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

@SchrodingersImmigrant

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.

The conversation has moved on many posts ago.

the OP noticed the situation because of her contraceptive patch, but the same issue exists with any kind of sticking plaster / corn plaster / flesh coloured tights / nude shoes.

@IcedPurple

Interesting use of the word 'norm' (=normal) there.

White skin is the majority - not the 'normal'.

I think we are agreeing?
That language is important

Calling it skin tone when it isn’t inclusive is the issue.

Of course, we care about both things, but we have a rich and varied language and redefining a word which describes something that the vast majority of people find abhorrent to refer to refer to other matters which people don’t think are abhorrent (even though it is important to understand them and to tackle them) is unhelpful. We can discuss structural racism, bias, inequalities etc, but if you try and extend the word racism to cover all of it, you lose all nuance. It shuts down discussion.

@RedSquirrelGreySquirrel

Sorry my @ was to red squirrel
Referring to my previous post

YANBU. If they were white that might be understandable (bleached paper etc) but they’re actually white-skin tone.

Oh lord. No they are not racist. The colour of the patch is not racist, it just a universal boring beige/pink. Like most plasters. Please dont use the word racist for this!

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.

I think had you said 'AIBU to think non white women might be put off using this?' the response would have been very different. Instead you went in with it being 'racist'.

Are all the posters who disbelieve that left handed people were abused, bullied and disliked for being different and call the comparisons of minorities who are not catered for 'ridiculous' or 'not the same' showing their underlying contempt for left handed people and their right handed bias? Are they nasty anti lefties?

Why the name change if not to be deliberately inflammatory and rather ridiculous in your phrasing of the question?

YANBU. If they were white that might be understandable (bleached paper etc) but they’re actually white-skin tone.

Who do you know that is that horrid peach?

@flaviaritt

It’s not racist, no. Racism implies distaste or antipathy. At worst it’s thoughtless.

This.

I used to have one that was blue but I'm not a smurf...

What colour are plasters in minority white countries?

@Rummikub to be perfectly honest I am getting older myself and not in touch with what is considered correct. In what I hope is taken as a spirit of good faith, what is it about the phrase ‘skin tone’ that is considered unhelpful, and what phrase would you suggest using instead please?

YABU, I don’t think this is the same as “white default”/ elastoplast issues - I expect it’s because of whatever they make the contraceptive stuff from goes on to clear plastic. It’s not a conspiracy.

Still pink!
Just had a quick look on line
Elastoplast is the same pink tone

My HRT patch was largely see through but was on my knicker area so only seen by my husband who like me wasn't particularly bothered about the colour. People get coloured tattoos. It's 95% white population in Scotland. HRT patches are in such short supply that if you are fussy about the colour you'd be waiting a long time for one. Not sure if patches are a different colour in China or Japan.

@RedSquirrelGreySquirrel

I remember being in school with grazed knees and being told id get a skin coloured plaster.
It was pink and stood out from far away on my dark knees. It made me feel embarrassed and wrong.
I’m thinking it’s not skin coloured!

So yes in the grand scheme of things - in comparison to racist abuse shouted at me, being spat at, being scared to go in certain areas even being fetishised by men- it does seem Insignificant. But it’s yet another thing.

So what to call it instead of skin tone plaster?
Just “plaster”?
If colours become more widely available then pink/brown/black?

I understand navigating the current terminology is difficult
I still wince at poc. I wonder if it’s ok to say! I don’t really like it. I don’t like bame either. But I will use both until a more acceptable (to me) word is available.
I’m glad you asked :)

If you think that, you really don’t get it. It’s representative of a much wider issue that people minimise it and see as unimportant. Yes, to you it is unimportant.

That's actually pretty shot of they do same colour plasters no matter what skin colour is the majority there👀

Shit. Not shot...

My previous comment was a reference to comments about the colour of plasters / patches not mattering.