AIBU to think a soap shop shouldn't be encouraging young girls to self harm?

[Elleexxtra]

Lush Paddington are giving out binders, meaning girls can self harm without any danger of their parents knowing and being able to discuss potential issues with them.

www.instagram.com/lushpaddington/

AIBU to think young girls shouldn't be groomed to hate their bodies?

I was taught by nuns (many years ago). Breast binding was a common form of bodily chastisement for them, along with hair shirts and scourges.

*GreyhoundG1rl

I hope it fucks up their Christmas sales enough to cost them dearly.*

That's a little deluded. Nobody in the real world actually cares.

A condom protects both users from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. A binder doesn't protect a girl or woman from anything except perhaps the male gaze.

Why aren't we helping girls love their bodies and teaching boys and men to respect them?

Girls in binders are restricting their breathing and compromising their physical activity as well as potentially damaging healthy breast tissue. We don't encourage or celebrate anorexia or bulimia or cutting, so why binders?

Aren't Lush being transphobic by doing this? It suggests people who identify as men shouldn't have breasts. Why can women have penises but men not have breasts?

Are they saying trans bodies are "wrong" and need changing? Gross.

Wow! I honestly thought I’d click on to something like soap but this is insanity! Ugh!

This is shockingly irresponsible.
Would lush hand out scales and diet books to anorexic teens?

Gender dysmorphia is real and needs support and treatment from professionals.

People selling soap and the like shouldn't get involved in treating complex mental health issues.

Have reported the post to Instagram, under 'self-injury'. Never shopping in there again... Fucking idiots

Yanbu. I’m never shopping in Lush again. More importantly I’m writing to my MP to ask what can be done about high street shops promoting self-harm to teenage girls. 😭

Stupid click baity title. Wearing a binder isn't self harm 🙄

@User527294627

Stupid click baity title. Wearing a binder isn't self harm 🙄

Yes, it is

It's better they have access to safer binders rather than resorting to DIY methods. These kids will find a way to bind one way or another.

I hated my boobs when they started growing. I bought minimiser bras, tried wrapping myself with bandages, but didn't succeed, and after a while gave up.

If binders had been available, I wouldn't have given up, I'd have bought one, and damaged myself.

So no, I don't think this is harm reduction at all. Condoms (and clean needles to drug addicts) as part of an educational system is entirely different to freely handing out binders to children.

I've been boycotting Lush for years, ever since they started supporting violent hunt sabs and running an anti-police campaign. Which I hated having to do because I was a MASSIVE fan of their products, spent a fortune with them, etc. etc.

This, however, is next-level, weapons-grade batshittery. In some ways I'm not surprised as it's just another 'logical' step in the whole gender wars shit show, but handing out binders is just....sheesh.

And you know what makes it even worse? As a teenager, just starting puberty and with a body that was changing, I was desperate to stop my periods. I remember being determined to have a hysterectomy as soon as I was old enough to demand one (Now Me to Teenage Me: aww, bless you. It doesn't work like that!). If Teenage Me was around today, I'm sure I'd be binding and gender changing left, right and centre, not to mention possibly wanting medication and surgery. Which is a fucking terrifying thought because while I wouldn't go back through being a teenager again for all the money in the world, I am now quite happy with being female.

So if its not self harm, what is it?

Hint: of course it's self-harm.

This reminds of an image I saw a little while back (can't remember where now) of a street all decorated for pride with flags etc, and a mural - and the mural included an image of a binder. Exactly as NewlyGranny said, it was celebrating shame, harm and mutilation. Horrible! You wouldn't get people painting Stanley knives, syringesor all the other harmful tools people use to manage their distress, giant sized in a public place. But oh apparently binders are cool, fun, inclusive and wearing one makes you 'one of us' and thus it is celebrated on the side of a building

How about we try understanding and tackling the distress, maybe?

For the people claiming to think this is fine: not a good way to support your issue. If you think that binding is OK, you'd be better off pretending to be a responsible adult who understands there are problems with shop assistants giving binders to children to bypass safeguarding and parental consent.

Otherwise, you just look like a bunch of fools, loons and enablers.

That's just a tip.

I am really shocked at this

Who the FUCK thought the was a good idea?

@UndertonesOfCake

It's better they have access to safer binders rather than resorting to DIY methods. These kids will find a way to bind one way or another.

Do you also object to teenagers being given access to condoms?

Straw man argument

Absolutely appalling.

Likewise it is incredibly naive to think that lack of access to a binder will stop anyone who wants to from binding.

It won't stop the really determined ones, but neither will limiting access to alcohol prevent determined 13yo from getting drunk, nor restricting painkillers prevent determined adults from overdosing. We don't just abandon all restrictions on the grounds that some people slip through the net!

Condoms are entirely different because the product (a condom) does not cause any damage itself. Binders, however, absolutely cause damage and a cosmetics company should not be trying to make it easier for children to secretly buy them.

A better analogy is would be with needle exchange programmes. I think everyone would rightly be horrified if we started literally advertising them to children.

What type of binder are they supplying, the thing is while I do believe that it can be harmful there are LESS harmful ways to do it than others and I remember being given a supply of elastic bands and advice on how to make self harm safer/wound care advice which could be seen as encouragement to continue self harming when I was a teenager. It wasn't encouragement but I was going to find a way to do it anyway and so it was better that I could do it in the 'safest' way possible. However - I do not think Lush (or any other shop) should be the place to provide these things, but I don't know anywhere that is providing these things to teenagers who will find a way to do these things anyway. It's a sad state of affairs but there will always be teenagers who can't turn to their parents and resort to very dangerous methods.

The kids historically would not have found a way to bind

Historically those girl's gradually came to terms with their bodies

Encouraging and supporting a harmful activity because harmful activities are being pushed through other means is bonkers

This is APPALLING.

Whoever is defending this on whatever grounds needs to think about the absolute basics here. Why would you encourage a conversations about a young person's breasts in your store? When you have absolutely nothing to do with breasts? No training, no safeguards, no DBS, no nothing?! A cosmetics store? Encouraging breast chat with pubescent girls....oh-kay...

The condom thing makes no sense at all. I once worked in a centre where they were part of a scheme to give free condoms to young people who showed a card to show they'd registered with the scheme. All staff, regardless of role were DBS checked, all staff attended training, and all young people were registered and given a numbered card so all condom collections and frequency etc could be monitored. To be registered they attended a private session with a nurse who'd had additional training in the scheme and go through correct use and a chat about consent and healthy relationships. Condoms were not and are not just handed out. The provision of contraception to young people is governed by policy and guidelines and legally outlined with Fraser's Five Points.

Where are the checks, balances, safeguards and systems here?

People saying it's better to do 'safer' binding...you're assuming it's something that's going to happen anyway. This is normalising it, it's putting the idea out there with girls who might not have considered it, or wouldn't have seen it as normal but just popped in for a bath bomb. It's basically a shop which sells bubble bath to kids which has decided to engineer social contagion. I hope someone sues them when this goes wrong.

Really hoping for some lawsuits from detransitioners for companies doing this kind of shite.

The threat of legal action might scare some companies away from this area.