Swimsuit

Knix and SI Swim Legend Megan Rapinoe Are Destigmatizing Periods

With the Sport Your Period™ initiative, the brand will pay world-class athletes up to $2,000 to talk about their periods in a public forum.

Cara O’Bleness

Megan Rapinoe was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla.
Megan Rapinoe was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Period underwear brand Knix has teamed up with two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe to launch the brand’s new Sport Your Period™ initiative. The campaign aims to destigmatize periods while normalizing them in sports.

Knix has found that one in two teens will skip or drop out of sports due to their period, so they’re actively seeking out professional athletes to talk about the matter. Rapinoe, an SI Swimsuit legend, is the first to take a stand against period stigma in sports.

“Enough with the shame,” Rapinoe urged. “It’s time to keep every teen in sports by being loud about your period. Because the more we talk about periods in sports, the more we normalize periods in sports—and the more teens stay in sports.”

Moving forward, Knix will pay world-class athletes who play at the national or international level up to $2,000 to talk about their periods in a public forum: in a press conference, in media interviews or on their personal social media platforms, for example.

“The facts are simple, women often get paid less to participate in sports, and compete while managing their periods. So why not pay them to talk about it?” Joanna Griffiths, founder and president of Knix stated in a press release. “It’s staggering to see the impact that periods have in sports and yet unless we see a visceral image of a marathon runner bleeding through her shorts, or an entire industry rebelling against wearing white, it’s not something that is spoken about. This campaign will make a difference in the way people talk about periods in sports and Megan Rapinoe is the perfect person to kick it off.”

Learn more about the campaign here. Athletes can apply to earn by filling out this brief questionnaire.

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Cara O’Bleness

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.

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