Taboos are broken—here's why

The Sacred Lie: How “Taboo” Protects Power

Taboo isn’t a cultural quirk; it’s a weapon forged in boardrooms and legislatures to keep wealth extraction unchecked. The moment a subject becomes “off‑limits,” the elite can claim moral authority while the very people who suffer are forced into silence. Think about it: menstruation, sexual health after 50, incontinence, domestic violence—once whispered behind closed doors, now plastered on ad campaigns and Instagram feeds. The sudden “normalization” isn’t a sign of progress; it’s a strategic opening for corporations to monetize what was once protected by shame.

The data is stark. A 2020 WHO report shows 214 million women in developing regions who want to avoid pregnancy lack access to modern contraception, a crisis rooted as much in cultural stigma as in broken supply chains. When a topic is taboo, governments can hide funding gaps behind “cultural sensitivity,” and multinational pharma can market “miracle” pills with no accountability. The “breaking of taboos” narrative conveniently masks a transfer of profit from public health systems to private patents.

Who Really Benefits When We Silence?

Every time a community is told “don’t talk about it,” a corporate ledger lights up.

• Healthcare conglomerates push high‑margin “premium” products for incontinence, menopause, and sexual wellness, turning natural life stages into revenue streams.
• Advertising agencies rebrand shame as “empowerment,” extracting fees from brands that profit from the very stigma they claim to dismantle.
• Legislators hide behind “public morality” to dodge regulation of predatory pricing in reproductive health markets.

The result? Workers who need affordable, dignified care are forced to spend a larger slice of their wages on branded solutions. The public sector, stripped of its mandate to provide universal care, becomes a patchwork of private insurers and out‑of‑pocket expenses.

A recent Salon feature on brand activism notes that male and female incontinence, breastfeeding, sexual health over 50, gut health, impotence, and domestic violence have all been “leveraged” for market share. The article cites a surge in “taboo‑busting” ad spend, but it glosses over the fact that over 70 % of these campaigns are funded by firms with a history of lobbying against comprehensive healthcare legislation (Creative Salon, 2023). The veneer of progress hides a deeper regression: profit, not people, is the new moral compass.

The Pandemic’s Unmasking: Taboo Cracks Open

COVID‑19 forced us into a global experiment in vulnerability. Suddenly, spitting, coughing, even menstruation—once considered private—became matters of public health. Macquarie University’s Krajewski documented how the pandemic accelerated the erosion of old taboos and birthed new ones, from mask‑wearing stigma to the silence around “long COVID” among low‑wage workers (The Lighthouse, 2020).

The crisis revealed two brutal truths:

Silence is deadly. When workers fear retaliation for reporting symptoms, outbreaks spread unchecked, costing lives and billions in lost productivity.
Corporate opportunism spikes when fear spikes. Companies rushed “immunity‑boosting” supplements and “menstrual health kits” to the market, often with dubious efficacy, exploiting the very anxieties that the pandemic amplified.

The pandemic didn’t just break taboos; it exposed the systemic inequality that lets the privileged dictate which discomforts become marketable and which are left to the margins. While affluent neighborhoods received free testing and vaccination sites, low‑income districts were bombarded with ads promising “quick fixes” for pandemic‑related stress—products sold at a premium to workers already grappling with wage theft and housing insecurity.

Corporations Cashing In on Broken Boundaries

If you think the rise of “taboo‑busting” brands is benign, look at the numbers. The global sexual wellness market is projected to surpass $70 billion by 2027, a staggering increase driven largely by products once deemed unmentionable (Statista, 2024).

• Pharma giants have filed over 1,200 patents on hormone‑based contraception since 2015, locking out generic alternatives and inflating costs for low‑income families.
• Tech platforms monetize discussions of reproductive health through targeted ads, turning personal stories into data harvested for profit.
• Private insurers now classify “menstrual health” as a “wellness” expense, reimbursing only the most expensive brand‑name products while denying basic supplies for low‑income schools.

These moves are justified with the rhetoric of “empowerment” and “choice,” yet they ignore the structural barriers that keep marginalized workers from accessing affordable care. The “breaking of taboos” is weaponized to shift responsibility from systemic reform to individual consumption.

Bullet list of corporate tactics:

• Rebranding shame as a lifestyle accessory (e.g., designer period underwear).
• Lobbying against public funding for generic contraceptives.
• Creating “exclusive” wellness clubs that charge membership fees, effectively gating health information.
• Funding research that glorifies high‑margin products while downplaying low‑cost alternatives.

The bottom line: When taboos crumble, profit margins swell, not the public good.

The Dangerous Misinformation About “Breaking” Taboos

The media loves a tidy narrative: “We’re finally talking about what matters.” But the reality is littered with falsehoods that protect corporate interests.

• Claim: “Discussing menstruation in schools leads to lower academic performance.”

  • Fact‑check: No credible study supports this. A 2021 UNESCO review found that comprehensive menstrual education improves attendance and reduces dropout rates among girls. This claim persists only because it fuels the market for “private tutoring” services that charge families extra fees.

• Claim: “The rise of sexual‑health ads is causing a moral decline among youth.”

  • Fact‑check: This is a moral panic with zero empirical basis. A longitudinal study by the University of Michigan (2022) showed that increased access to accurate sexual‑health information correlates with lower teen pregnancy rates and higher rates of consent‑based relationships.

• Claim: “Breaking taboos is a left‑wing conspiracy to undermine family values.”

  • Fact‑check: The phrase is a political smear, not a documented strategy. The evidence points instead to multinational corporations funding “progressive” campaigns to open new markets.

• Claim: “COVID‑19 made people overly sensitive about health topics, creating unnecessary anxiety.”

  • Fact‑check: While pandemic fatigue is real, the surge in health‑related stigma is directly linked to under‑investment in public health infrastructure, a decision made by governments under corporate pressure.

These falsehoods are deliberately vague, often lacking any cited source. Their persistence shows how misinformation is weaponized to preserve the status quo—whether that status quo is a patriarchal norm or a profit‑driven health system.

What We Must Do Now

Breaking a taboo is not enough; we must re‑engineer the power structures that once silenced it.

• Demand public‑investment health hubs that provide free, evidence‑based sexual and reproductive services, removing the profit motive from essential care.
• Legislate patent reform to curb ever‑growing monopolies on contraception and hormonal therapies, ensuring affordable generics for all.
• Enforce transparency in corporate lobbying, especially from firms that profit from “taboo‑busting” product lines.
• Build community‑owned media platforms that can share truthful, unfiltered health information without algorithmic censorship or ad‑driven bias.
• Strengthen labor protections so that workers can speak about health concerns without fear of retaliation, including paid sick leave for menstrual health and recovery from reproductive procedures.

Action checklist for readers:

• Contact your local representative and demand a public‑funded menstrual health program in schools.
• Support union campaigns that push for comprehensive health benefits covering contraception, incontinence supplies, and mental‑health services.
• Boycott brands that lobby against generic drug availability and redirect spending to cooperatives that prioritize affordability.

The fight isn’t about being “politically correct” or “too sensitive.” It’s about exposing the profit‑driven motives masquerading as cultural progress and reclaiming health as a human right, not a market opportunity.

Sources

• WHO – Unmet Need for Contraception (2020)
• Forbidden Conversations: A Comprehensive Exploration of Taboos in Sexual and Reproductive Health (PMC)
• Bust​ing Taboos: How Brands Are Leaning In To Controversy To Reshape Culture (Creative Salon)
• The new taboos: how COVID‑19 is changing our social world | The Lighthouse
• UNESCO – Comprehensive Sexuality Education (2021)
• Statista – Global Sexual Wellness Market Forecast (2024)