A leading period products firm has prompted fury by telling schoolgirls that men can have periods.
Period product company Hey Girls has been slammed for peddling ‘confusing’ and ‘harmful’ claims in a booklet for pre-pubescent schoolgirls who are about to get their period.
Hey Girls claims ‘not all women have periods and some men have periods’ and that it’s ‘better to use the phrase ”people who have periods”’ when talking about menstruation.
The booklet’s ‘gender and diversity’ section also has a cartoon of four people carrying bi-sexual and pansexual flags as well as those for the LGBT and non-binary communities.
It is unclear whether Hey Girls is suggesting that sexuality relates to whether a woman has a period and the company did not respond to a request comment about it.
In a booklet (pictured) for schoolgirls approaching puberty, Hey Girls claims ‘not all women have periods and some men have periods’ and that it’s ‘better to use the phrase ”people who have periods”’ when talking about menstruation
Hey Girls, which was founded by Celia Hodson (pictured), has been slammed for peddling ‘confusing’ and ‘harmful’ claims in a booklet for pre-pubescent schoolgirls who are about to get their period
The company was founded by multi-award-winning entrepreneur Celia Hodson, a single mother of three children, including two girls, who experienced period poverty herself.
In fewer than five years the company has become the main provider of period products to the Scottish and Welsh governments and has also expanded into .
In two Hey Girls videos for primary and secondary schoolgirls, the words ‘woman, women, girl or girls’ are never mentioned.
The word ‘people’ is mentioned 11 times in the videos combined.
Hey Girls is partnered with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and claimed on its website to advise the Department for Education (DfE) for England about free period products in schools.
However, the Government denied this had ever been the case.
A Government spokesman said: ‘This is wholly incorrect. This group has never worked with the Department for Education in an advisory capacity.
‘We have written to the organisation requesting they immediately remove this misleading and incorrect information from their website.
‘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.
‘Our Period Product Scheme for girls and women in schools and colleges uses one national supplier, PHS Group, to deliver free period products across England.’
As a result of ‘s investigation, Hey Girls removed the claim from its website.
Heather Finlay runs Luxury Moon, a reusable menstrual products firm. Hey Girls was one of her suppliers for five years before a change in their ordering protocols ended their relationship.
Ms Finlay shared a photo of a Hey Girls menstrual cup delivered to her in 2021.
On the box, the company said the product was for a ‘girl or woman in need’ and said profits from its Buy One Give One range ‘go directly to help girls and women in need’.
Menstrual cups being sold on its site today make no mention of women and girls aside from as part of the brand name Hey Girls.
Instead the packaging says ‘we’re on a mission to give everyone a better period’ and that ‘for every product purchased from us, we donate a whole box to someone in need’.
Ms Finlay said Hey Girls used to be happy to say women and girls had periods but now a younger generation at the company had ‘taken over with this new woke language’.
Speaking about the Hey Girls booklet for schoolgirls, Ms Finlay told : ‘It just seems like gobbledygook. How is that supposed to be of help?
‘I don’t think it’s appropriate. I think most parents wouldn’t want their children to receive it.
‘[Women] feel dehumanised.
‘There’s a trend to be inclusive, which means you do not talk about women or girls at all.
‘You are excluding a huge number of women and girls.
‘The thing that upset sme is that the whole industry has gone this way.’
The Family Education Trust’s Lucy Marsh told : ‘My youngest daughter has just turned 13 and has recently started her periods.
Packaging from a Hey Girls menstrual cup delivered in 2021 said the product was for a ‘girl or woman in need’ and said profits from its Buy One Give One range ‘go directly to help girls and women in need’
The leaflet inside added that the menstrual cup was for a ‘girl or young woman’
Menstrual cups being sold on its site today make no mention of women and girls aside from as part of the brand name Hey Girls. On the front, the packaging says ‘for every product purchased from us, we donate a whole box to someone in need’
On the back the packaging says ‘we’re on a mission to give everyone a better period’ but does not mention women or girls
‘Girls this age should be taught about their changing bodies in an age appropriate and sensitive way, so that they feel able to share their worries and ask questions about becoming a woman.
‘Telling them that boys have periods is confusing and wrong. It also affirms the idea that girls can be ‘born in the wrong body’, which is incredibly harmful, especially for those girls who are already feeling distressed about how their body is developing.
‘Telling children that people have periods is not only lying to them, it’s dehumanising and misogynistic.
‘Only women and girls have periods and only women can get pregnant – to claim otherwise is not progressive, it’s deeply insulting biologically incorrect.
‘Girls need to grow up embracing their womanhood and feeling comfortable with their developing bodies.
‘By 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.
‘Girls and boys are different, schools should be teaching children to recognise and value their differences, not trying to make everything gender neutral to avoid the risk of offending someone.’
A Nuclear Decommissioning Authority spokeswoman refused to comment on Hey Girls’s use of language.
She said: ‘We are an inclusive workplace and are committed to taking positive action so all colleagues are supported and feel their very best at work.
‘Hey Girls supply period products to us which we make available to staff who need them across our Cumbria and Warrington offices. For every product ordered one is also donated to community partners to help eradicate period poverty.’
Hey Girls co-founders Celia Hodson and Kate Smith said: ‘Hey Girls is an inclusive social enterprise working to eradicate period poverty in the UK.
‘The language we use in our materials has changed in response to feedback from our customers and is deep rooted in our belief that period education and the access to products should be inclusive for all who menstruate, no matter how they identify.
‘As many as one in 10 people in the UK experience period poverty and our ultimate mission is to ensure no one ever experiences it again.
‘We are proud to have donated more than 33 million period products to people in need in just five years and are steadfast in our devotion to increasing that number further.
‘Organisations to benefit from our donations include charities directly responding to the greatest challenges our society faces, such as foodbanks fighting back against the cost of living crisis and shelters supporting people who are experiencing homelessness.
‘Materials such as the booklet in question are designed to be inclusive for all, including those who are transgender, have gender dysphoria or are members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are rarely represented in period product education and marketing.
‘We were founded with the name ”Hey Girls” based on a term of endearment used by our family – and while the word ”Girls” is gendered, the sentiment behind the saying is not intended to be exclusive.
‘We stand by our inclusive language and support everyone who has a period.’
After the Government denied Hey Girls had ever advised the Department for Education, Hey Girls added: ‘We were pleased to be involved in the DfE’s consultation period for the introduction of free period products in schools in 2019. The wording of this section of our website has been amended to reflect this.’