The portrayal of women in commercials is intertwined with patriarchal structures and power hierarchies found in Western contemporary society, which stem from the Judeo-Christian binary of a ‘clean/messy’ body as introduced by St. Augustine (354 – 430 CE). This portrayal of women and its effect on their self-esteem, as well as consumerism, have considerable implications for the gender dynamics in modern Western societies. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore the interdependent relationship between feminine hygiene product commercials, feminist movements and women’s self-esteem.  The goal of this thesis is twofold. First, a multimodal discourse analysis of four advertisements from Always and Venus will be performed to uncover to what extent feminine hygiene product commercials are adjusting their portrayal of the female body according to feminist movements. Secondly, four qualitative semi-structured interviews will be conducted to examine how the portrayal of women in these commercials affect women’s self-esteem. This thesis’ research draws from feminist theories, Representation Theory, Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), and the Hierarchy of Effects Theory (HET).  The findings of the analysis imply that the companies have made some adjustments in the way they are portraying women in accordance with the feminist movements. However, both the analysis of the commercials and the interviews imply that more improvements are necessary. The thesis comes to the conclusion that feminine hygiene product commercials can affect the self-esteem of women by creating (unrealistic) norms about how a female body should look and function.

Studien behandlar den komplexa problematiken kring konsumentmedvetenhet och val av mensskydd, där bristande lagstiftning, företags marknadsföring och det kulturella tabut kring menstruation spelar en central roll. Genom att fokusera på svenska konsumenters medvetenhet om kemikalier i mensskydd och deras produktval undersöker studien vilken information konsumenter har tillgång till och hur detta påverkar deras val av mensskydd. Studien kombinerar en litteraturstudie och en enkätundersökning för att ge en djupare förståelse för ämnet. Enkäten besvarades av 79 menstruerande personer, och hade en blandning av fritextsvar och färdiga svarsalternativ. Det finns även indikationer på att menstrosor är en växande produktkategori, dock finns det potentiella problem med tillsatta ämnen i vissa av dessa produkter. En analys av produktbeskrivningar för menstrosor genomfördes för att se om dessa påverkar konsumenters val av produkt. Resultatet indikerade att konsumenter sällan jämför olika märken eller läser på om menstrosor före köp. Studien indikerar även på att konsumenternas medvetenhet om mensskydd generellt är låg, men att det finns en förväntan om säkra produkter och striktare krav på företag. Trots detta finner många respondenter det svårt att navigera bland vilseledande marknadsföring, samt tenderar att prioritera andra faktorer som komfort och absorptionsförmåga i valet av mensskydd. Tidigare forskning visar dock på exempel där påtryckningar från konsumenter om säkra mensskydd har lett till positiva förändringar. Konsumentmedvetenhet är därmed avgörande för utvecklingen av säkra mensskydd, med lagstiftning som stöd. Sammanfattningsvis betonar studien behovet av transparent produktinformation och framhåller vikten av fortsatt forskning och åtgärder för att öka medvetenheten och främja en informerad konsumtion. / This research addresses the complex issue of consumer awareness and choices of menstrual products, where inadequate legislation, corporate marketing, and the cultural taboo surrounding menstruation play a central role. By examining Swedish consumers' awareness of chemicals in menstrual products, as well as their product choices, the study also examines the information available to consumers and how it affects their preferred options of products. The study combines a literature review and a survey to provide a deeper understanding of the subject. The survey was answered by 79 menstruating individuals and included a mix of open-ended responses and predefined response options. There are indications that menstrual underwear is a growing product category; however, there are potential issues with added chemicals in some of these products. An analysis of product descriptions for menstrual underwear was conducted to determine if these descriptions influence consumers' product choices. The results indicated that consumers rarely compare different brands or research menstrual underwear before purchasing. The study also suggests that consumer awareness of menstrual products in general is low, but that there is an expectation of safe products and stricter requirements for companies. However, many respondents find it difficult to navigate through misleading marketing and tend to prioritize other factors, such as comfort and absorbency when choosing menstrual products. Previous research has shown examples where consumers have demanded safe menstrual products which have led to positive changes. Consumer awareness is thus crucial for the development of safe menstrual products, with regulated laws as support. In summary, the study emphasizes the need for transparent product information and highlights the importance of continued research and measures to increase consumer awareness.

Extensive amounts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (organic emerging pollutants) are introduced into the environment mainly through wastewater treatment plants discharges either effluent wastewater reaching into the aquatic environment or sewage sludge which is spread onto agricultural land. These compounds are not regulated and their negative effects on humans and wildlife are unknown. One of the main challenges of analytical chemistry is to develop selective and sensitive methods for the detection and quantitation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and their transformation products in complex matrices. The research presented in the thesis is focused on the development of new methods based on the use of hollow fiber liquid- phase microextraction (HF-LPME) technique and liquid chromatography for the determination of some of the most consume pharmaceuticals and personal care products in wastewaters, environmental waters and sewage sludge. / Tones de substàncies biològicament actives són alliberades contínuament al medi ambient, a través de la descàrrega d’aigües residuals als medis aquàtics o de biosòlids en l’agricultura. La presència d’aquestes substàncies (contaminants emergents) en el medi ambient ha generat una gran preocupació perquè es desconeix com actuen i quins són els mecanismes implicats en la seva transformació i/o transport. Un dels reptes de la química analítica és dissenyar mètodes selectius i sensibles per a la determinació de contaminants emergents en matrius complexes. La recerca presentada en aquesta tesi es centra en el desenvolupament de nous mètodes analítics basats en l’ús de la microextracció enfase líquida amb fibra buida (HF-LPME) i la cromatografia líquida per a la determinació d’alguns fàrmacs i productes d’higiene personal en aigües residuals, medis aquàtics i biosòlids.

The ubiquitous presence of anthropogenic chemicals and their transformation products in surface water represents a toxicological concern from both an ecological standpoint and a human perspective as many of these chemicals are capable of altering hormonal function. Endocrine disrupting compounds can be traced back to numerous sources and may fall under the class of pesticide, industrial chemical, pharmaceutical, personal care product, and/or heavy metals. The adrenal gland is the most common target for endocrine disruptors, although in comparison to the sex steroids, this system has received much less attention in published research. Corticosteroids play a pivotal role in many physiological processes, including immunity, cognitive function, growth, metabolism, reproduction, mineral balance, and blood pressure. A primary cell culture of rainbow trout adrenocortical cells was used to investigate the endocrine disrupting activity of two commonly detected water-borne toxicants, a personal care product, triclosan (TCS), a pesticide, dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and their transformation products, methyl-triclosan (M-TCS) and dichlorophenol (DCP). Previously, it has been shown that TCS, 2,4-D, and DCP exhibit a potential for endocrine disruption, although it is currently unknown if these chemicals are capable of affecting corticosteroid balance. In this study, all four chemicals showed significant inhibitory effects on corticosteroid synthesis, even though there were considerable differences in their activity. The chemical that exhibited the highest toxicity was 2,4-D, followed by TCS, DCP, and M-TCS. Both parent-compounds proved to be more toxic than their degradation products. More research with suitable test systems is needed to determine the mechanism(s) of action of these corticosteroid disruptors and the health risk that they may present. / ix, 139 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T13:56:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao de CHIARA MUSSO RIBEIRO DE OLIVEIRA SOUZA.pdf: 3219731 bytes, checksum: 4e9cda14fdff3b61520c40dd1db90c92 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-27 / A saúde vaginal depende de complexas interações entre a microbiota vaginal, a histofisiologia da mucosa escamosa, o estado hormonal e os mecanismos de defesa do hospedeiro. Muitos fatores podem alterar essas relações, induzindo citólise, infecção e inflamação, genericamente denominados infecção vaginal (IV). A IV manifesta-se por graus e combinações variáveis de ardor, prurido, dispareunia, disúria, mau odor e aumento e modificações do conteúdo vaginal. A abordagem clínica tem sido orientada apenas empiricamente e há pouca percepção do risco potencial das IV. Isso se deve a vários fatores, incluindo uma complexa rede de causas, inespecificidade das manifestações, discordâncias conceituais, dificuldade diagnóstica, natureza íntima da prática sexual e limitados recursos diagnósticos e terapêuticos. Objetivos: Avaliar em nosso meio o uso dos intrumentos autocoleta do conteúdo vaginal, diário de hábitos, sintomas e práticas sexuais e descrever as variações diárias da microbiota, da citólise, do exsudato inflamatório e dos sintomas. Casuística: 18 mulheres no menacme, não grávidas, recrutadas em clínicas ecológicas na região metropolitana de Vitória, ES. Métodos: Estudo descritivo com exame ginecológico inicial, registro diário de hábitos de vestuário, higiene, práticas sexuais e sintomas e autocoleta vaginal por um mínimo de trinta dias. Os esfregaços vaginais foram examinados (Gram e Papanicolaou), sumarizando-se os achados como grau lactobacilar, candidíase, citólise e inflamação. Os achados históricos, do exame ginecológico e do estudo seqüencial foram registrados em um quadro pictórico individual e sumarizados por freqüência simples. Resultados: A mediana dos dias com respostas às perguntas do diário foi maior que 87% em todas as participantes. A autocoleta do conteúdo vaginal garantiu espécimes adequados em mais de 85% dos dias em todas as participantes. Microbiota bacteriana anormal, candidíase, citólise e inflamação foram observadas em 27,8%, 50,0%, 83,3% e 94,4% das participantes em algum momento durante o estudo. Os hábitos de vestuário, higiene, e práticas sexuais e os sintomas, microbiota, citólise e inflamação variaram marcadamente tanto entre as mulheres como ao longo dos dias em uma mesma mulher. Conclusão: O registro diário e a autocoleta foram bem aceitos e garantiram dados e espécimes adequados que, sumarizados em um quadro pictórico, mostram que há marcadas variações diárias entre os elementos das redes de causas e efeitos de IV, indicando que somente com estudos seqüenciais é possível identificar todo o espectro das IV. / Vaginal health depends on complex interactions between the vaginal microbiota, the squamous mucosa histophysiology, hormonal status and host defense mechanisms. Several factors can alter these relationships, inducing cytolisis, infection and inflammation, generally named vaginal infection (VI). VI manifests itself by changeable degrees and combinations of burning, itching, dispareunia, disuria, offensive odour and increase and change of the vaginal content. The clinical approach has been taken only empirically and there is few perception of the potential risk of VI. This is due to several factors, including a complex net of causes, few specific manifestations, concept disagreements, difficulties on diagnostic approach, intimate nature of sexual practices and limited diagnostic and therapeutic resources. Objective: To evaluate in our environment the use of the following tools: self collect of the vaginal content and diary of habits, symptoms and sexual practices and to describe the diary changes of the microbiota, cytolisis, inflammatory exsudate and symptoms. Casuistic: 18 non pregnant women during menacme, enlisted at gynecological offices in metropolitan region of Vitória, ES. Study design: Descriptive study consisted of an initial clinical evaluation, daily register of clothing, hygiene, sexual practices and symptoms and self collect of vaginal content by at least 30 days. The vaginal smears were evaluated (Gram and Papanicolaou) and the findings were summarized as lactobacillary grade, candidiasis, cytolisis and inflammation. The historical, gynecological and sequential findings were registered on an individual pictorial table and were summarized by simple frequency. Results: The median of days with diary answers replys was higher than 87% in all of the participants. The self collect of the vaginal content guaranteed adequate smears in more than 85% of the days of the study in all of the participants. Anormal microbiota, candidiasis, cytolisis and inflammation were observed in 27,8%, 50%, 83,3% and 94% of the participants in any moment during the study period. The clothing and hygiene habits, sexual practices, symptoms, anormal bacterial microbiota, candidiasis, cytolisis and inflammation varied markedly between the participants and across the days in a single woman. Conclusion: The daily register and the self collect were well accepted and guaranteed adequate data and smears which, summarized on an individual pictorial table, show that there are marked daily variation between the elements of the nets of causes and effects of the VI, indicating that only sequential studies allow the identification of the whole VI spectre.