There’s also a growing and powerful movement around menstruation.

Many companies have been changing their brand language and products to keep up with a topic that, a short while ago, was considered exclusively a women’s issue. Now, they see the need to represent the diversity of experiences, when addressing people with periods. Therefore, apart from women, they include transgender and non-binary people – who have always been neglected by brands – generating a buzz, and affording visibility and demystification in campaigns such as How You Period, #TheWholeBloodyTruth.

With the same demystification context of the menstrual taboo, another Brazilian example of awareness campaign is the #ChegadeEstigma, by Intimus – Kimberly-Clark®’s brand of feminine care. “The campaign challenges society to break paradigms and negative perceptions about menstruation, which usually picture women in a fragile and limited situation”, explains the category’s Marketing Director Samia Chehab. “It is more and more my role to give voice and make room for these causes and also meet consumers’ current expectations about an active brand positioning in society”. Another woman, Thais Hamer, CBA B+G’s responsible for Intimus brand, shares Samia’s view: “the freedom I experience at work today and the purpose of the brands I assist, such as Intimus, in synergy with my values, fulfill me and motivate me to keep building a fairer world, where there’s room for all, men and women.”

And there is more! A recent collaboration of Pantone® with a Swedish brand of menstrual cups has resulted in the red hue Period, in a campaign to promote menstrual positivity, encouraging people, regardless of gender, to feel comfortable and at ease to discuss and normalize the topic.

Transcending business, the role of women in this pandemic – that is outlasting people’s patience – should be highlighted. As you must have already read, an important fact that deserves attention is that the UN High Commissioner has appointed that, from the 12 countries that have better coped with the Covid-19 pandemic, nine are governed by women. The positive role that the feminine view and handling can play in the leading of possible solutions with respect to the pandemic scenario, becomes clear.

Speaking of view, what do we see when we look inside? How are we behaving, in our CBA B+G community, towards women? From which stance are we discussing this struggle for social change and evolution?

Women are nothing short than 70% of our total workforce, and they hold more than half of the managerial positions (54%). Considering this large representation, simple but impacting initiatives have been sought and implemented. In 2019, we introduced an internal policy aimed at mothers, aware of the fact that during the first year of maternity it is hard for them to balance the roles played in their family, social and business life. In addition to the maternity leave time secured by law, a short-time and gradually restored work schedule – in a home-office regime – was introduced, allowing mothers to resume the regular work activities 12 months after giving birth.

Working on the assumption that we are all exposed to structural contamination, gender issues are being closely observed, beyond the figures. As for example at the Board of Directors, where only one of the four positions are held by a woman. “Balance is the key-word”, says Shirley Rodrigues, HR manager. “The search for equity is one of the reasons for the internal study we are conducting to understand, historically, how our recruiting process and career development program have been driven, so that we are able to realize, in the course of time, if we are promoting gender equality, for example. And if not, what are the factors that cause this imbalance, in spite of our mostly feminine management environment – which has an active voice concerning promotions and bonuses. We want to understand which causes are structural – and therefore invisible to the arguments; which are cultural – and must be reviewed; and finally which are contextual and temporary… an on-going analysis and adjustment motion which, in spite of the two decades of operation, we are examining in-depth for the first time.”

The 1970s motto #thefutureisfemale has been fighting for decades the misogynistic culture. More than just a simple slogan, the statement carries meanings that are renewed over time. Some years ago we have conducted a study to understand the power of feminine and its impact on the understanding of the brands’ role and positioning. Our analysis has revealed that the feminization of businesses would come to stay – and indeed it has – showing that the feminine view and attitude would not only attract and retain women, but also more people, regardless of gender, by achieving balance and the universal transformation of purpose. It is a comprehensive and detailed study*, built and discussed in forums in and outside CBA B+G, that still inspires us and is worth remembering: