United Kingdom based Nigerian Medical Doctor and Social Commentator, Harvey Olufunmilayo says biological women in Africa, especially in Kenya and Nigeria don’t matter to Always.
Always is a brand of menstrual hygiene products, including maxi pads, ultra thin pads, pantiliners, and feminine wipes, produced by Procter & Gamble.
Doctor Olufunmilayo said this in a series of tweets on his official and verified twitter handle in reaction to People in Africa using #MyAlwaysExperience to talk about rashes they think were caused by Always pads.
According to Teen Vogue, using #MyAlwaysExperience, women in parts of Africa are alleging they experience itching, burning, and rashes when they use Always brand products, prompting some to wonder if the product distributed across the continent is different from the one available in America — an allegation the Always Kenya has denied. While #MyAlwaysExperience was seemingly started in February by people in Kenya, it has resurfaced on Twitter in recent days, with people from different regions of the world weighing in.
His tweet reads; Women in Nigeria lament high prices of @Always Sanitary Pads NOTHING was done.
Women in Kenya complain @Always Sanitary Pads gave them diseases. NOTHING was done.
But trans men told @Always to remove all women logos from all the Pads And it was done.
Life is really tough for women. Very very tough I must say. Imagine being a woman and the company that designs your own feminine products being dictated to, by people who no longer want to be seen as women. The company does NOT listen to you as a woman. But it listens to them.
Women in Nigeria and many impoverished places all over the world have lamented for years high prices of @Always
sanitary products.
@Always has NEVER bothered to listen to the actual pain, struggles and yearnings of all these women.
In their millions. These women don’t matter.
Women in Kenya achieved global recognition for bringing the attention of social media to the low-quality cheap sanitary pads which they said was being sold to them by @Always
Were they listened to? Nah. These women don’t matter to @Always.Biological women don’t matter to them.
People who no longer want to be seen or addressed as women, people who now identify as men, however bully and blackmail @Always and insist that @Always must remove all women/feminine logos on their sanitary pads as it offends them as trans people.
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And promptly, @Always does it. Is it not interesting how the voices of people who hate being born as women, who hate being seen as women and who hate being addressed as women is actually MORE INFLUENTIAL in what happens in a company that specialises on women’s products? Is it not ironic and heartbreaking?
Women are losing their sports. Women are losing their values. Women are now losing their say on products that are exclusively and specifically for them. Let’s speak up and stand for women. At the end of the day, no society that ignores its women can truly develop.
The overwhelming majority of those who buy and use @Always sanitary pads are biological women- not trans men or trans women.
Yet the feelings and opinions of this overwhelming majority of people- the biological cis women- was not even consulted or considered in this decision.
The actual injustice, partiality and unfairness here is the willingness and readiness of @Always
to ignore the cries and pains of biological women (who are the actual majority) and pander to the complaints & grumbling of people who hate the very idea of being born/seen as women.
Any system that is willing to sacrifice the happiness of the many for the few is the textbook definition of an unfair system.
@Always can easily make a different set of pads for those offended by the presence of women logos on an item which is actually designed for women.
But to delete off the women/feminine logos unilaterally and solely because a massive minority has requested for it to be so- is an actual slap and total disrespect for biological women.
And for that alone, @Always should apologise to cis women everywhere and make urgent amends.
