For the last 24 hours, Ryan Williams – or as I like to call him, 'Tampon Boy' – has been causing a hefty bloody stir on the internet.
After tweeting incessantly that the tampon tax shouldn't be axed because sanitary items are "luxury" and that women just need to "learn to control their bladders", the 'meninist' from Canvey Island, Essex basically went viral – if we're still dubbing people who piss off a lot of other people on the net "viral".
The Twitter masses' blood boiled after hearing Ryan's claims that women just need to learn to have more "self-control" and "hold" their bladders instead of using tampons, as he seemingly went on a rampage to piss off feminists and ovaries everywhere. And, despite promising he has a girlfriend of 15 months, Tampon Boy insists she defies laws of female biology and "never bleeds" and is "clean".
Someone just told me they spent £2,000 on tampons in 20 years... just hold ur bladder and donate it to charity OMG what a waste of money
— Ryan ø (@ryanwilliams97) October 17, 2016
Meet Tampon Boy
As people continue to get riled up – Ryan's even receiving death threats – about this seemingly-clueless lad's misguided views on female anatomy, Konbini gave Ryan a call to try and decipher if he's just a troll with a penchant for annoying people who give a shit about women's rights or a 19-year-old who genuinely doesn't get women's bodies or how sexist the tampon tax is.
Sharing his experiences since going viral, Ryan explains, "I’ve had about 500 diagrams sent to me and I don’t know why they think I’m interested in seeing them diagrams. It’s ridiculous, it really is."
Tampon Boy explains that he thinks people are making "such a big deal" out of his comments "all for the sake of keeping tampons in business", before quipping: "Anyone would think tampons are the holy grail you know?"
(Photo: Mercury Press)
While they pretty much are the holy grail in the eyes of humans with cervixes, Ryan, being a 'meninist' takes massive issue with the feminist movement on the whole.
"Feminism is completely ludicrous," Ryan explains, "There is sexual equality, men are equal to women, and when the feminism movement comes about it’s women trying to seclude men, thinking they’re better which is totally untrue. We are all equal. We can all hold our bladders the same."
You can see why people disagree with Tampon Boy's ignorance. And yet this doesn't call for the swarms of death threats aimed at him.
"It’s disgusting the amount of abuse I’ve received," he says. "I just hope for their sake that there isn’t any authorities or police viewing the tweets I’m being sent because some of the stuff they’re saying is absolutely vile and threatening and discriminating and everything like that."
According to Ryan, the hate is from "feminists that have nothing better to do" and people from forums who "sit online all day who try to push their feminism on everyone else".
pay for ur own tampons if u can't hold it until u get to a toilet. I don't urinate everywhere and expect free nappies #selfcontrol
— Ryan ø (@ryanwilliams97) October 16, 2016
Things went so far that the internet's warriors were urging Ryan to up his knowledge on the female anatomy in the form of biology lessons. Before long, Tampon Boy set up a GoFundMe campaign to "raise money for biology lessons". The page was soon shut down though.
Ryan explains: "Unfortunately haters got it removed because they reported it so many times and I didn’t end up getting any donations. But I have been offered educational lessons from numerous doctors including doctors from Beverley Hills and so forth."
(Image: The Mirror/GoFundMe/Ryan Williams)
I’m just going to put it out there: Tampon Boy is almost definitely, maybe, possibly, obviously satire.
Considering Ryan's press agent initially tried charging £100 for the interview, it's convincing that this might be a young man pining for his 15 minutes of fame and, in the internet age, posting some controversial stuff on social media aimed at females seemed like the right way to go about it. But, after informing me he's got a strict contract with his press agency determining what he can and can't say on the record, he denies this, claiming he's neither a troll or a hoax.
And yet, he's so excited to talk about how people have recognised him in McDonald's, Asda and when he's been in his car, that it's hard to believe this isn't an extroverted dude with a plan to be internet famous.
Perhaps he really is a meninist on a rampage to discredit third wave feminism, using extreme rhetoric to show up these "mad bitches on the blob". But it's likely he's doing a bit of a Katie Hopkins and is seeking that old thing called attention.
Underneath the headlines
The sudden levitation of Ryan and the other menial "celebrities" that saturate Teen Vogue and Sun headlines demonstrates the sheer power social media holds to attach apparent meaning to anyone.
Just as hating on Donald Trump makes him evermore famous and relevant, the enduring stories about Tampon Boy lengthen the reach of his voice; disguised as disagreements and disgust, attacks on Ryan have given him the advantage of viral fame. It's highly debatable that Ryan didn't tweet controversial content with the hopes of reaching a vast audience – and his haters have helped him do just that.
Social media holds the power to elevate a 'nobody' to a ~somebody~ with four times the followers and endless tabloid articles. Whether we should be terrified of this mighty modern phenomenon or not, we should definitely be dubious of the people who utilise it for attention or monetary gain.
— Ryan ø (@ryanwilliams97) October 17, 2016
Anatomy emergency
He will have been forgotten about this time next week but the Curious Case of Tampon Boy highlights the worrying lack of and enduring need for good sex ed.
My very first sex ed class aged 10 saw the boys ushered out of the room before our teacher whipped out the tampons and sanitary pads. But in a world where women’s reproductive rights are put on the back seat, we must start educating young men and women about menstruation and female anatomy.
Boys also need to know that periods are our wombs shedding its lining and it comes out of the vagina, not the urethra (as Ryan "believes"). Boys also need to know that women don't piss out blood only when they go to the loo (although that would be fucking beautiful). Boys also need to know that period blood isn't "dirty" and girls aren't "unclean" when they're menstruating.
We must also teach boys as well as girls that women can suffer severely from periods; some women can experience psychosis, some get depression and other mental health issues from taking contraceptives. The stigma surrounding periods can be damaging enough.
The only people who should feel ashamed are those who haven't taken the time to curb their ignorance when it comes to the subject – periods really aren't that hard to understand. And yet, reducing the consequences of menstruation to something trivial is dumb and potentially harmful. Plus, you don't want a raging, psychopathic bleeding girl going off on you.
I was just recognised by someone and they approached me at my car window. He told me I have his support. #StopTheBlob
— Ryan ø (@ryanwilliams97) October 18, 2016
While tampon boy is perhaps not who the world thinks he is, the issues he brings up are very much real – tampons shouldn’t be taxed, we need better sex education and ‘meninists’ have clearly just interpreted feminism badly – we actually have the same ideals.
We all have blood, we all have bladders; we all believe in equality. God bless Tampon Boy.
Read More - > Why the tampon tax abolishment is about more than tampons
