Men Get Periods, Too, So Always Is Removing The Venus Symbol From Their Pads

By Lauren Rearick


Shopping for period products can be a semi-annoying habit at best, or a financial struggle that can impact a person’s ability to eat or go to school at worst. However right now one firm is support the fight towards making the process that much more inclusive: On Tuesday (October 22) Procter & Gamble reported it will be removing a Venus symbol from Routinely brand sanitary pads.


In a statement provided to CNN, Routinely reported it was removing the symbol from its period product packaging, including on pad and tampon wrappers. As noted by NBC News, the symbol is usually regarding the idea of feminitiy, and then some transgender and non-binary people had expressed concern connected with its apperance on Always’s products, given that more people than girls experience menstruation.


The symbol was a relatively new addition to packaging, by a number of account; it had appeared as early as last year on products, according to NBC News, and has continued to be a topic of conversation on Twitter. (MTV News has reached out to Procter & Gamble for clarity on once, and how, the symbol was first included, although they did not respond by publish time.)


“Not every person who menstruates is female,” one individual tweeted in April 2018. Another person shared similar sentiments, writing, “I understand what you might be attempting to do by adding the Venus symbol all over your packaging, yet please imagine that not every person who uses your products is female. Boys and nb folks can get periods too.”


Although it’s unclear whether continued social media pressure directly led to the new switch, the firm did confirm it wanted to be more inclusive. “For over 35 years, Habitually has championed females and girls, and we'll continue to do so,” Procter and Gamble’s media relations team mentioned in an emailed statement to The Independent. “We’re also devoted to diversity and inclusion, and immediately after hearing from several people across genders and age groups, we realized that not each person who has a period and needs to use a pad identifies as female. To make sure that anyone who needs to use a period product feels comfortable in doing so with Routinely, we updated our pad wrapper design.”


Joanna McClintick, youth sexual health coordinator at The Center, told MTV News that decision is particularly significant given how impactful a period can be for transgender and non-binary people. "The small piece of information of having a period can be traumatic or gender dysphoric for young people in the gender nonconforming and trans male or masc communities; it might cause disappointing feelings about how their body is going to change in contrast to their identity as they grow,” they mentioned. “That's compounded any time whenever you think about how much we colleague period language and products specifically with 'womanhood.' That's why this move to be more inclusive with product packaging is so important: It's a reminder to each person that getting your period is just segment of puberty, without consideration of your gender. It creates more room for each person to navigate this segment of their life without promoting shame." The redesigned packaging is expected to be seen on products around the world by February 2020, NBC News reported.


A change in period packaging is a positive step forward, nevertheless as Nadya Okamota, the founder of PERIOD previously explained to MTV News, continued work in making menstruation more inclusive is needed. “We attempt to come at [periods] from a very gender-inclusive way, beginning with our language,” Okamoto mentioned of her business, “and we acknowledge that not all girls menstruate, and that not all menstruators are ladies. Femininity is about gender expression and has nothing to do with the biological method of menstruating.”


Even with the significant change in packaging, the Habitually website still contains language that equates having a period with a specific gender. MTV News asked whether the corporation intends to change that messaging, yet did not hear back as of publish time.