Lunette (menstrual cups) policing our language.

[littlecabbage]

I was interested in the MN sponsored thread about Lunette menstrual cups, and so had a look at the Lunette website. Unfortunately, there is an entire page dedicated to discussing “cis-women” and multiple “genders”, and lecturing us all on “how feminine-only language hurts” and how they would like to police our language for us.

I will therefore not be buying this product.

uk.lunette.com/blogs/news/gender-and-period-care-products

What to Say Instead

So, it’s pretty clear that the use of female-centric words needs to cease in the menstruation industry. This begs the question of what to say instead.

Depending on the context, you can try to avoid naming groups of people. For example, instead of saying “Some people who menstruate prefer Lunette” you could say “Lunette is a preferred menstrual care product”

We’ve changed racist labels. We’ve changed sexist labels. Now, let’s change cisexist ones. Periods are not inherently feminine. Periods are a biological phenomenon that impacts the lives of people who are born with a uterus. We have the power to grow toward inclusion of all people who menstruate, and now is the time for that shift. All people deserve to feel comfortable taking care of themselves during their time of the month. Period.

Here is the MN thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_product_tests/3741592-Find-out-what-MN-testers-thought-of-the-Lunette-menstrual-cup

The number of women they have lost as customers as a result of this will be so many more times the number of trans people who would buy the product.... Honestly it's bizarre

Even Alice Cooper knows the answer to this one.

Blimey. Insane focus for their info page. And so so patronising! My two daughters wanted to get a cup but I will avoid. I mean, really?

Saalt Cup are heading in this direction too but not quite so bold as Lunette on their website. Their website is significantly absent of the words woman and female, occasionally find one in a blog but it's often 'person', 'user', 'anyone who menstruates'.

I got my cup at the start of the year (before I became aware of any of these issues) and joined their Facebook support group. I had to leave the group two months ago because the company were saying similar things as Lunette and arguments kept happening because some people didn't like it when women seeking advice opened their posts with things like 'hey ladies' or 'ladies can I ask you a question'.
Apparently we need to be more inclusive as not only women have periods .
Suggestion was to say things like 'hi everyone' instead. Saalt co. didn't police this, to try and keep everyone happy, but their response was clear that any language they as a company will use is that they will always be inclusive to all people who have periods. I never saw them refer to women on Facebook.

Fortunately in the arguments the number of likes on the GC posts was high, which is encouraging, but people do not like speaking out so only a couple of us made our points.

It's a shame as I really like the cups and brand before I realised they were also very woke and contributing to the erasure of women. I can no longer recommend them.

Maybe it’s isn’t a cup for a female vagina.

Maybe it’s a cup for a non uterus user. For non periods.

I refuse to use any product that is for women where they fail to talk about women. That product is clearly not for women like me.

I received an email from the washable bladder protection pants company Speax who used to be called Icon and are a sister company to the period pants company Thinx today, while they aren't quite as blatant as some companies they do talk about menstrual equity for young people instead of young girls in their US non profit programme and also refer to people instead of women and girls here:

"To clarify, UNICEF and WHO define menstrual hygiene as “Women and adolescent girls using a clean menstrual management material to absorb or collect blood that can be changed in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of the menstruation period, using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials” – we think this definition could be made more inclusive by including all people with periods, not just women, but you get the point."*

And

"... a global platform that brings people together to promote menstrual hygiene management. People around the world are denied access to the resources they need to manage their periods, and it impacts not only their health, but their self esteem, education, and economic empowerment."

Which is annoying as their bladder protection pants (I no longer have periods so I never tried their period pants) are quite good and bladder protection underwear is sexed isn't it because amazingly women and men need different protection against bladder weakness for obvious reasons.

From here:

www.shethinx.com/blogs/womens-health/messy-history-menstrual-hygiene-day

Some Elephants have uteruses. Is this product aimed at them?

@GeordieTerf:

We're gonna need a bigger cup.

They can fuck right off with that!

'Periods are not inherently feminine', who are they kidding?
Periods are only experienced by females.

When will this ridiculousness end?

_ive noticed my local boots no longer has a sign directing you to feminine hygiene products, instead you have to scour the store, or follow your nose and find the scented version! they are now hidden away.

Why did they choose Mumsnet for product testing?

Shocking isn't it? They know exactly who uses their products.

'People past menopause don't experience periods and they are not inherently less feminine'

This is so awful I don't know where to start.
Assumption that all women want /need to be feminine
Even suggesting that no longer menstruating makes you lesser somehow (male driven view where our value is based on youth and fertility)
Putting feminity ie a set of behaviours and ways of looking to conform to stereotype/male gaze as all we are, what we want to be, what we are scared of losing

They can FUCK OFF.

They say that some people want to have a uterus. Ok I get that. But if you don’t have one, why are they selling a cup to a non uterus person?

I wonder of they will delete all other posts that make similar comments, for example the packaging. One poster mentioned it was too much, surely they ought to delete the second comment saying the same thing, according to what Michael wrote.

Was just about to buy a new cup as my old one no longer fits comfortably. Really useful to know which company to avoid- having been discriminated against by virtue of my sex I'm not keen on companies that try to erase biological facts.

I found it weird that my message was erased. No deletion message or anything.

All I said was “Michael are you a bio Male?” That got erased. I’m finding it very scary that mumsnet is erasing women as well.

Will also boycott. But seeing as menstruation is not just for women, I am sure loads of bearded wokebros will step in and buy them and they won’t notice the loss of our business. After all, that seems to be who they are targeting it at. Oh wait.... Good luck with that.

I mean...

So, it’s pretty clear that the use of female-centric words needs to cease in the menstruation industry.

What. The. Fuck?

Nope, it's not clear. It's not clear at all. In fact I have no fucking idea what you are on about.

Well, it only seems fair now that Lunette’s sales to women should plummet & RagHag’s should shoot up.

Seeing as only one of the two knows what a woman is.

It’s really simple. If a company makes it clear they don’t respect women, then I make the not unreasonable assumption they don’t respect women’s money either. And therefore I won’t embarrass them by foisting mine upon them.

Had my comments deleted from the review thread along with many others I saw go up late last night.
Why are reviews of the brand not accepted?

Why are reviews of the brand not accepted?

"The uppity women are revolting again. Send in the man to give them a stern talking-to. And get rid of whatever shit they've written this time."

"The uppity women are revolting again. Send in the man to give them a stern talking-to. And get rid of whatever shit they've written this time."

I assume companies have to pay MN to be featured on the product testing page, so they are restricting comments to people who tested the product.

That page is paying for this page.