NHS staff invitation to menopause workshop to people who menstruate!

Thank you @Lifeaintalwaysempty I suspected there was more to it but I wasn't sure what exactly. How utterly ironic and depressing. What I find rather strange is that I know none of my close girlfriends know about any of this. I'm wondering whether to tell them but I think I will let them enjoy life as they know it a while longer.

Why are you so offended at them being inclusive? Trans men are men.

Fuck sake. This is infuriating. Why can't they just write "For women and trans men going through the menopause"???
Am I missing something?

That inclusion of ‘to our male colleagues, we know it’s not you’ sends a message to women of ‘we will believe men rather than you’

What is a gold star feminist?

On racism, seeing as we're being diverted. Has there been much work done to find out how terms like 'people who menstruate' land with women from different religious or ethnic backgrounds? And those with limited English?

I think that 'menstruation' for example is not the most common term (periods is more common I'd think) and is quite a difficult word, and not very friendly iyswim. It's a technical term.

When I go to the doc they ask me if I know the date of my last period. Not when I last menstruated.

The fact is that we have plenty of commonly understood words for lots of things that have worked well fine for ages. Why change them?

This is for women, anyone who has periods is welcome. For example.
Why people who menstruate'?

The other was for women to discuss their experiences and questions about menopause, which specified "for women including trans women"

Why on earth would a transwoman need to be included in a workshop on menopause? Bonkers

Spinster comes from an unmarried woman when spinning wool was a common was to make money at home.

'There used to be words like barren, spinster and crone but they were offensive. Is that because the ideas themselves are offensive?'

You believe that women were the ones who invented these terms and used them against other women?

Barren was a medical term
Spinster was a word in common usage
Crone... Not sure. I think Shakespeare used it.

Feminism can end up racist if we don't, for example because we can't assume that the white female experience is the universal female experience etc.

None of the regular/GC posters on here assume that the white (middle class) female experience is universal, in fact the opposite and they go to great lengths to evidence that it isn't. The other side of this divide, however, make it very clear that they do assume it is the universal female experience and will not listen when it is pointed out to them that it is not, they either completely ignore it or dismiss it out of hand. There are examples of that in several threads on this board from those posters, including on this thread, those same posters have the audacity to call themselves feminists and gold star ones at that.

Divisions and differences are not words that are interchangeable.

Yes, I do know those things, NiceGerbil. I'm not talking about the male perspective, but about the distinctions that women make themselves.

'I don't think we should assume that men are responsible for any divisions between women, though'

Hahaha.

On the 'barren' thing. Women are still killed around the world sometimes for not producing a baby/ producing babies of the 'wrong' sex.

'There used to be words like barren, spinster and crone but they were offensive. Is that because the ideas themselves are offensive?'

Is this a serious question?

I think some women's history and what's happening around the world would be useful to you.

Women's value has been linked to their fertility everywhere and for as long as we know.

The words you suggested are used as insults because they are saying that you have no value to men/ are not attractive to men/ have failed to find a man.

For some reason men pretty much always use these things as go to insults about women/ girls. Whether it's just a consequence of the societal messages, ego, or what. I don't know.

But certainly if a man eg approaches you in the pub and you say you're not interested and he's one of the many who don't take it well. Then more often than not it's stuff like you're rough anyway, d*ke etc.

You must know this surely?

Yes, I agree about the body parts. This new trend to refer to menstruators or the bepenised is awful and regressive. My personal least favourite is people with vaginas as if the hole between my legs is my most important quality.

Yes, I read it, Nice Gerbil. I don't think we should assume that men are responsible for any divisions between women, though. Sluts vs Madonna, maybe. But not mothers vs non-mothers or SAHMs and employed mothers. Or Black and white women. Or poor and rich even. We are capable of observing our own differences.
We need to. Feminism can end up racist if we don't, for example because we can't assume that the white female experience is the universal female experience etc.

I would also mention that women and girls have been reduced to parts by men and society forever.

The one with the legs
Oi nice tits
Gash
Go out get some pussy
Dried up/ shriveled up (refers to post menopausal vagina)
And so on

Doona I would prefer you to my post at 1835 about the issues with breaking us into groups in general.

Can you name and shame?

If it's a large employer they won't know it's you. Although understand if not obviously.

I genuinely can't believe that.

Did I miss s thread about it?

That's grotesque.

Even when a woman is kidnapped and murdered it's really important to say NAMALT and more than that state that all the men who work there are safe as houses? Statistically that's not going to be true is it.

Bloody hell.

Maybe we do need to have words that emphasise biology more. For example, a word for a woman who has not given birth (childfree and childless are both ungreat in my opinion because of mothers whose children have died). Or women who have not yet been through menopause. There used to be words like barren, spinster and crone but they were offensive. Is that because the ideas themselves are offensive?

For example, what if you wanted a midwife who had herself given birth. Or a menopause instructor who had been through menopause herself. Is that okay, or is it only okay to ask for a woman and not specify a subtype?

@SohoOrigami

NiceGerbil yes, I think that sums them up. It's the same women's network that sent out a message about violence against women after the Sarah Everard vigil and included the line "to our male colleagues, we know it's not you" We're an organisation of thousands: statistically speaking it's definitely some of them

Eresh thanks! It's ridiculous that I'm actually nervous about it, isn't it. As someone said on another thread the other day, the workplace doesn't feel very inclusive of me on these issues

Are you serious?

Jesus Christ. What are they thinking?