Empowering Or Sexist? Cafe Owner Tells Women Staff To Wear Red Sticker During Periods

An Australian cafe owner sparked a controversy after he asked female staff to wear red stickers if they are on their period.

The cafe owner Anthony appeared on the radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show and claimed he had a solution for dealing with “emotionally stressed and hormonal” staff members. Anthony said he faced incidents with two staff members in front of the customers.

The female staff member explained that her reaction was due to “women’s issues” and said she was under emotional distress.

Staff On Periods To Wear Red Stickers: What does that do?

The cafe owner then decided that his staff should wear a red sticker if they were on their period so that they could get “understanding or space”.

Anthony said, “It’s very difficult for guys to understand when someone’s going through a bit of a rough patch. So in order to avoid that, we thought it would be a good idea to wear a red sticker if you’re going through a period and just need a bit of understanding or space.”

The cafe owner compared the red sticker to the L-plate on cars stuck on cars used by new drivers and people with learning licenses. Antony said, “If someone is learning to drive a car right, they stick an L-plate on the car. That’s not for their benefit, it’s for people around them to give them some space.”

He said the red sticker was like an L-plate for “women’s issues”.

When co-host Kyle asked for more details about the red sticker and Anthony responded that the sticker could have a smiley face on it to make it look “friendly”.

Anthony’s statements left the radio hosts confused and co-host Jackie O criticised his idea and said it was “humiliating”. She added that women shouldn't have to advertise if they are on their period.

Callers backed her opinion and called out the manager for being misogynistic. One caller went as far as to say that Anthony had “mummy issues”. Another caller described him as “insensitive” and said, “I hope everyone who knows you is shamed.”

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