Period pants and airport security!

[Fuwari]

Be warned! They can cause problems. Catching a flight this morning. The main arch beeped as i went through so I had to have the full body scan and I could see clearly on the screen the outline of my body and a big yellow square of the period pants! I then had to try and explain to the male security what they are, he had to feel my ass to check! So embarrassing. So be wary of wearing these when flying!

My flight was from Heathrow too. I was asked to specifically wait (after the arch bleeped, before the full body scanner) by the male scanner operative, because the female body search officer was already searching another woman. I could lot go through the body scanner until she was free to search me.

I have no idea (nor do I care) what showed up on the body scan.

No one, male or female, at any point asked me about my underwear. I was asked standard security questions - did I have anything in pockets, or anything in my waistband. I was asked very specifically if it was ok for the female officer to touch me (obviously no wasn’t actually an option!), and she did a completely standard search - around waistband, quick pocket check, arms and legs. Then a shoe swab (I didn’t have to remove my shoes). There was no difference to any search I have had previously when not wearing period pants.

Please complain about this, OP

That goes completely against policy. Male staff are not to do physical pat downs on women.

Thank you for the heads up. My teen dd wears them and would be mortified.

What brand was this? Dd has modi bodi.

I would also complain about being patted down by a man.

OP has said that the security guard could have been a woman.

What do you mean you could clearly see the outline of a yellow square on the screen?

Security aren't visually alerted to the area causing the beep on a body scanner to prevent passengers putting a decoy somewhere on their body and smuggling.

The wand will beep over metallic material. And you should never have been touched by a man. Sorry but something is not adding up here.

What woman can not tell the difference between a man and a woman close up?

Male security guards do not perform
Body searches on female passengers.

I’ve been beeped several times where. after they check with the wand, if they didn’t find anything they have then checked a screen to see what the issue was. On the screen was a yellow square over the image - usually over my wrist for my Apple Watch.

I fly a lot. I also trigger the X-ray machine every single time without fail due to a few things. Never have I been patted down by a man, that doesn’t happen.

support pants trigger them, I’ve been taken to a private room to flash my butt at a very lovely lady to show them.

wearing a concentrated amount of gold in one area triggers them.

the dress I like to wear for flights is pleated and the density of the material at the top of the skirt triggers them.

if your pants triggered the alarm they would investigate that area (still salty about jfk security not being as honest about the intimacy of the search I agreed to in the middle of a packed security area, that lady owes me a posh dinner) not just your backside.

Weird thread.

OP made it up or exaggerated for effect, not realising it was basically impossible for that to happen at Heathrow, and is now trying to back-track.

OP, 2/10 must try harder.

@Okunevo thats an odd question. I was served by someone in Costa the other day called “Alex”. At first I thought they were a man but when they turned around s/he had very curvy hips that looked very much like a woman. I honestly couldn’t have said either way what sex Alex was. It’s not always obvious 🤷‍♀️.

the general practice is to have a female officer search you if this is required. And if that’s not respected you have every right to request not to have a male officer touch you.

Totally off topic but you do know about hip and bum padded pants and shorts, don't you?

For sale on Amazon, Ebay, loads of places.

Please don't encourage the OP by telling her she should complain.
There is so much that doesn't add up here. For a start, loads of things can trigger the beep - not just period pants, it can be types or styles of clothing, particularly if bunched up, or indeed other sanitary protection. Or something else worn on the body, piercing jewellery etc etc Seems like the OP is fuelling some myth about period pants and making it all about that.
Secondly, the OP a has changed tack and said the person who checked her could have been a woman. Which is absolutely standard procedure.
Basically the OP went through security and when the alarm beeped she got checked with the wand and patted down. As do thousands of people every day.

This story is clearly untrue. Male security officers never pat down female passengers.

NO WAY should you have allowed a male security person to feel your groin. You should have asked for a female person.

I flew from Gatwick earlier this month and the scanner alerted on me too. A female officer then used the wand on me and I asked her if it was my bra underwires that had caused the alert. She said it was actually my shoulders. The t-shirt I was wearing had a lot of embroidery, a bit like epaulettes. She scanned the wand around and checked the material on my shoulders and told me that if the material is thicker in a particular area then it is identified on the scanner. On this basis it makes sense that period pants cause an alert.

I can imagine it was embarrassing. For me, I will try to wear tops with a routine thickness in future, and warn my DD’s about the period pants issue

@Chersfrozenface could have been that but didn’t look like a trans woman. I mean it’s literally none of my business what sex they were but it just brought it home to me that you can’t always tell (I’m old 😂).

You couldn't tell from their face or voice? I've never had a problem. The butch women I know are clearly women.

This sounds like a pile of (period) pants to me.

@Okunevo nope. Incredibly androgynous.

Or it could just be a random check - happens a lot.

I think you may have exaggerated what happened because there is absolutely no way a male security guard would conduct an intimate check. You are being incredibly disrespectful about someone working in airport security, suggesting he has behaved inappropriately.

I have been through Heathrow among many other airports numerous times. I have been patted down/ searched/ scanned with the wand thing a number of times and always always by a woman.