Always and Forever

There are certain delicate aspects to this story that make me chary of even talking about it. As if that ever stopped me.

USA Today reports that the Procter & Gamble brand of sanitary pads, Always, is removing the Venus symbol from their packaging in an effort to be more inclusive. The Venus symbol (I was told in junior high Science that it looked like a frying pan and handle, to remind us that women should do the cooking) is often used to designate the female gender.

(I heard a lot of nonsense on the days I dropped by school. I learned early to disregard the rantings of teachers who had a lot to say off the topic! I believed not a word of this.)

Here's the company PR release:

"For over 35 years Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so," the company told USA TODAY Wednesday. "We’re also committed to diversity and inclusion and are on a continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers."

"We routinely assess our products, packaging, and designs, taking into account a variety of inputs including in depth consumer research, to ensure we are meeting the needs of everyone who uses our products. The change to our pad wrapper design is consistent with that practice."

You'll notice that the reason the change was made - the inclusion of transgender and nonbinary users of such hygiene products - was not mentioned.

Nonetheless, the reason was clear, and people took to social medic to praise Always:

"Some trans men/non binary people menstruate. As do cis women who despise overly feminine products," one person explained.

"Cis" refers to individuals who identify as their sex assigned at birth.




That commenter continued, "Cis women who can’t menstruate and trans women are harmed by the assumption that menstruation defines femininity. Less ink for printing better for planet. This is a win all around."

"So proud of @Always for this move to respect #transgender people," another person tweeted.

Naturally, a great many men and women took exception to this move, often in vivid terms usually only heard in gang rumbles and conversations involving Bill O'Reilly. 

And at about the same time, Kellogg's introduced All Together Cereal, a mixture of grainy products that is "enough to make you snap, crackle and pop with Pride." 

Normally, at this stage of writing a blog, this is the point at which I have laid out the facts of the matter, and then proceed to expound upon my heavy-handed opinion on the matter. But the fact is, I know so little about menstruation, I have nothing to say. 

Other topics on which my lack of information is so preponderant as to require me to remain silent include, but are not limited to, transgenderism, nonbinary people, how it feels to be transgender or nonbinary, and why it's any of my business what other people do.

I often suggest to people who have so much to suggest to others about how to manage their bodies, their love lives, their reproductive activities and their other physical matters that they drop the challenges and read something worthwhile. The words of J.D. Salinger, Joseph Mitchell, Katy Tur, Alex Wagner, and Ring Lardner are excellent cures for the lack of interesting knowledge.

You'd be surprised how often this suggestion is not taken.

In summary: if something doesn't affect your life, worry about something else.