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

How did it ever get to the point that Mumsnet takes money from people who want to erase the term women?
And then censors womens' objections?

This a thousand times

It is beginning to look as if the financial imperative has changed Mumsnet's original raison d'etre.

Perhaps MN has just grown too big to serve only its original audience. If so that is really sad.

Seriously. Not new. Same thing has happened on the Stella Creasy, Philip Lee and John McDonnell web chats.

Yup.

But - you can erase these views on here as if they'd never been. You can shadow ban or actually ban on Twitter.

But you can't do that in a general election, as Jo Swinson and the "anti-SWERF" woman in the Rother Valley have just discovered to their cost.

This reminds me of an old Harry Enfield sketch.

“Women, know your place”

Oh, how we laughed in the 90’s. Society had moved on and we would never return to that place again.

I have echoed Audacity's question on that thread to see if the company are given the true feedback now that women know that they do not give a flying fuck about us. They should be surely?

@koshkat. It will vanish. They aren’t replying.

Maybe I shall get a message from big Mike?

Of course. We'll be passing on concerns to Lunette. We're just keen for this thread to be for the feedback from the product testers.

I DID get a message and it is a good one. Glad that MN are passing on concerns as this really needs to be stopped.

Justine! Come collect your Michael from period topics!

(Sorry, still laughing inappropriately.)

Yes, I've had an email from the lovely Michael this morning, "telling me off" for daring to bring this matter to the attention of other women.

Are you actually fucking kidding me?

Women on a female centric website being told off by a man for saying that mensuration is a thing that happens solely to women and girls?

The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right.
1984

Yes @FlamingoAndJohn

I’ve also been given a strike for answering Michael back. Told it contravenes talk guidelines.

As I said if it wasn’t a man telling us of it wouldn’t be so bad. But seeing how women don’t exist....

@koshkat

I hope they do pass on concerns. Shame they can’t put their big girl period pants on and say it publicly

The world has gone mad.

Hi DobbyTheHouseElk

We're just getting in touch to let you know that we've deleted one of your posts on this thread - we felt this section broke our talk guidelines:

Michael we know what you are doing.....you are trying to erase women.

We know you'll be disappointed with our decision, but while we want to allow everyone to express their opinions, it's important that the debate remains civil and constructive.

As noted in our guidelines, we've introduced a three strikes system whereby users deleted more than three times in any rolling six week period will have their membership automatically suspended and we’ll then take a view as to whether they will have membership reinstated. We're considering this your first strike.

We'd be really grateful if you could post within the guidelines from now on.

Best wishes
MNHQ

I know it’s look Like Philomena clunk wrote that stuff

Surely it’s comedy

No one could write that and think it was erm awesome

I mean I mean but but 🤦‍♀️

The three strikes rule pertains to FWR, not the rest of the board, as I understand it. Here are the guidelines for MN as a whole:

www.mumsnet.com/info/netiquette

Perhaps it's for GC feministing that happens away from FWR too, though

Civil and constructive

We already have to talk in code , have threads deleted that bring these topics into wider conversation so it all stays in FWR's dusty basement section and forced into language that means it's hard to follow wtf anyone is on about...what more do they.want. seriously.

It's ok for companies to acknowledge reality when they need testers but we cant

On the back of this thread I’ve been and bought some of RagHag’s pads. And thanks to @FlamingoAndJohn I’m going back to buy another one - I hadn’t spotted the one with ‘anything you can do I can do bleeding’. on it. I think that one will sit brilliantly just inside the top of my pilot’s flight case at work for when I go through security and get searched again.

It is utterly ludicrous though that a menstrual product company cannot even bring itself to acknowledge basic biology.

I know it’s look Like Philomena clunk wrote that stuff

Philomena's brother is Michael Mumsnet?

EXCELLENT. We're within touching distance of fame!

(I still don't want him to tell me off about periods though.)

I'm too old to need a mooncup of any brand, but they have been useful in the past because, as a woman, I used to have periods. DH has commented that even if he had put on one of my dresses for a month and called himself by a female name he would not have grown the anatomy to need a mooncup. He's very sensible for someone in their late 60s.

^

You'd hate it anyway

I know it's hopelessly childish, but I've giggled myself into oblivion sitting here imagining Michael Mumsnet in a Philomena Cunk wig, intoning nonsense about period-respectable posts on his website.

Sorry Michael! But stop deleting women for saying things you don't like about their period accoutrements or I will never get any work done!

DH has commented that even if he had put on one of my dresses for a month and called himself by a female name he would not have grown the anatomy to need a mooncup

To be fair I don’t think that the argument is that trans women need to use them rather that trans men might need to. Not everyone who menstruates identifies as a women.