When four-year-old Eli saw blood on his mother's pants, he asked her what it was. Milly Bhaskara, the body-positivity and mental health advocate behind the Instagram account @millykeepsgoing, took it as an opportunity to teach her son an important lesson. Namely, that periods aren't exclusive to women.
Instagram | @millykeepsgoing
Little Boy Urges People To Rethink Gender: "Some Men Have Periods Too"
"SOME women, SOME non binary people, and SOME men have periods."
Because the message was new to Eli and he didn't have any previous knowledge of periods, it was a very easy idea for him to grasp. But, Milly argues, that doesn't mean it should be difficult for others, even if they have been conditioned to believe that only women get a period.
She believes that it's a concept that should be easy for everyone to embrace, especially since it's not hurting anyone but encouraging inclusivity.
Instagram | @millykeepsgoing
"[I]f 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?" she wrote in the Instagram caption that accompanies a photo of her son holding a sign that reads, "Some men have periods too."
The post comes hot on the heels of Always' announcement that it has removed female gender symbols from the packaging of its maxi pads.
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When personal care giant Always announced that it removed female gender symbols from its packaging, it sparked mixed reactions. For this reason, Milly felt she needed to make a statement.
"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 😊 isn’t that wholesome and a nice gesture?" she wrote.
The heated reaction forced her to turn comments off on her post, but she holds strong to her position.
Milly turned the comments off on her Instagram post, but when her story was covered in the media, the conversation spilled over to Twitter where people debated the merits of her message. There was a great deal of confusion from people who didn't understand that not only female gender-associating women get their period while others felt that the discussion of inclusivity had gone too far. Regardless, Milly stuck to her message.
"[I]t’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."
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