Beware of the mega-corps riding on feminist advances:

Activists hold brands to account this International Women's Day

Late in 2020, we witnessed a world first: Scottish Parliament announcing its unanimous decision to make menstrual products freely available to all.

This win was the result of a long-fought battle by dedicated activists and supporters, who relentlessly held power to account and garnered support from similarly passionate political actors to make change. Menstrual activists and their allies have a knack for scrutinising authority and working to ensure those with responsibility put it to good use.

At Free Periods, for example, we focus on interrogating the U.K. Government's free period products in schools scheme. We raise awareness about the scheme so that no one misses out on their education because they menstruate.

However, scrutinising government policy is critical, but our work doesn't stop there.

This International Women's Day, we recognise how the activity of global corporations should be examined too, which is why the recent report on period stigma, published by Always, grabbed our – and fellow campaigners' – attention.

The report – titled It's Time To Talk – is an attempt to help make informed decisions to improve menstrual health and hygiene in the U.K. It is based on 13 surveys fielded from different UK areas between 2015-2020, and is divided into four pillars: people's feelings towards menstruation; societal attitudes; education; and access to products. 

Always' report claims lays bare the state of menstrual experiences across the country. Their findings reveal how 1 in 3 young people don't feel prepared for their first period, and how nearly 1 in 4 have seen periods referred to negatively in a movie or on TV. The report also shows how 1 out of 5 adults are worried about their ongoing ability to afford products, something made significantly worse due to COVID-19.

However, It's Time To Talk fails to acknowledge the brand's influence on period stigma itself. Always' hegemony has propped up menstrual shame and taboo since its beginnings, from product aisles and across global media, all the way through to school classrooms. 

In fact, the narratives that portray periods as unmentionable and menstrual blood requiring concealment have taken precedence in much of the product marketing of all major brands - Always being no exception.

Their 1997 TV advert is testament to this. The ad (left) shows a young, white, able-bodied and seemingly active middle-class woman play about with her film camera before leaving an apartment to tour Venice. She discusses how before using Always Ultra, she wouldn't have felt comfortable "running around during that time of the month". The voice over describes Always' newly developed flexi-wing technology and some crass line about "spoiling" her holiday follows, as the camera zooms in on the actor's bright, stainless white trousers. Surprisingly, the misleading blue liquid isn't featured. Neither is the word period.

These representations have been a recurring motif across Always' marketing and communications. When periods have been ultimately publicised by the brand, they have been cloaked in euphemisms (see ad), silence (their sister period product brand is named "Whisper"), and/or cleanliness (spotless white trousers, etc.).

Fellow activist Kasey Robinson, of Proud of my Period fame, called out Always' "almost comical" publication. She expressed her dismay at how the brand "have produced such a detailed report when they have so long been part of the problem." 

Robinson also co-founded Freda Teen with independent product manufacturer Freda and remarked on the lack of acknowledgement of Always' past and their long-standing market control.

"They’re the brand that dominates the market and have done for a very long time. However, as their more recent ads show they have jumped on the period positive, inclusive and educational campaigns that came from the hard work of smaller, more ethical brands that have long sought to undo the work they did all in the pursuit of financial capital."

Robinson adds should the brand be "speaking or listening right now?”

Adding striking statistics to an (underfunded) evidence-base is helpful for progressing the menstrual health agenda. Yet, as the issue continues to gain traction and campaigners worldwide unite to galvanise their efforts, Always cannot wash their hands of their bloody legacy so easily.

Always' research found that "to create a society where periods are less stigmatised, we need to promote open conversations about periods." Rather than riding on feminist advances, we'd like to see them be critical of embodied shame - the very shame that got us here in the first place.

Want to join the #PeriodRevolution and make positive change for International Women’s Day? Write to your local school or college and ask them to sign up to the free period products scheme today! You can download our template letter here.

By Hannah Whelan & Kasey Robinson