Always agrees to remove female symbol to be trans-inclusive

Always will remove the female symbol from maxipad wrapper to be trans-inclusive Picture: Always

Always will remove the female symbol from maxipad wrapper to be trans-inclusive Picture: Always

Published Oct 23, 2019

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US sanitary pad brand Always is officially removing the Venus female symbol from the packing of its menstruation products. 

The company announced it would be removing the female signs from its packaging, starting in December, and aims to have a new design distributed worldwide by February 2020.

The announcement was made after a call by transgender advocates who said its parent company, Procter & Gamble, was alienating trans and gender-nonconforming customers by not acknowledging that they, too, can experience menstruation.

“Could someone from Always tell me why it is imperative to have the female symbol on their sanitary products?” Twitter user Melly Bloom, one of those advocates, tweeted over the summer. “There are non-binary and trans folks who still need to use your products too you know!”

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Always?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Alwaysi understand that you guys love girl positivity but please understand that there are trans men that get periods, and if you could please do something about the ♀️symbol on your pad packaging, i’d be happy. i’d hate to have any trans males feel dysphoric.

— jocelyn ✰ (@phiddies)

The Always announcement triggered some mixed reactions online from those accusing Always of “erasing women,” while others welcomed the changes. 

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