Feminist Period-Panty Making Company Has Poor Working Conditions For Women

Have you guys seen the commercials for period panties?  Those are a thing.

BEHOLD:

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ob0N5GYj7OY”]

Thinx is a “feminist underwear company” and according to this, they’re now being accused of mistreating their staff.

A report published earlier this week by Racked claims that Thinx, under the leadership of CEO Miki Agrawal, has working practices that “do not align with its female-friendly image.”  And now there’s a bunch of backlash on Twitter from not only customers, but from people who’ve previously been employed by the company.

The complaints? Not paying employees fairly, inadequate maternity leave, and “unprofessional language” by the CEO. (Whoever complained about that wouldn’t last a DAY in our office.  Just sayin’.)

One former employee, who chose to stay anonymous, said that the culture at Thinx was comparable to middle school, and even compared working there to “being in an abusive relationship.”  According to this, she said:

“It honestly felt like a middle school environment: pitting people against each other, calling us petty children and [saying that we were] immature and that we’re all these millennials that don’t know anything — meanwhile we’re being paid easily $30,000 under industry standard salaries.  It was truly like being in an abusive relationship. And I don’t use that analogy lightly… I don’t know if you’ve ever had the feeling when you walk into a place — whether it’s with your family or a job or a friendship circle — and you simply just don’t know how the other person is going to react. One day they could be in a super great mood and everything’s fine and dandy and you’re being praised left and right, or else you walk in and you’re treated like you’re dirt… That takes an emotional and physical toll on you. To wake up every day and not know how you’re going to be treated that day is really quite awful.”

Way to go, feminist company!

And it gets worse.

In March of 2016, the team called a meeting with Agrawal to bring forward some of their grievances with the company, sources say, one of which was an abrupt email they received alerting them to a reduction in paid vacation days from 21 to 14 per year, as well as the prohibitively expensive healthcare packages the company offered (a $200 per month premium for the cheapest option at the time, according to one source).

According to the Racked report, 10 people have left the company since the beginning of the year, and considering that the entire workforce is made up of only 35 people, that’s kind of a huge deal.  The company was founded in 2014 and since then, Agrawal has received awards and accolades aplenty.  Time magazine called Thinx’s period panties “among the best innovations” of 2015.

According to the first sourcelink:

Writer and LGBTQ advocate Tyler Ford, who is gender non-binary and trans, described in a series of tweets their ‘humiliating’ and ‘upsetting’ experiences working with the brand, accusing it of using transphobic language and stealing ideas.

Ok, hold up.  If you’re gender non-binary AND trans, what does that actually mean?  Like – WHAT ARE YOU FOR REAL?  I get the idea of transgender – where maybe you’re a dude who feels like a woman, or you’re a woman who feels like a dude, but if you don’t feel like any particular gender, then what are you trans-ing TO?

So confused.  You can read Tyler’s Twitter feed to see that whole side story.

Thinx apologized to Ford (indirectly through a third party), and claims to be investigating Racked’s claims.   Their spokesperson (who apparently hasn’t quit yet), said:

“We are devastated to hear about Tyler’s account of their experience at the Thinx fashion show. The hypocrisy of it all… we see it.  Thinx seeks to break barriers for the marginalized and uplift the silenced, and clearly, we still have a ways to go.  From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to Tyler and the LGBTQIA community.  Tyler, we recognize that we are undeserving of the lessons you are so gracefully teaching us—but we promise to learn from your bravery and do better.  Our leadership is getting to the bottom of these allegations, and, as ever, we are actively working to address and improve our corporate culture.  We look forward to updating the community as new leaders and corporate processes are put into place.”

Agrawal is said to have stepped down as CEO, but plans to remain as She-E-O.  (No joke.)

I just find it absolutely hilarious that a company touting itself as feminist, is not paying its employees fairly and isn’t providing sufficient maternity leave.

Oh feminists.  Silly, silly feminists.