Hey Girls slammed for telling kids ‘men can have periods’

Feminine hygiene company Hey Girls has come under fire for telling children that “some men have periods”.

In its guide to puberty and menstruation, a “gender & diversity” page illustrated a group of people brandishing ‘pansexual’, bisexual, ‘non-binary’ and LGBT flags.

Beneath the picture, the firm noted that “not all women have periods”, but went on to claim that “some men” do, concluding: “So, it can be better when talking generally to use the phrase ‘people who have periods’.”

‘Deeply insulting’

Family Education Trust’s Lucy Marsh called the move “dehumanising and misogynistic”. Speaking to MailOnline, she said “Only women and girls have periods and only women can get pregnant – to claim otherwise is not progressive, it’s deeply insulting and biologically incorrect. Girls need to grow up embracing their womanhood and feeling comfortable with their developing bodies.”

She warned that “lying to children that boys can also have periods is treating womanhood as a costume that men can play around with, which is spectacularly unhelpful to girls who may be worried about their changing bodies.

“If we want to empower girls to grow up to be strong women who are comfortable with their femininity, schools should be celebrating the fact that pregnancy, birth and motherhood are unique to women.”

In response to a misleading statement implying that Hey Girls previously advised the Department for Education, a Government spokesman said: “We’ve been repeatedly clear about the importance of biological sex and that contested views, like those around gender identity, should not be taught as fact.”

Always

Earlier this year, Hey Girls competitor, Always, was accused of censorship after an article about periods was edited to remove the words “women” and “female”.

In ‘How can I help with my daughter’s first period?’, journalist Milli Hill stated that menstruation is “a normal part of the experience of being female”. But after the article was published on Good To Know’s website, she claimed the word “female” had been removed and a reference to “all women” was replaced with “all bodies”.

When she complained to Good to Know, she says an editor told her that Always, one of its sponsors, had asked the website to use “inclusive language” because “not everyone who has periods identifies with the label girl/woman”.