Not-so Period Red.

Pantone has released a new shade, “Period Red”, in a valiant attempt to bring menstruation into the conversation, and out of the shadows. The waves that this has made should not be underestimated; this label has enabled periods to be in news articles and dominating social media, and thus Pantone have made steps forwards in normalising periods. Further to this, the illustration for their new shade includes a menstrual cup, thereby glorifying and celebrating reusable menstrual products and making them more mainstream as well -- sounds good so far, doesn’t it?

But, at Sanitree, we have to admit, we weren’t totally convinced. This is because, to put it bluntly, the shade they have labelled “period red” just isn’t the colour of a period. Instead, the shade of red they have chosen actually glamorises periods. I argue that Pantone, despite what I am convinced are best intentions, are not acknowledging the everyday nature of periods, and ultimately have romanticised it, by painting it the colour of a red carpet, or of Reese Witherspoon’s signature red lipstick. As I saw hundreds of people celebrating on my timeline, the reaction I had was unwanted, and there was a temptation to not read into it, to simply take this as a great victory in the struggle of removing the stigma around periods. But, delving in deeper, more people were saying exactly the same thing, and feeling this mixed reaction which shows that, at the final analysis, Pantone have just missed the mark. This is why it's such a shame - because Pantone were so close. They could have done a shade range, from brown to red, covering all the inbetweens, all the messy and not-so-glamorous bits of periods, and in so doing, normalise the real experience of periods. Not as some stage-prop fake blood, but as colours people can relate to. 

Credit must be given to Pantone. Sadly, their label of “period red” is shocking, and the conversation they have started around menstruation, and reusable products, should not be ignored. But, at Sanitree, we implore future attempts of normalising periods, to do exactly that.