Boondh Cups aims for gender inclusivity in menstruation

Boondh Cups has unveiled a campaign that aims to make menstruation a more gender-inclusive concept. The brand believes that while menstruation has historically been a taboo subject in India, many recent conversations around it have been driven by cisgender women. Through the #Ungender Menstruation campaign, the brand aims to bring the feminised language around menstruation to the fore, which leaves out non-cisgender-women menstruators and their identities.

 

To tackle the lack of representation in this space, Schbang For Good, Schbang’s impact communication division, and Boondh Social Foundation, a social enterprise working in menstrual health along the verticals of menstrual literacy, advocacy, activism, policy, programming and sustainable menstrual products, collaborated on Menstrual Hygiene Day to shed light on the experiences of menstruating people who do not identify as cis-woman. The campaign features three menstruators acknowledging their stories and their struggles.

 

#UngenderMenstruation is a gender-inclusive menstruation campaign. It aims to make menstruation in India gender-inclusive, petitioning menstrual products and hygiene brands to replace ‘women’ with ‘menstruators’ on all their branding and communication.

 

Sonal Jain (they/them), founder, Boondh Social Foundation, said, “I look at menstrual health as an indicator of good hormonal health. There are months I like my period, try to sync it with the moon cycle, and there are months when I hate it, especially given I live with PMDD, a menstrual-mental health disorder. Nothing I do in life is from a gendered lens – my role in family, society, or my choice of romantic and sexual partners. I can't imagine a bodily process being gendered; it sounds ridiculous to me. I sigh and move on. However, I know it's really distressing for some trans and enby folks I know, and I want media, society and the govt to do better, to minimise dysphoria among the people AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) who are not women.”

 

Riya Parekh, (she/her), group creative head, Schbang for Good said, “As creative professionals in the advertising industry, we’re constantly shaping the narrative of our culture. Therefore, it is our responsibility to write stories that do more good to humanity, than bad. In India, menstruation has always meant a cis-gendered woman in white pants conquering the world with blue liquid dripping on cotton strips. However, we know that isn’t the entire picture. Menstruators are more than feminine over-achievers and the menstrual experience is authentically painful and pure. With Schbang for Good, we’re working towards building communication that doesn’t put people into boxes, but questions the need for one. By starting India’s first gender-inclusive menstruation conversation, we hope one day every young teenager encountering their first stain feels confident and represented in the narrative, without the crippling feeling of body dysphoria or guilt.”