To think it's odd that our first 'Period Dignity Officer' is a man?

[Bobby80]

So pretty much what the title says. The first Period Dignity Officer has been appointed and they are male. One one hand I'm thinking 'WTF' and the other I'm thinking this is a very good PR stint/opportunity to actively involve men in the conversation.
male Period Dignity Officer

Why do we need to waste public funds on this role?

What's a 'Period Dignity Officer' anyway? It's 2022, not 1890. It's insane

We should be spending on more police on the streets, the NHS, Defence, real Education not this utter nonsense!

So I did some digging on FB / LinkedIn / Google etc and it turns out he's been "the best person for the role" for the last three completely different roles Katie Baxter of the Period Dignity Working Group has been involved in hiring for.

2019 where she used his PT business at the college, then in 2020 when he appears to have had a career change and she took him on at the college (funny how this would have been when the colleges were closed and PTs across the country were out of work?) and now again, another career change later, in 2022.

I have to wonder how this works... like does he go to her Stars In Their Eyes style with a "Tonight Katie, I want to be.... A PERIOD DIGNITY OFFICER" and she magics up some funding and creates a job for him? Or do we think he's just THAT fantastic at being multi-disciplined that she thinks up the stuff she needs and he comes back 5 working days later (amount of time the job was advertised for) as an expert at it?

More receipts....

How very interesting @Tha

I wonder if they know each other quite well?

Might do well?
What about Muslim girls like half of my family who cannot talk to men about this?

Fuck off with your "might do well."

This is not inclusive. It's discriminatory and vile.

We don't need penis people telling us about periods.

No decent man would apply for this.

Perhaps Katie Baxter encouraged him to apply? I’d love a publication like Private Eye to have a look at this. It’s got ‘fishy’ written all over it.

Exactly this. In spades.

It's effing embarrassing is what it is.

I'm more worried about the fact that people can earn money doing this 'job'. Some people are just fucking lucky. How the hell do you land a well paid none job like that?

You know someone on the hiring committee?

Susan Bland, a white lady who has been appointed to position of lead Black Issues Policy Officer- who will also discuss issues around racism said: 'It's about making people aware of the availability of black services for anyone, of any race.

'I think being a white person will help me to break down barriers, reduce stigma and encourage more open discussions. Although affecting black people directly, race is an issue for everyone'.

To all those defending this issue, defend that. You wouldn't because you would (rightly) think I was in no position to lead policy or projects on poc when I am white and have literally no experience of what the project is about. But then I wouldn't be so arrogant as to apply for that job in the first place.

@WandaWomblesaurus

Why don't you seem to understand no girls or women will be speaking to him about periods?

There isn’t really equality when it comes to who menstruates, is there?

I want equal rights, damn right: the equal rights to be able to vote, to own property, to inherit, to stand for elected office, to be paid properly.

I also also want the equal right to decent and safe healthcare which means acknowledging my biology and how it impacts me.

Even more enraging than the situation itself is the number of posters piling in to say that the job is actually all about compliance and project management, so of course is appropriate for a man. Because there’s absolutely no possibility that there are any women who are experienced in managing compliance projects and also have personal subject matter expertise, oh no.

@LoobyDop It's not even as if this bloke had a decent cv. He doesn't. Just the tobacco company (yuck) and some stuff involving one of the women who have him the period job.

Posters saying this is a project management role, so he will basically be ticking boxes, perhaps you should let Mr Grant know that? He thinks he's going to be fostering conversations, educating and engaging audiences.

In Jason Grant's own words:

"In a press release announcing his appointment, Grant said: “I think being a man will help me to break down barriers, reduce stigma and encourage more open discussions. Although affecting women directly, periods are an issue for everyone. We’ll also raise awareness of the menopause, which, although a natural process for women, has wider repercussions in the world of work and family.
“It’s time to normalise these topics and get real around the subject. I believe I can make progress by proving this isn’t just a female topic, encouraging conversations across all genders and educating and engaging new audiences.”

If he's simply managing that certain items are available in woman's loos (I guess mens loos too because "some men menstruate"..) there's not much discussion needed. A list of products made available online that every place with public toilets needs to provide and "mystery shoppers" to ensure they are as well as phone lines to call if they're not. Fines for non compliance and it would be sorted relatively quickly. That's not what Mr Grant seems to think he's going to be doing. Not anywhere near it in fact. At best he seems to be some kind of ambassador for period dignity.

I'm very interested in his appointment to previous roles though as mentioned by the canny poster upthread. Rather interesting that he has a track record of being appointed by one woman in particular.

Looks like something that needs a bit more investigation given this particular appointment.

I don’t think that the post had been advertise externally
I am registered to relieve notifications of community development posts in the area on local government recruitment site and college website.
NEVER seen the post advertised

Not sure if this has been mentioned. If anything it's surely got people talking about the fact that a Period Dignity officer is needed. Not sure much notice would of been taken if a woman was appointed

@daretodenim exactly!

If this was all about logistics and compliance, fine, it's a boring admin job and anyone could do it.

But ithe ridiculous job title, the images of him sitting chatting to others and his own words give a very different impression.

Interesting thread discussing the job description here. It’s clearly not “just an office job”

twitter.com/forwomenscot/status/1559471636180615169?s=21&t=Eh4fapnVxrkDLpFrYN150g

Wow sexist much!!