Scottish Government “pregnant people” Twitter

The BBC aren’t afraid of the word woman, surprisingly

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58014779

But if someone had say radiation treatment at a young age and so has never menstruated does that mean they don’t fit in to the category of women’s health? It’s not something that can be “fixed”.

I'm not sure why you aren't understanding what I am saying - is it that you would rather make an argument against a different point?

Menstruation and lack of menstruation in a woman is part of women's health, whatever the cause, if your sex is female. All women know that even if they have periods regularly for 40 years, menopause will happen. This does not mean they will change sex, or that there will be no more health consequences to having a female body.

If your sex is male the reason you don't menstruate is simply that males don't menstruate. Continuous blood loss is always a sign that urgent medical help should be found.

None of this relates to inner identity. It's just sex - a completely neutral category like blood type, but with more consequences.

But if someone had say radiation treatment at a young age and so has never menstruated does that mean they don’t fit in to the category of women’s health? It’s not something that can be “fixed”.

I think in your need to distance yourself from trans women you’re ignoring a lot of different people who might find the words helpful for their own identity for a variety of reasons.

They are post menopause, they are pregnant, they are at a particular stage in their cycle and therefore fertile, they have had a hysterectomy, they are malnourished, they are using a particular kind of contraception, they have a health condition that may indicate infertility etc, etc.

It is always significant.

That is why it is important to be able to talk about women. You can’t break down women’s health into discrete unrelated snippets.

There’s lots of reasons someone born as a women doesn’t menstruate such as illness and injury. Your comment is much more offensive to women than being referred to as “people”

Something like that maybe?

@timeisnotalie - i had a quick glance at the "right on" types giving this the thumbs up and its the usual ones with avatars set to furries or anime characters and Ze/Zer in their biogs

I agree its the childrens hols so some virtue signalling from the TikTok brigade but also likely that these are multiple accounts of adults that jump on things like this to make it look like its popular

Reminds me of my time on the church choir...

It's such rubbish. Apparently there's a group of women who despise being called women and will faint and fall over and have big, big hurty feelings at being called women but will rush to get pregnant and give birth which is the most female thing one could possibly do. That fragility and dysphoria magically disappears! It's a miracle!

I also think that talking about 'menstruators' or 'uterus havers' has the potential to do real harm because of the implication that these are discrete functions and organs unconnected to the rest of the body.

Lack of menstruation is a sign of malnutrition in women, but who cares? A teenage girl can just believe that she doesn't fall into the messy category of 'menstruators'.

Policy that takes its cue from disordered thinking does not demonstrate kindness or empathy.

There are plenty of tweet replies supporting their phrasing too though

I'm singing along now...

🎵People are people so why can it be
You and I should get along so awfully?
So we're different colours and we're different creeds
And different people have different needs

Depeche Mode still aren't wrong.

And people who are not pregnant nor menstrusting experience discrimination because they appear to be people who could be pregnant/menstruating.

'Atomised' yes.
We know that people experience discrimination due to menstruation. People also experience discrimination due to pregnancy. And people experience discrimination around menopause. What links these people?

Isn't it plain old erasure?

There are still male named things, but female things are now unisex.

Thus woman is a non entity differentiable from man.

Subhuman you might say.

Pregnany humans.

Instead of acknowledging that a wide range of issues only affect women - access to birth control, ante-natal and post natal care, periods, breastfeeding etc. etc., all these things are atomised, so we can only talk about menstruators and pregnant people as though the two are not linked, or as if the absence of menstruation has no particular significance for women.

Instead, we are asked to accept that 'woman' can only be used to refer to a stereotype.

The language we need to talk about the practical (and completely gender neutral) impact of being female is removed, and we are forced to endorse the idea that 'woman' can only refer to the gendered stereotype that has been used to oppress.

The Scottish Government will claim that they are using 'gender neutral' language, but that isn't the case. They are using language that is 'sex neutral', because they have been persuaded that it is offensive to recognise the real consequences of sex and the rights that women need.

What argument would you use against pregnant people instead of pregnant women? I saw this recently in another context and didnt feel comfortable with it but was at a loss to verbalise why.

I admit this has had limited success so far!

The definition of woman that is removed from female biology. The definition of woman that applies to some men but not to all women even if those women are pregnant.

Sexist in what way? Woman or ‘actress’ (I’ve never actually met an actress - many female actors though)