Creative Director: Fede Garcia / Illustrator: Jane Beaird / Photographer: Celeste Martearena / Videographer: Jenna Pace