A woke storm has erupted after a writer was censored on a website for saying that women have periods.
Sanitary pad firm Always is said to have told a website to remove the words women, girls and females from online articles about periods to avoid offending transgender people.
The firm reportedly issued the edict to the parenting site Good To Know to make content it sponsored inclusive.
Now writer Milli Hill says she’s “outraged” the website changed her recent article about helping teens with their first periods and accused Always of “censoring” her to pander to transgender rights, reports the Daily Mail.
She said: “I was absolutely outraged when I saw the final article, as it was obvious that I had been censored.
“My words had been changed to fit an ideological agenda, which is a rather terrifying thought experiment that I don’t think the people at Always – in their quest for ‘inclusivity’ – have given much thought to.”
In the article Ms Hill wrote that periods were “a normal part of the experience of being female”.
But this was changed to remove the word female. A reference to “all women” was also amended so it became “all bodies”.
Ms Hill was told by an editor that the changes were made at the request of Always.
In Instagram messages The Mail on Sunday reports that the editor told Ms Hill that Always had wanted the website to use “inclusive language” because “not everyone who has periods identifies with the label girl/woman”.
Good to Know editor Sophie Bird denied that Always was responsible and that the publication “takes full responsibility for this error” whilst Proctor & Gamble, which own Always, said it values “freedom of expression and will continue to use our voice as a force for good”, reports the Daily Mail.
Express.co.uk has approached Ms Bird and Proctor & Gamble for further comment.
In July a campaign by a Labour-led council to raise awareness about periods came under fire for not mentioning women but “anyone who menstruates”.
Critics denounced the decision not to talk about women as “crazy” and “dangerous” and accused the council of “pandering to wokeism”.
The website for Monmouthshire County Council’s Chat With Flo education campaign says it offers workshops for young people, “dads/men” and “adults who menstruate”.
The council denied that the initiative excluded women but said it wanted to offer support to everyone who could benefit, including transgender people.
