Pantone releases Period red color to help end menstruation stigma

period

Show your period pride with Pantone’s new red color. 


Pantone

Mention menstruation in casual conversation and you might notice people around you start to squirm. Even though periods are a natural biological process for women everywhere, the subject of menstruation still seems to be a taboo topic. 

The color experts at Pantone want to change that common perception with a new shade of red called Period to end menstruation stigma. The new campaign by the color matching company aims to embolden people who menstruate to feel proud of who they are.

Pantone has teamed up with the Swedish feminine products company Intimina to conceive the new red Period color hoping “to empower and encourage people, regardless of gender, to talk in more detail about menstruation,” according to reports on Tuesday.

period2

Pantone Period color was created to encourage people to talk more openly about menstruation.


Pantone

The new red shade promotes the Seen+Heard campaign, which empowers people to talk in more detail about menstruation. The color is an “original shade of red that represents a steady flow of menstruation,” according to Intimina. 

While women and girls on their period have been ridiculed, mocked and shunned, it’s important to note that millions of women and girls suffer more than just embarrassment due to the stigma associated with periods.

“Many girls miss vital days of school, or even drop out altogether, which is one reason so many women experience life-long poverty globally,” Jillian Popkins, ActionAid UK Director of Policy and Advocacy, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Without the stigma around periods, more women could escape poverty, fulfill their potential, and strengthen their communities. This important campaign will help change that.”

This exact topic was highlighted in the Oscar-award winning documentary Period. End of Sentence. The movie features a group of fiercely determined young women in rural India who decide to install a sanitary-pad machine, combat the stigma of menstruation, and discover their independence.

Not only has the Seen+Heard campaign helped normalize conversations surrounding menstruation Intimina has also donated to ActionAid, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty.

source: cnet.com