Asda has been praised for its decision to remain the ‘Feminine Hygiene Aisle’ in their stores.
The chain, which boats 631 locations in the UK, has decided to change the signage for sanitary products in order to be more inclusive, and to change negative perceptions around menstruation.
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The word ‘hygiene’ could falsely imply that periods are unclean, while the move away from ‘feminine’ aims to be inclusive towards bodies that menstruate but may not necessarily identify as female.
An Asda spokesperson commented: "We're proud to have made this change in our stores to better reflect shoppers' attitudes around period products. These items are an essential part of the shop for so many, so this change in wording helps us move towards removing the stigma from periods and period products."
Social media users are praising the move, taking to Twitter to thank Asda for 'using language we all understand'.
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"Thank you and a massive shout out to @asda for leading the way in changing the language around menstruation," one person wrote online. "#PeriodProducts #MenstrualProducts sanitary hygiene or feminine hygiene suggests menstrual products are for something dirty. Time to change the language. #SmashShame."
"We’re nearly there with accurately named period products at my local @asda," said another.
And a third added: "Use language we all understand! Goodbye 'feminine hygiene' hello 'period products'. Nice one Asda!"
Campaigners have been calling for the term 'feminine hygiene' to be abolished from supermarket aisles.
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As one person wrote on Twitter: "One little thing you can do to fix your gendered language is just erase 'feminine hygiene products' from your vocabulary and just say pads/tampons/etc. You can also change it to 'period products' if you want an overarching term!"
Asda deserves all the applause for this small yet vital change!
Kimberley Bond