Reply from the Body Shop re JKR... just so dreadful...

[onlywomennotmen]

Apparently men menstruate too...

^Hello, and thank you for getting in touch with us about our recent tweet to JK Rowling. We wanted to respond to everyone who has reached out to us to clarify our position on this issue.

We are longstanding supporters of the rights of women and girls on issues which affect them and believe it is important to keep having conversations around difficult topics such as this. Every person has the right to live their life free from the fear of violence, especially gender-based violence. The Body Shop has been an active campaigner on this issue since 1994.

The Body Shop’s position on menstruation in relation to trans and non-binary people is that we stand with ALL menstruators. People have periods – women, men and non-binary people. And plenty of women don’t. We value learning from everyone’s experience and we believe the conversation needs to go forwards, not backwards.

We disagree with JK Rowling’s view and wanted to demonstrate our support for trans and non-binary people. We understand why addressing the tweet to JK Rowling’s personal account has been interpreted as an attack on her as an individual, and as a domestic abuse survivor. That was absolutely not our intention. We didn’t get the tone right on this one and we do want to engage respectfully and constructively on these important issues.

We believe it is important to keep having conversations around difficult topics such as this, and doing so constructively. We recognise that our engagement with JK Rowling on this occasion wasn’t as constructive as we would like to be. We all need to educate ourselves, be inclusive and stand together so that we can end the shame and stigma around periods for all menstruators and stand up for what is right in our society.

We stand by our position on the rights of trans and non-binary people, and we will learn from this execution to ensure our communication is stronger and more constructive in the future.

We hope this helps you understand our position. We appreciated hearing yours.^

In fact, we don't need them at all! They only existed to sell us a dream of womanhood. And now women no longer exist, so does their entire purpose.

Thanks for the email address to use: [email protected]

I just sent this brief email:
I am appalled by the Body Shops disregard and dehumaising language used towards women (adult females) when referring to us as 'menstruators'.
And the ludicrous suggestion now made that men (adult males) have periods.

How did the Body Shop get pulled into this absurd attempt to rewrite language and definitions, and in doing so offend and disregard thousands of women (females), your core customers.

I will never buy from your company again, unless and until a full recognition of your actions against women has been publicly retracted,and I will be contacting all women I know to ensure they are aware of your actions in this matter.

@Betty98 what we object to is being reduced to a bodily function, we are no more menstruators than the human race is urinators. We are many things, women, trans men, mothers, sisters, office workers and so on, these titles give us dignity and purpose, they humanise us. Some women have no control over whether they menstruate or not but they don’t want to be disregarded because they are temporarily pregnant or haven’t started their periods yet.

Betty - why do trans men menstruate?

Trans men needing sanitary protection is not sufficient reason for women to be relabelled as menstruaters. What percentage of women consider themselves to be trans men ? It must be a vanishingly small minority, surely to God?
And yet they managed to get the "triggering" Venus removed from the packaging, whilst women (the old fashioned sort) have still failed to persuade the manufacturers that we don't need perfumed foofs.
Most of us have an allergic reaction to perfumed sanitary towels, in fact. But no, tough tit.

Thanks SingingKettle.

Think I’m still lost.

So I read:

People who menstruate = “menstuators” = some women, transmen and non-binary

NOT

“Menstruators” = all women and some men

Have I completely misunderstood?

Floisme surely because they were born with the same anatomy as a woman?

I don’t understand the psychology of the trans thing at all, not being “assigned” the right gender at birth etc. But if there are a group of people out there born with a female anatomy who believe they are “men” I’m happy to accept that.

People who claim they're non binary never seem to have any issue with the word men, do they? Odd.

I am happy to accept they believe they are men
They aren't actually men

I am happy to accept that my aunt thinks her diet is healthy. It isn't. Sometimes I will go along with it, and sometimes I will refuse to be force fed.( she loves me truely)

I no longer menstruate. What does that make me?

@ErnDincum

I no longer menstruate. What does that make me?

Oh, can people stop muddying the waters like this? . You're a woman. You know this.

I would love to set up a company that just sold sanitary products to women and girls, marketed it specifically to women and girls, and branded it all accordingly. Yes you’d get some hate online but honestly, I really doubt it would affect your sales at the end of the day. These companies have got the wrong idea about who buys this stuff for households.

Betty if women is just who you 'believe' you are and so can mean some people with the types of body that menstruate and some people with the types of bodies that ejaculate.

Then what should we call that distinct group of people with the types of body which menstruate? Now we can't call them women?

Because that distinct group of people who share the biology of having the types of bodies which can gestate, need naming so we can discuss them, and the particular issues pertaining to that group. Like menstruation and child birth.

What should we call them??

We hope this helps you understand our position

Yeah, loud and clear. You're going to carry on calling women and girls (including 'non binary' females and transmen who've not yet been sterilised) 'menstruators'

Ffs. That is all.

People who claim they're non binary never seem to have any issue with the word men, do they? Odd. I don’t think I’ve ever met a non binary person, so no idea.

I am happy to accept they believe they are men
They aren't actually men Isn’t that what the body shop are also saying? That they’re happy to accept they believe they are men?

I no longer menstruate. What does that make me? A woman? I don’t menstruate, but I still can’t see where TBS are claiming women shouldn’t now be referred to as “menstruators”.

I no longer menstruate. What does that make me?

Do you have the type of body which menstruates?
Then you are a women, if you are an adult, whether you actually menstruate or not.

But you knew that really didn't you?

Betty why would they use confusing language that many would not understand: "menstruators".

For centuries men have treated women as less than human. As possessions, as accessories, as breeding mares or sex bots. Here The Body Shop objectify women by reducing us to bodily functions.

A transman or non-binary person who menstruates knows they are a biological woman. There is no confusion for anyone if they use the word "woman". The message gets to the right people most easily.

You will note they didn't change the label of "men" on their public material to refer to them by bodily function. Apparently transwomen aren't so confused by the word "men" that they fail to realise they can by shaving gear from The Body Shop.

Why do women get treated like morons or worse? While men get to keep their word for themselves! Men are men. Women are objects.

buy shaving gear.

I'd best get my husband to ring the doctor tomorrow as he has never had a period.

Maybe he's pregnant?

BabyItsAWildWorld I don’t really see why they need a word. “Women that menstruate”, “transmen that menstruate”, “anybody who identifies anyway they want that menstruate”.

However, as someone who doesn’t menstruate, I don’t think I currently have any authority on the matter.

Is this what the issue is; that these companies should only be saying “women who menstruate”?

Damnit, I literally bought Body Shop stuff this week for the first time in ages.

That’s off the list again then :/

So Betty you are saying we know women are really adult females but we'll go along with the pretense of males who think they're women, even though we know they're not and it stops us being able to actually talk about and name the distinct group of adult females.

So we give up the ability to define ourselves and therefore to talk about ourselves, to be nice to a tiny group of males who wish they were women?

Why?

@Betty98 - Lets say you’re designing a leaflet with information about periods.

The people you want to reach are: pre-teen and teen girls who haven’t started menstruation yet but will in the next few years, people who regularly (or irregularly) menstruate now, people who are not currently menstruating but presumably will at some point in the future (pregnant/on contraception/temporary medical problems etc) and people who no longer menstruate or have never menstruated but have responsibility for one of the aforementioned persons.

Bearing in mind that some of these people will have low reading abilities, English as a second language or just not be very bright. Also assuming that any trans men or non binary people must have a grasp of how their body works to be able to make the informed choice of becoming trans or non binary

What would be the one catch all word for a group that all of these people would recognise that they fall into, but wouldn’t catch the attention of the group of people to whom periods are not ever going to be relevant to?

Women.

@Betty98

BabyItsAWildWorld I don’t really see why they need a word. “Women that menstruate”, “transmen that menstruate”, “anybody who identifies anyway they want that menstruate”.

However, as someone who doesn’t menstruate, I don’t think I currently have any authority on the matter.

Is this what the issue is; that these companies should only be saying “women who menstruate”?

No. The issue is that they've discarded the word woman and replaced it with menstruator.