Our most PC Pc? Officer claims ‘feminine care’ signs are sexist
A POLICE officer has been sanctioned by his force after warning supermarkets that their “feminine care” signs are sexist.
Sgt Peter Allan, Sussex Police’s hate crime officer, became embroiled in a Twitter row after advising Tesco and Sainsbury’s to swap feminine-specific signs for alternatives such as “personal hygiene” and “personal care”.
The officer’s intervention prompted a wave of criticism, with social media users calling him “meddlesome” and accusing him of wasting taxpayers’ money.
The controversy began after the officer sent a message to Sainsbury’s on Twitter saying: “It’s an issue of gender identity. Men may use the products. Indeed men’s products were on the shelf. ‘Personal Care’ perhaps.”
He then tweeted Tesco saying: “Need to update. Especially with products 4 men on shelf. ‘Personal Hygiene’ perhaps. What about your other stores? Should be gender neutral if mentioned at all.”
The tweets were met with dismay by many. One Twitter user wrote: “What a meddlesome individual, using his police badge to lay down laws of his own devising. He’s actually the bigot here.”
Another added: “Last time I checked, tampons were used for feminine hygiene, not male. Haven’t you got anything better to do with taxpayers money?”
The social media frenzy started as it emerged that Sergeant Allan had previously branded M&S “sexist” for its store lavatories, showing a woman with a baby, while the sign for the men’s lavatories showed only a man. M&S has since changed its signs.
Sussex Police has since confirmed that the comments were posted by Sgt Allan when he was off duty.
The force also admitted that the officer had been “sanctioned” but claimed he was permitted to express his own personal views.
It declined to comment on why the officer had handed out advice to the supermarkets, or whether he was authorised to do so.
Both supermarkets responded to the criticism. A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “Our signs in store are designed to help customers easily find the items they’re looking for. We thanked Mr Allan for his feedback.”
A Tesco spokesman said: “Everyone is welcome at Tesco. We regularly review the signs in our stores to make sure they meet the needs of customers.”