Waitrose has rebranded its “feminine care” section for inclusivity after receiving a complaint. The sanitary products section will no longer use the female term after a complaint said that “not all people who have periods are women”.
Critics branded the change “disgraceful” while Waitrose defended the move, explaining that the label was changed to reflect a new product range, which included incontinence pads for men.
The complaint allegedly said: “Not all people who have periods are women,” in a document published by James Esses, a gender campaigner and Conservative councillor.
It went on: “Trans men and some non-binary people have periods. The category also includes products used for incontinence. Yet the language we use still suggests that these products are exclusively for women and femininity.
“To some people, that might seem like a small detail. To me, it isn’t. Words matter because people matter. This matters to me because inclusion should never be conditional or performative. If we say everyone is welcome, then our language should reflect everyone.”
A manager at Waitrose agreed that “the term ‘feminine care’ does not accurately describe the products within the category and that this should be changed”.
“I believe that the internal naming comes from the title given to the layout group so I will ask that our range and space manager and buyer work to get this name updated as soon as possible,” the manager said.
The Conservative candidate for High Barnet Mr Esses said the change was “disgraceful”. He has been openly critical of gender fluidity, having been expelled from university after he campaigned against the government’s proposed ban on conversion practices.
He claimed: “A whistleblower from Waitrose has just leaked an internal document to me, in which senior leaders have pledged to remove the name ‘feminine care’ from sanitary products, on the basis that ‘not all people who have periods are women’. Disgraceful.”
A spokesman for Waitrose said: “We’re changing the name simply because ‘feminine products’ no longer reflects the product range, which now includes incontinence pads for men.”