Well, I have now watched the first video again and then the new video and must say if I'd only seen the second video to begin with, I'd never have liked Adriene as much as I did.
What is so great in all of her targeted videos is, that you feel she knows what you're going through. However she does her research, she guides you in a way that makes me feel that she knows from experience (which I'm sure can't be true considering all of the issues she addresses.)
The original video not only gives me a sense of sisterhood, it is comfortable, peaceful and understanding. Forgiving and relaxing at the same time.
For the sheer fun of it, I analysed her language. She uses:
Yoga for Women three times, in the title, the title sequence and the description. (She also wrote a little post to go with the video, all about women, of course. But back to the video). There is
ladies 5 times
girls and feminine twice
girl, femininity, as women, woman and reproductive organs once each
She is playful:
as in building yourself a feminine love tent (honestly, it makes sense in context)
and creates a sense of familiarity from shared experience. I don't even mind the ladies and girls and the pink socks, because this is clearly her - warm and loving. She talks about us and we.
But she is also very sensitive to the fact that all women are different (explicitly in the post accompanying the video on her website, and indirectly in the video), by saying for instance
"this is a chance to connect to your feminine side if that appeals to you" [my emphasis].
The new video in contrast feels stilted. She keeps using the word frontbody which throws me out of the sequence (but maybe I just haven't noticed it in her other videos?), and there is an awkward sequence in the last quarter that urges the watcher to relax like this
"- and even if you don't feel supported, actually, in this moment, maybe you feel a little...umm...crazy...or, you know, whatever's going on, be...choose to be open to that idea of being supported in this moment. By your yoga mat, by your practice, by me, by Benjii, by all of the people who are practicing this with you, actually, all around the world" (she essentially stops here completely, her body language is neither one of confidence nor comfort)
And then guiding us further through the relaxation sequence, she urges us to consciously connect with our body, to work with it, which culminates in this speech:
"-blanket yourself in this...just beautiful loving awareness or it could just be the idea of loving awareness, this acceptance and love for oneself in all circumstances, even times in which we feel cramped or in pain"
Further urging us "trust your body, learn to trust your struggle" (whatever the latter means) near the very end.
She isn't relaxed doing this video, but extremely careful not to mention female biology at all (apart from unspecified cramps and pain). She doesn't just shy s
away from any reference to anything that could at all be construed as refering to women, she also doesn't use a single playful or friendly expression or address (which she does in all the other video's of hers that I've seen - not that I've seen them all). And she is solely focused on feelings, unlike in the original video where she specifically references physical discomfort and how to ease it.
Watching this I get the impression that Adriene is not only upset that her original video has made some women feel excluded, but she seems deeply upset by their struggles. However (and we come full circle here, all the way back to our earlier argument), she doesn't seem to fully understand the issue. She urges those watching to accept themselves and trust their bodies. Which we are all of us recommending, of course, when we're discussing the issue. But when we do it, it's transphobic.
I feel shortchanged watching the second video. Adriene is, of course, much more focused on the struggles of gender dysphoric women for whom menstruation can be a distressing reminder that they are female when they don't want to be. But in my view it isn't a good video for the rest of us. And, I fear, it may not really satisfy that tiny number of dysphoric women. As I've been told more than once, the last thing they want to hear is to accept their bodies.