Modibodi and gender

[Emilypank]

I was reading another thread with regard to Modibodi and period pants. I am going through the menopause and my periods have become erratic and very heavy. I thought I’d have a look on this website and unfortunately the first thing I am greeted with is a headline. Period wear for all genders and a picture of a girl with a moustache, and a bulge in her period pants. Anyone else just fed up with this insidious movement even when having to find pants which will stop me leaking blood through my trousers or on my bed. I am a menopausal woman with heavy periods and my menopausal anger is increasing daily. Any thoughts.

@Grimchmas don't capitulate to the erosion of language. That's great. Language is important & the attempt to remove women & replace it with long word salad is most frustrating.

I can't get worked up about this.
This is period wear for women and transmen. Of course men don't need period wear but transmen do. They're being inclusive and that's commendable.

But that particular product was labelled as a period product. Bloody ridiculous.
I have no problems with them offering a more masculine product for menstruating women who wish to identify otherwise (or who just don't like pretty girly things) but to imply that somebody would need an undergarment to accommodate their penis and also absorb menstrual fluid is bonkers.

Why does anyone think this is acceptable?
The number of women who identify as male and who believe their needs are best served by having period pants with a space for a silicone cock must be vanishingly small.

Call me naive but I didn't even know what a 'packer' was until I read this thread.
So women wanting to be seen as men use false penises in their pants? Well, you learn something new all of the time.

And those very same women who have been having periods for a while need to have a period pant that has a slot for a false penis?

I really feel I need to lie down now.

I know right?

Imagine, people being different. Truly shocking.

People never used any kind of enhancements at all to feel better about themselves before trans folk came along 🤔

False penis in a period pant??
I'm sorry but the world has gone mad.

I'm with you OP.

I doubt many people have an issue with other people being different. Men and women have been different for a long time, and have their own areas of websites like Modibodi to make it easier to find products that meet their needs.

What's objectionable is that trans campaigns demand inclusion in women's spaces, like on this website, so you end up with the word 'women' erased and women have to scroll past period pants with space for a packer to browse products for them. Totally different kettle of fish for men as the campaign isn't targeting men's language and spaces in the same way. Compare and contrast the women's underpants section of the site and the men's:

'People never used any kind of enhancements at all to feel better about themselves before trans folk came along'

A false penis is not an 'enhancement'. What are you suggesting it enhances, false testicles perhaps?

Why must people have a picture of the gender they think represents them on a product them before they buy it? Must make shopping a right carry on.

It is to the person who feels more comfortable wearing it. It enhances their self confidence.

I don't wear make up, or false eyelashes, or a padded bra etc, it doesn't mean that I think others feeling better about themselves while wearing those things is ridiculous.

Why must people have a picture of the gender they think represents them on a product them before they buy it?

Maybe ask all the people who would refuse to buy this product because is represents more than one type of person 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm not trans, however I do support trans inclusive businesses, so it isn't just trans men who will be the target audience, its others who look for a company that aligns with their belief system.

A fake penis in your knickers is not an 'enhancement'. An enhancement is something that 'enhances' (improves upon) something you have already.

I cannot think how this would make a woman feel better. Far more likely to just reinforce what you don't have.

And what is its purpose anyway?

To make the woman feel she is 'more of a man' or for other people to 'think' she is a man?

'I don't wear make up, or false eyelashes, or a padded bra etc, it doesn't mean that I think others feeling better about themselves while wearing those things is ridiculous.'

But those things do enhance existing attributes. A false penis does not.

If you cannot think beyond your own experience them I'm not sure what to tell you really.

Of the trans men I know probably around half use packers as they feel it enhances their looks and their confidence.

And what is its purpose anyway?

What's the purpose of anything? Because some people feel more comfortable/confident wearing one.

If you truly believe that trans men are women then what's the problem with having trans men advertising period products?

Its a biological menstruating female wearing a packer. That's why the advert has a label saying ""space for a packer".

A packer is an unattached fake penis and testicles

'If you cannot think beyond your own experience them I'm not sure what to tell you really'

Oh I can. If women want to use a false penis that's up to them but it doesn't enhance anything that is all. What is wrong with honesty as long as we have some sensitivity too?

Transmen are a tiny subset of women with specific needs. Much like pregnant women, who happily have a maternity section of the website so they can easily find products they're looking for. Why do transmen's needs have to come front and centre on the women's page when the vast majority will need to scroll on past those products?

You think that minority groups shouldn't be represented in advertising, it should just cater to the masses?

Interesting viewpoint.

A lot of trans men feel it enhances their looks and confidence.

Because for once in my life, it means people like me are recognised and it's validating. Representation is important.

'A lot of trans men feel it enhances their looks and confidence.'

Yes you've said, I'm disagreeing with you. Enhancing is something that improves something that is already there as has been said previously like false eye lashes. A better term would be they believe a false penis makes them more masculine perhaps?

Sure, if that's how you wish to word it, the point still stands that it, often times, makes them feel more confident about themselves, regardless of the semantics of the phrasing.

Maybe ask all the people who would refuse to buy this product because is represents more than one type of person

You misunderstand, or maybe deliberately misrepresent, the concern.

There are many types of people who menstruate but all of them are female. The group that used to be called "women" until that name was taken from us and repackaged to mean something different.

When I used to see a company celebrating all the different ways one can be a woman, a huge variety of people linked only, but also fundamentally, by the bodies we have and the shated experience, good and bad, that come from it, that was inspiring and uplifting.

But I don't see that any more.

The word woman has been taken a way, and what is in its place is a celebration only of our differences. The things that make us the same, that allow us to find joy, support and power in our common experience of being female in a male-dominated world are no longer talked about.

You may see that as simply 'representing more than one type of person' but I see it as a act of power and control. To undefine the reality that female people share is to take away our power to act on that reality.

And I think resisting that act of undefinition is a valid and legitimate thing to do, and a very very long way away from "refusing to be a product because it represents more than one type of person".

@FlirtsWithRhinos 🔥🔥🔥

@FlirtsWithRhinos 👊🏻💪🏼👍🏻

The word woman has been taken a way, and what is in its place is a celebration only of our differences. The things that make us the same, that allow us to find joy, support and power in our common experience of being female in a male-dominated world are no longer talked about.

How is a product for periods celebrating our differences? They are only for those of us who have periods, that's a similarity between women and trans men.

You want one group to be represented, and the other to be pushed out, how is that celebrating a shared experience?

I'm unsure why those of you who adamantly state that trans men are women care so much because, in your view, a woman with facial hair is in an advert for periods, and that is somehow offensive?