'Dane Swan's joke spectacularly backfired and he owes it to his young fans to acknowledge it'

Opinion – Nobody enjoys the awkward and painful feeling of their joke utterly misfiring.

Former AFL star Dane Swan, 38, made a regrettable clanger while trying to share a bad joke on Twitter. The Brownlow Medal-winning player posted a photo of a men's protective underwear and pads at a supermarket.

Swan, clearly having approximately zero understanding about female sanitary products, added the head-scratching caption: "It's been some day folks cause today is the day I learnt that men can buy tampons. I've now officially seen it all."

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Now, Swan probably clicked "post", set his phone down and went about his day, thinking he'd made a funny quip about gender norms.

But it spectacularly backfired on him – and for good reason. First of all, Swan incorrectly identified the pads as "tampons".

Any menstruating person would know that tampons are a wildly different sanitary product to pads.

Secondly, men have always been able to "buy tampons". Whether it be a transgender man needing it for their period, boyfriends and husbands picking a packet up for their partner or a sports player needing a useful nosebleed stopper.

What Swan didn't quite realise when he posted this unfunny Twitter witticism, is that plenty of men need pads or discreet protective underwear.

Some wise followers put Swan in his place in the Twitter comment section. "C'mon Dane be sensible, I'm 59, used them many times," one person wrote.

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"I have cancer and chemo stuffs up your bowel movements. It's the only way I can go out and enjoy life. Maybe spend a day at a cancer ward."

"Dad used these just before he passed away when he couldn't get to the bathroom quickly enough," one woman added. "They were and are a godsend for men. Let's them still have dignity in shite times."

Another commenter questioned why Swan would share something so tactless when he was a supposed "advocate for men's health".

"Thought you were an advocate for men's health? It's a struggle to get men suffering from pelvic floor and prostate issues to not feel self conscious about using these vital products as it is without you posting this rubbish," the admin of the NRL Physio Twitter account wrote.

Swan, seemingly, was put in his place. The joke wasn't funny and to many, it was simply offensive.

But the Tweet has been live for 18 hours and despite the criticism and several media articles pointing out his gaffe, Swan hasn't acknowledged it. As of publication of this article, he has not deleted the photo and not apologised.

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I am well aware that this is not a "cancellable" offence. Swan made a silly mistake. But he really should acknowledge it.

As a sportsman with plenty of young male fans, he would do a world of good to show them it is important to be accountable for your actions and to have more empathy and understanding.

In fact, he owes it to his fans to put his hands up and say, "Yep, I made a mistake".

He should also use this as a teachable moment for himself. As a healthy, white, straight male, his perspective and place in the world is vastly different to most others.

Swan didn't understand the necessity for men's pads and underwear because he has never needed one. That's a privileged position to be in.

No-one is perfect and everyone makes an off-colour joke now and again. And with thousands of followers on social media, celebrities and sports peoples' social media mistakes are spotlighted.

In this case, unlike during his glittering AFL career, Swan missed the mark. And he should really acknowledge it so we can all move on.

9Honey has reached out to Swan for comment.