Tampon brand CEO calls customers 'menstruators' instead of women, wants to be a 'gender-inclusive' brand

The CEO of tampon brand August said she wants to build a "gender inclusive" brand that appeals to "everyone who menstruates" and referred to potential customers as "menstruators" in an interview with "CBS Mornings."

25-year-old entrepreneur Nadya Okamoto revealed that she wants to make her brand August extremely gender-inclusive, which is noted on the product's box as well as in the name, which she believed to be gender-neutral.

Okamoto, who spoke with Gayle King, said in the segment that “periods make human life possible” and called a menstrual cycle “one of the most natural biological processes of life." She did not say however that it is women who get periods.

The Harvard graduate also said, “We’re also wanting a period-positive, gender-inclusive brand. We are August; on the pack it says ‘we’re here for everyone who menstruates.’ And I think especially in this age of transphobia it really means a lot to us to be a proudly gender-inclusive brand."

”History and society has built up the stigma that makes menstruators feel so ashamed, yeah, it makes us feel like there's something wrong with our bodies," Okamoto claimed. "We're taught that period blood is this contaminable, like disgusting thing," she added.

"It always breaks my heart to hear so many stories every day of young menstruators who get their period and have never heard about it, right? Because suddenly you think you're bleeding out," Okamoto began. "A lot of people think that they pooped themselves because yeah blood can be brown and they don't know that, and period blood isn't just liquid, too, it can clot, so we hear stories regularly of people thinking that like a piece of their heart came out," she also claimed.

"It's just, it can be so scary if you don't know the details of it."

According to the New York Post, the "About" section for August says that the company's products are for “anyone who menstruates — regardless of gender, race, culture, abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

The outlet also noted that the product boasts that its wrappers are compostable and break down in water.

August agreed to a deal with Target that will have the products sold in 400 U.S. locations.

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