October 23, 2019

'Female' Symbol No Longer to Appear on Always Brand Pads Packaging

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.

The "female" - or "Venus" - sign that graces packaging for Always brand sanitary pads is set to be dropped after transgender activists questioned the use of the gender-specific symbol.

The sigil's appearance on packaging for the product, which is designed for use during menstruation, struck some transgender users who identify as male or as non-binary as possibly exclusionary, media reports indicated.

NBC News reported on the move, which followed a conversation that took place in part on Twitter since at least last summer.

Tweeted one trans advocate, Melly Bloom, "There are non-binary and trans folks who still need to use your products too you know!," the NBC report recollected.

CNN Reported that a more recent Twitter post addressed the brand, asking the company to "please understand that there are trans men that get periods, and if you could please do something about the [female] symbol on your pad packaging, I'd be happy."

The company has responded by announcing that a new package design would replace the current one early next year. The New York Times reported that a statement by Proctor & Gamble announced that:

For over 35 years Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so.

Added the statement:

We're also committed to diversity and inclusion and are on a continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers.

Fenway Health patient advocate Steph deNormand indicated to NBC News that the move bolsters inclusivity, saying, "Trans and nonbinary folks are constantly misgendered, and a gesture like this can broaden out the experiences and open up spaces for those who need the products."

The Times noted that the move is part of a more general sensitivity now observable in the business world around gender identity issues:

The redesign was just the latest in a series of actions by companies to be more inclusive of customers who are transgender, genderqueer or nonbinary. In June, the ride-sharing company Lyft began allowing customers to share their pronouns. Mastercard also announced that it would permit customers to use their chosen name – instead of their legal name – on their cards.

The hardline anti-LGBTQ right, of course, had its own opinions on the subject, as did feminists concerned that female biology was in danger of being eradicated. UK newspaper The Sun reported on the backlash, quoting Julie Bindel as expressing the fear that "We're now moving towards the total elimination of women's biology."

Bindel went on to say, "The women's symbol has been used by feminists for decades. This is pure cowardice and virtue signaling from these big corporate brands who are capitulating to the trans agenda."

If Bindel offered comments as to the specific aims of the "trans agenda," The Sun did not include them in its coverage.

Another critic, Lizzi Watson, was quoted by The Sun as saying that cisgender women might end up feeling erased along with the "female" sigil.

"Biological women should just boycott the brand, " Watson said, "then they might realize real women have feelings too, which they have somehow ignored."

The Sun's headline seemed to suggest that the brand was coerced into altering its packaging. Snopes.com clarified that notion, posting that while "Procter & Gamble did decide to remove a recently-added Venus symbol from menstruation products," suggestions that the company was "forced" to do so were untrue, as "the company made its decision freely".

by Kilian Melloy

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