Mom's Viral Post Celebrates That 'Some Women, Some Non-Binary People, & Some Men' Get Their Periods

Maressa Brown

Last month, Always announced that the Venus symbol would be removed from their sanitary products' packaging to be more inclusive of transgender and non-binary people. "For over 35 years Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so," Always' parent company, Procter & Gamble said in a statement, according to NBC. "We’re also committed to diversity & inclusion and are on a continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers." Now, a mom from Hull, England named Milly Bhaskara is furthering the conversation, showing parents how easy it is to introduce your L.O. to the concept that women aren't the only people who menstruate.

Bhaskara—who boasts 173K followers and is known for her posts on mental health awareness and body acceptance—posted a super-cute photo of her 4-year-old son Eli holding a pin board sign that reads, "Some men have periods too. If I can get it, so can you."

The proud mom's caption: "Some men have periods. Some non-binary people have periods. Some women have periods. Eli has been told about periods since he saw blood on my pants a couple of years ago. I didn’t use the language of women have periods because it’s not entirely inclusive."

Bhaskara continued, "I told him that SOME women, SOME non-binary people and SOME men have periods. It was easy for him to accept as he hadn’t had to unlearn the engrained societal norm, but if a 4-year-old can grasp it, I’m sure most of us can have a crack at unlearning transphobic/misinformed norms and open our minds... ya think?"

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I often get the comment on here of “your family is perfect” I’ll tell you right now we are NOT perfect and I don’t mean the little things like farting in bed or not washing the pots I mean beautifully and not so beautifully flawed. . 🙎🏻‍♀️I’m easily irritated, brain foggy and often too worried about everything. 🙎🏾‍♂️Rishi can be distant and subconsciously selfish with his time. 👦🏽Eli can often not listen and push limits. We are as flawed as we are unique and that’s perfectly okay. We annoy each other and we argue, we can be mean and selfish. So no, we’re not perfect but we are perfect for each other. My two beautiful humans who make me want to pull out what’s left of my hair but who also make me want to live. I’ll grow through what we go through together and we’ll bloom forever 💛🌻 . . . . Image description: milly Rishi and Eli are taking a selfie. Rishi looks shocked and Eli’s pulling a silly face. Milly is smiling! Rishi and Eli are wearing red checked shirts.

A post shared by Milly Bhaskara 🌻 (she/her) (@millykeepsgoing) on Oct 7, 2019 at 11:59am PDT

She went on to explain that "trans men may have 'female' sex organs and still experience periods and some non-binary people have periods too, therefore removing a female logo off the front of sanitary products helps include us all."

Taking aim at critics of the inclusive move, Eli's mom concluded, "Why in the name of Lizzo should that affect ANY of us... it’s not insulting to women, it’s not discrediting women, it’s opening up the community to make it a safe space for those who don’t identify as women but still have periods. Stop being an asshat. Grasp it."

Bhaskara highlights a teachable moment all parents have to introduce their children to inclusive language that can make a real difference for trans and non-binary people.

As a Steph deNormand, the Trans Health Program manager at Fenway Health told NBC in response to Always' news, "For folks using these products on a nearly monthly basis, it can be harmful and distressing to see binary/gendered images, coding, language and symbols. So, using less coded products can make a huge difference. Trans and non-binary folks are constantly misgendered, and a gesture like this can broaden out the experiences and open up spaces for those who need the products."

Bhaskara echoes that sentiment, sharing with Parents.com that she was inspired to post the photo of Eli and accompanying message after she had seen trans people being marginalized and excluded from society. "I wanted to do something to stand in solidarity with trans and non-binary people," she notes. "The Always news, to me, was just a passive, nice, inclusive gesture."

By earning nearly 6K likes and making headlines for her powerful (not to mention adorable) post, Bhaskara says she hopes people realize that trans men and non-binary people getting their periods is "not a debate; it's not a matter of opinion, but a fact." She concludes, "We need to stop the ignorance and allow others right to exist outside of boxes that make us uncomfortable."