A tampon (10) comprising a compressed pledget of absorbent material (12), shaped for insertion into a body cavity, and a withdrawal cord (14) attached to the tampon (10) to facilitate removal of the tampon from the body cavity. The pledget, prior to compression, is a filament tow of substantially hydrophilic filaments. The filaments have a substantially permanently crimped configuration, and are disposed in randomly out-of-phase orientation with respect to each other so as to increase the average pore volume ratio of the pledget, i.e., the fraction of pledget volume occupied by interfilament spaces or interstices between filaments. Preferably, the average pore volume ratio of the tampon is in the range of 60-90 %, more preferably 70-90 %, most preferably 80-85 %.