This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Choose to Challenge.” This means confronting biases, inequalities and the status quo to continue moving all women’s rights forward. As we begin celebrating Women’s History Month, companies are starting out strong with activations that don’t shy away from these tough conversations. This week, we examine one brand that is sticking out with its audacious challenge to bring attention to a subject rarely spoken of – women’s pain.
Feminine hygiene brand, Libresse (Bodyform in the U.K.) launched a powerful campaign this month that sheds a light on the harrowing disease that one-in-10 women are diagnosed with: endometriosis. The goal of #PainStories is to “dismantle the shame and silence that stops” women from getting the help they deserve. To accomplish this, the brand has created a dictionary to put a name to the agony women feel, a report to educate on the history of women’s pain and a virtual museum to illustrate the Gender Pain Gap. Libresse acknowledges and takes into the account the fact that while women’s pain is often brushed off, this is especially true for “Black, Asian or mixed heritage women” – with an added stigma around non-binary and trans people. To continue empowering women to speak their truth around pain, the brand encourages more women to share their experience with them, “because no two [stories] are the same.”
This important subject may have once been deemed too taboo to discuss, but Libresse used its influence to say “no longer” and it is prominently bringing attention to a problem that has the potential to affect over half the world’s population. With 76 percent of Americans believing that it is no longer acceptable for companies just to make money but to positively impact society as well – and another 83 percent of Americans saying it is important for companies to address women’s rights – brands need to be making similar efforts to draw attention to important women’s causes this month and beyond.