Jessica Fox: The ‘taboo’ that convinced Jess Fox to pose in her undies in front of the nation

When Jessica Fox got a call asking her to pose in her underwear for a national ad campaign, she was reluctant. Understandably so.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist (plus a silver and two bronze, for those counting) was nervous about stripping down to her knickers in front of a photographer, especially given the somewhat “taboo” topic of the campaign.

“Then I started to think, ‘hang on, why am I hesitant?'” Fox, 30, tells 9honey.

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“Is it because it’s a shoot in underwear? Is it about body image, am I feeling a bit uncomfortable about that?” she wondered.

“Or is it about periods, and that it’s an uncomfortable, taboo subject that we never really talk about?”

That last question is what prompted her to call back and agree to lead Bonds’ new Bloody Comfy Period Undies campaign.

“That’s exactly why I needed to do it because […] it’s something so normal that we need to be comfortable talking about,” she said

Like millions of Australians, Fox has spent the better part of her life achieving incredible things even when she’s on her period but for years, she didn’t want to talk about it.

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Growing up in the 2000s, she experienced puberty in an era where menstruation was a taboo topic only discussed in whispers and girls had to hide pads and tampons up their sleeves to avoid mortifying questions.

Period underwear and menstrual cups “weren’t a thing” and the playing sport on your period was “daunting” at best.

Last month, Victoria University and Share the Dignity research found 68 per cent of respondents skipped sport due to their period and 72 per cent experienced period anxiety while playing sport.

Fox used to struggle in PE classes herself, afraid of what might happen if she worked too hard while wearing light-coloured shorts.

“You’re self conscious about bleeding through your clothes as well as how uncomfortable it feels,” she says.

Those anxieties persisted when she started competing at a higher level in canoeing and her period would interfere with training or racing, leaving her self-conscious and uncomfortable.

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But in the 2000s and even the 2010s, the idea of speaking openly about periods in a sport setting was utterly mortifying.

“There are so many girls who drop out of sport or who don’t exercise on their period,” Fox says.

“And for some people, it’s not something that coaches or teachers or other people in sport take seriously – they think it’s an excuse.”

Almost 90 per cent of respondents to the Victoria University study agreed that sport facility policies need to recognise menstrual health as a fundamental right.

Yet thousands of women and girls around Australia still struggle to exercise, play sport or even talk to their coaches, trainers or team about periods because of the lingering social stigma.

And that’s just periods; there’s even more stigma and silence around other women’s health issues that have yet to be openly discussed in sport.

”Female athletes will put their body and mind through a lot for trading for competition and you hear about them losing their period because they under fueling, or they’re not taking care of their reproductive health,” Fox says.

“I’m 30 now, so I’m towards the end of my career, but when I was 18, 19, 20, I didn’t really care about my reproductive health that much, it wasn’t important to me.

“Whereas now it’s like, maybe in the next 10 years I want to have a family, so it’s definitely more front of mind.”

Women’s health – be it periods, fertility or something else – needs to be a priority for female athletes across the board and Fox hopes that by starting these conversations early, athletes will be able to make informed decisions about their health and future.

It has been a personal passion for her ever since her explosive performance at Paris 2024 catapulted her to fame and won her a huge online audience, as well as media opportunities and brand partnerships.

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Fox has been selective about her work, prioritising causes that help her connect with other women and girls, like the Witchery White Shirt campagin with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and the L’Oréal Paris Walk Your Worth Runway.

“Since winning the Olympics, I’m seen as a role model. Young athletes, young women look up to me and are inspired or influenced by what I say or do,” Fox explains.

“If I can lend my voice to those sorts of conversations and causes, then I think it’s a really great purpose and impact that I can have.”

She plans to continue in much the same way when her competition career comes to an end – though she’s not quite there yet.

With her sights already set on Los Angeles 2028, Fox plans to make a lot of progress in the way female athletes talk about periods privately and publicly before she steps off the podium for the last time and that starts with being open herself.

These days she tracks her cycle and works with her coaches to adapt her training around it.

She’s even competed at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup and World Championships while on her period.

And yes, she was on her period when she slipped into a pair of Bloody Comfy Period Undies for the Bonds campaign shoot.

Though she felt bloated and heavy that day and it definitely affected her self-confidence at first, Fox can laugh now at just how “authentic” it felt to model for the campaign in that state.

“I definitely have those body image concerns that a lot of people have,” she adds.

“But at the same time, for me it’s always about celebrating my body for what it can do and showing that there are all different shapes and sizes [and] that diversity should be celebrated.”

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