Union is the newest global ambassador for Knix, a collaboration she said is special to her because she was raised in a household where she didn’t discuss periods and other female life phases.
Gabrielle Union is committed to dismantling the taboos and stigmas associated with women’s health.
According to People, the actress, businesswoman and advocate has joined forces with intimates and apparel company Knix. It recently unveiled a line of leakproof, ultra-thin, no-show underwear.
“The great thing about Knix and the great thing about where I’m at in life is that I want open communication, love, acceptance, resources and answers at every stage of my life, not just when I’m young and shiny,” said Union, Knix’s newest global ambassador. “We need brands that are going to grow with us as we change and our bodies change and as life changes. And Knix is one of those companies; they are uniquely qualified to stay with us for the long haul.”
Union told People that extra-protective products are crucial at every stage of life, commending Knix for its apparel that benefits women from 13 to menopause and beyond.
She called it a good resource for a person with endometriosis, cysts or fibroids and cycles “that feel like hemorrhages.”
“You have a baby. Nobody talks about the postpartum fun that is leaving your body for a minute. You need them then too,” she added. “And when you go into perimenopause and your periods are 30 days — all the different reasons why people at different points in their lives will need a company to grow with them, not judge them and not focus their marketing dollars somewhere else, because our needs never really ends.”
Union’s collaboration with Knix has even more significance for her personally because she grew up in a household where women’s periods and other life transitions were taboo topics.
Instead, she claimed, because her parents thought she was well-informed, she relied on “11, 12, and 13 year olds” for guidance. Even now, at 51 years old, she can still recall how embarrassing it was to leak in middle school.
“I think every person who’s had a period has those moments that you remember vividly where you were, who saw it, was there a jean jacket or a sweatshirt to wrap around your waist,” said Union. “The humiliation of the proof that you have a period.”
She said it took her decades — until her early to mid-40s — to develop the confidence she tries to instill in her daughters, Zaya, 16, and Kaavia, 5.
The “Cheaper By the Dozen” star said transparency is crucial in her household, noting that she has open discussions with her family and wants them to feel at ease discussing their needs and health.
Union told People that she previously had such a limited understanding of the female reproductive system that she believed “babies came from your urethra.”
“I remember the first time I was at a swim club, and I got my period, and I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t swim.’ And my peers said, ‘Use a tampon,’ and I was like, ‘I’m a virgin!’” she shared. “Just misinformation on top of misinformation. That was the day I discovered it was the other hole. You just don’t know until you know.”
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