Racist contraceptive?

[BLMquestion]

Name changed because I’ve discussed this in real life and don’t want to link to my other posts.

Recently started on the EVRA contraceptive patch. It sticks on your skin. I’m white (this is relevant). The patch is coloured a skin tone that matches mine, a pinky/beige colour.

Is it racist? Because it makes me feel like it’s been made for my skin tone and that a black woman wearing this would have something very much more visible than a white woman and so be disadvantaged.

AIBU?
YANBU- contraceptive patchers should be available in all skin tones or clear

YABU - it’s perfectly fine to have a pinky/beige contraceptive patch

@Nickysofttouch

OH FFS WHERE DOES THIS END?????????? ITS A CONTRACEPTIVE F*CKING PATCH!!!!!

GET A GRIP WOMAN!!!!!!

I don't get your point or your need for so many capital letters. It doesn't make the nonsense you've just written any more valid.

Imagine the hype if there where nicotine patches shaded white or black.... jesus there would be stick given off for lack of equality and why can't one do all ???? What about when there was segregated bathrooms etc.... now you want segregated contraceptives???? Cannot get my head around it. EVERYONE is equal. Stop making a big deal out of nothing!!

@Nickysofttouch

OH FFS WHERE DOES THIS END?????????? ITS A CONTRACEPTIVE F*CKING PATCH!!!!!

GET A GRIP WOMAN!!!!!!

Where does what end, exactly?

Also wrong.
What has this got to do with the fact racism is completely within our system so that we don't even think about it because white people are the normal default?

Because it's not wrong! It's an unfortunate byproduct of being a minority - be that race, left handed or whatever, that sometines you're not catered for because products and systems are produced to suit the majority. Its not a premeditated exclusion!

If there's a business case, someone will pick it up and profit out of it.

I’m a little tired of these pettinesses too. There is real racism still in the world, I have older neighbours who have expressed their opinions to me. The reason why items applied to the skin are produced by default in tones appropriate for white skin is because it is those of us with that colour who have heretofore produced them and in order to sell them to others with similar skin tones. That’s all. That is not racist, it’s just a function of markets. No doubt other tones will be made available as the market requires them. I really cannot get worked up about cosmetics being called racist. Too much emphasis is placed upon the association of women and a need for cosmetic appearance. I find that such overdramatic interpretations trivialise the entire equality concept.

@trixiebelden77

Goodness. A lot of anger from people who see this as a ‘non-event’. Almost as if it’s threatening to suggest that perhaps white skin shouldn’t be the norm.

I wonder what kind of person would be threatened by that?

But white skin IS the norm in the UK. It's not a case of 'should' or 'shouldn't', whatever that even means.

@Nickysofttouch

Imagine the hype if there where nicotine patches shaded white or black.... jesus there would be stick given off for lack of equality and why can't one do all ???? What about when there was segregated bathrooms etc.... now you want segregated contraceptives???? Cannot get my head around it. EVERYONE is equal. Stop making a big deal out of nothing!!

Yes it's abundantly clear you can't get your head round it.

In fact the emphasis on females and cosmetics increasingly associated with an equality movement for people of different colour is something I find seriously disturbing.

@formerbabe

Yes, abundantly clear.

Mountain out of a mole hill

@flaviaritt

Rummikub

But people who need wheelchair access really do need it. Nobody needs a plaster to match their skin tone. I would perfectly happily wear a black plaster.

Yes fair enough It was a poor example

If there's a business case, someone will pick it up and profit out of it.

There is absolutely a business case. That's why Tesco started making plasters in darker colours, precisely because there was a business case for it.

I agree with Cam.

Female population in UK is about 50% whether white or black or other ethnicities.
About 33mil women
Approx 13% is not white so women other than white
That's about 4.3mil. That sounds like a lot, but.
Now you have to take off ages which are not suitable for the patch. Then take off medical issues preventing use of patch. Then a choice because not everyone choses the patch. And so on. The patch is good for only few people in the end.
You end up with a very small number in the grand scheme of things.

Again. Not great, but it's simply about money here.

They can be all one colour, but the default colour doesn't need to be beige.

@tectonicplates

If there's a business case, someone will pick it up and profit out of it.

There is absolutely a business case. That's why Tesco started making plasters in darker colours, precisely because there was a business case for it.

Tesco can do it because they will be sold elsewhere as well since they are in 10+ countries. They often don't even re package.

@BlusteryShowers

They can be all one colour, but the default colour doesn't need to be beige.

Seems as good a choice as any. What colour would you suggest?

Language is important
So don’t call it skin tone

As a black woman I would say it's not necessarily racist, just thoughtless.

But OP, I have to thank you for your concern and taking the time to realise the issue because many people wouldn't - or if a black person were to raise the issue would eye roll.

Also it's worth pointing out that this is not just limited to contraception - spend a week in the shoes of a black woman and you'll find many things are not available to us. We have to go online, or drive miles from our homes in some cases just to access the right hair products.

I guess this what is meant by white privelege, these simple things don't even occur to most White people. That statement isn't supposed to make anyone feel guilty it's just the way it is.

I'm surprised any sort of plaster/Band-Aid matches anyone's natural skin tone. I'm not white. However, I also don't understand why "nude" or "skin" equals orangey-beige. (It's particularly annoying with tights. I don't much care about plasters.) I wouldn't want a clear plaster; the clear Band-Aids feel less real although, logically, I know they do the same job as an opaque plaster.

@Rummikub

Language is important So don’t call it skin tone

But that’s what is being complained about. Language is what we use to describe the world.

*Also it's worth pointing out that this is not just limited to contraception - spend a week in the shoes of a black woman and you'll find many things are not available to us. We have to go online, or drive miles from our homes in some cases just to access the right hair products.

I guess this what is meant by white privelege, these simple things don't even occur to most White people. That statement isn't supposed to make anyone feel guilty it's just the way it is.*

How is that white privilege though? Only 3% of the British population is black. In some areas much less than that, in others much more. I'm sure in areas with a large black population you'd have no problem accessing hair care products suitable for black women, but obviously you won't find them in an area where there is no market for them.

I doubt I'd find it easy to get products catering to my super-fine straight blonde hair in many parts of Africa, but surely that's just a response to market demand, or lack thereof, not anything deeper than that.

No, not racist or even disadvantaging any race because I’ve never ever in my life seen a plaster that actually matches anyone’s skin tone. You can visually tell from 10 metres away whether any person is wearing a plaster or not. They may be a pinky/beige colour, but they are certainly not “white people colour”

@PlanDeRaccordement

No, not racist or even disadvantaging any race because I’ve never ever in my life seen a plaster that actually matches anyone’s skin tone. You can visually tell from 10 metres away whether any person is wearing a plaster or not. They may be a pinky/beige colour, but they are certainly not “white people colour”

Don't be so disingenuous. Surely, despite the fact they don't exactly match anyone's skin, you can see that the one skin tone they are trying to emulate is white?

[quote Whateveryouwant1]@overtherainbow88
No but they were caned and not allowed to write with their left hand and constantly oh you're left handed, always working with a right-handed set up.
If the word racist is used lightly and for every little thing then it loses its meaning.
Clear patches and plasters would cater for all which is how it should be. But I wouldn't see it as racist.[/quote]
Lots of people writing similar points. That this is minor. I certainly agree it’s far from the worst racism that someone might encounter but I do think all the ‘little things’ add up.

I am not calling for resignations, I’m writing a post to a) ask opinions and b) raise the issue in the hope that maybe manufacturers might think twice next time they default to my skin tone.
As for it undermining the word racism, I don’t think that’s true. I think we can have empathy and capacity to care about racist assaults whilst also caring about health products. We wouldn’t say (I hope!) to a child, I don’t care that your knee got grazed because someone else broke their leg, or I don’t care that my friend experienced misogynist abuse online because someone else was raped. We can care about the ‘little’ and the big instances of things that are not right.