ASDA Praised For Changing The Name Of Its 'Feminine Hygiene' Aisle

Asda has been praised after updating its 'feminine hygiene' signs in stores.

Many feel the 'feminine hygiene' label has become redundant in recent years, due to stigmatising periods and being a gendered term.

And social media users are praising the move, taking to Twitter to thank the supermarket for 'using language we all understand'.

Asda)

Swapping out the phrase, the signs next to tampons, pads and panty liners will now read 'period products' instead.

"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!"

Twitter)

Campaigners have been calling for the term 'feminine hygiene' to be abolished from supermarket aisles.

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!"

One reason why people want to move away from this kind of language is due to the association between certain words - for example 'hygiene' and 'sanitary' - and the idea that periods are 'dirty'.

Another person explained: "Feminine hygiene also sounds really clinical, and that having a period is dirty!"

While a second said: "Words like ‘sanitary’ and ‘feminine hygiene’ imply that periods are dirty – contributing to construct that periods are something to be shameful about, never discussed, hidden away."

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"It is crucial that we start having open conversations about feminine hygiene and break the stigma that periods are a dirty subject. It is important to talk about how we are not be ashamed to be among people who menstruate," added a third.

In a comment to Tyla, Asda explained: "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."

The supermarket also added: "The move away from 'feminine hygiene' also creates better inclusivity for those who have periods and don't identify as female."

Hear, hear! Let's hope all supermarkets follow suit.

Topics: Life, Shopping, Asda

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot.

@lucedevine