University of Oxford Study

This totally.

I've been following how students (just students) are wording their research questions about sex. It's clearly a total minefield if you want to study women..and not ruin your career. Id go as far as saying that there will be less research about women because given the alternative of studying something you don't risk ruining your career over, or don't risk problems with funding for, it's easier to just choose that.

@NiceGerbil anecdotally lots of women are noticing periods are heavier, longer, lighter, missing, PMT is worse etc.

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/25/pandemic-periods-why-womens-menstrual-cycles-have-gone-haywire

They're interested in how Corona affects periods?

That's pretty random. Why?

This is their pinned tweet.
Ffs.

Women and people who menstruate. Women and menstruators. However people who are female but would prefer other terminology would prefer to be included. Include away, just don't erase others in the process.

Big issue was that it didn't ask if you were on hrt

It literally says it right there.

It is "for anyone who's ever had a period" and asks that you "are or have been a menstruating person."

I like this board and consider myself gender critical but what are the researchers supposed to say to include transmen and other females and exclude transwomen and other males?

I

The advert DOES talk about women Suspect they're caught between a rock and a hard place tbh. There was no need to say 'I am a menstruating person' though. Could have simply said 'I have or have had periods'

At least the rest of it talks about women, and it seems like a good survey to do.

I agree with you totally in principle Michelle, but I'm not sure how they can use that kind of "AND" wording and ensure they only get biological females completing it?

They'd have to say something like "females and people who have ever had a period but not people who have never had a period" (since females is apparently open to interpretation now too)

@clymene It is for you because they specifically say it's for any person who has ever had a period. The questions are not solely about periods either.

I know it's rare but there are some biological women who never have periods... it seems that they've come up with this as the closest approximation to "biological women" they can find but it does mean excluding some actual biological women

It is a nightmare. The behaviour is something most are very keen to avoid having to deal with. However it's not difficult to say females AND... women AND.....

Add who you want. Just don't erase anyone else. Any kicking off after that is a demand for erasure, not inclusion, which is unjustifiable.

I thought the survey was not meant for me. Is it?

Who knows?

Their rushing around putting pantaloons on piano legs has probably caused their research a lot of issues they'll never untangle. Not to mention that a lot of biological females will just look and go ffs while finding something less depressing to do.

Spare a thought for the researchers though. They may well be totally GC (or may not) but at the end of the day they just want to collect data on biological females and need to navigate a way of getting the survey out on social media without being derailed by a load of activists, complaints to their department, being hauled back through the ethics committee etc etc. It's a nightmare.

I completed it Clymene and I had a hysterectomy 10 years ago, they did ask something about whether you're post-menopausal etc so I assume they want this information too. They also ask for your gender and say they assume your biological sex is female. If you don't have a gender you can just put 'none' in the text box.

I am post menopausal. I thought the survey was not meant for me. Is it?

Exactly - if a woman isn't menstruating right now because of stress around covid, what then? Presumably they're the ones the researchers are most interested in.

Unbelievable.

Watched that greys anatomy episode where they pull a small tree out of a blokes lung the other day.

Flowers in my womb 😑

Okay so it's specifically about female biology but the wording is still clumsy and yes it puts me off.
I've seen lots of requests for surveys about women in the workplace, due to the pandemic, healthcare etc and I do fill them in because we need data to back up requests for more resources for women.
I'm not filling in a survey where I am labelled a menstruator just because they're at pains to use the actual word for women.
I also think the wording will put off women who aren't currently menstruating (pregnancy, menopause, other reasons) as they may think they aren't the target demographic even if they are supposed to be.

@Clymene ok but different groups use different definitions of "women" and it is VITAL that only biological female's experiences are centred in this work. It is irrelevant whether transwomen feel sadder or perceive themselves to have more cramps each month. Lived experience of menstruating is key.

Yeah my DF craves chocolate and gets a bit crampy, he thinks he might have had one once. He can fill it in. I shan't be bothering, this kind of thing just makes me head in the opposite direction on sight with eyes rolling.

By saying "menstruating person" it does actually get to the target demographic. Not relevant to transwomen, yes relevant to transmen...

One of the questions asks for gender identity and says something like "we assume that your biological sex is female". It's good quality stuff and worded correctly in my opinion. This is an important women's health issue so please do not be put off completing it.

It's actually about periods so I think asking whether you're someone who has ever had periods is correct in this particular instance.

As far as it goes, I think what they are looking for is more specific than women, it's women that have had periods.

But mainly they are trying to doge being jumped on I suspect. A hopeless task.