It's 2019, y'all, and the only kind of reproductive health that we should be here for is inclusive reproductive health.
Leading the way in this fight is Always, the menstrual hygiene company that's probably filling your bathroom cabinets with a multitude of pads and tampons as we speak. In a statement made by the company this week, they stated, "For over 35 years Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so... We're also committed to diversity and inclusion and are on a continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers."
This commitment to serving all of their customers includes those costumers that menstruate but don't identify as women. For this reason, Always announced they will no longer include the Venus symbol on their packaging, a symbol that has historically been associated with femininity. This decision is a move toward greater inclusion for those in the trans and non-binary community. While it may not seem like that big of a deal for cisgender folks, seeing female-coded imagery on necessities like pads and tampons can feel extremely discriminatory to individuals that don't fit within the traditional gender binary and only serve as a reminder of the constant misgendering they face in society.
The fact is, not everyone who gets a period is a woman, and not all women get periods.
Putting space between the stereotypical ideas of what a woman is and the biological act of menstruation is a progressive step forward that lets transgender and non-binary folks know that the rest of the world is catching up and accepting them with open arms and inclusive menstrual products.
To learn more about the many politics behind periods and period products, start here.
