Superdrug person who menstruate

[Womanwhobleeds]

Never posted on this board before, but nervous, but I’m furious.
Just bought some towels from Superdrug and the first line on the back of the packet is ‘A person who menstruates..’ I’m a woman ffs!
I shop in Superdrug all the time for their cruelty free stuff but no more!

^ Not because I as a person am reduced to my biology, but because woman describes the ways it is relevant.

I'm a woman. I want to be called a woman. Female biology rules my body so things like periods and pregnancy and so on affect me.

I want to be known as the gender that I am biologically and that I consider myself to be.

Transgender women wanted to be known by the gender they truly saw themselves as.

For a long time transgender women fought for the rights to call themselves women and it was discussed, debated and accepted by many people.....and it was generally accepted that people could use the label that they wanted because it was explained to us how important that label was to some transgender women. That was progress.

Then along came the new movement of non binary or gender fluid and so on and suddenly the label of woman is being erased.....pregnant person and so on....and we're supposed to accept it....because some people don't want labels or haven't found one that exactly fits them yet the rest of us aren't allowed to have one????

Where is the logic in that?

I am never going to use or acknowledge the word Cis.

I don’t know what it is supposed to mean. I don’t wish to know. I’m a woman and always have been, always will be. Other people can call themselves different names if they want.

Beautiful post @Blibbyblobby

What about trans people who menstruate?

So their sex would be what?

Blibbyblobby Thanks for breaking it down so clearly.

Is anyone else getting adverts for this company since reading this thread? They look pretty good, and I note they don't mention 'people' or 'women' at all, just talk about periods. A good compromise?

www.totm.com/about/

Sometimes I will compromise but not if it muddles up an important message. I think girls need to be taught that they are of the sex that menstruates and can get pregnant. And boys need to be taught that they are of the sex that gets girls and women pregnant. Nothing to do with gender identity. Keep it simple.

Was it Superdrug who had the complain raised because it had an aisle of tampons, leg wax, makeup etc that had the aisle name card with the word ‘women’ on it and someone got very upset?

Superdrug is a Brexit supporting organisation.
That's a double no from me.

@Enderthedragon

if so any biological woman who accepts trans women (men in "your" eyes) you don't include as woman in your definition?

That is quite the leap you have made there!

It's certainly one way of avoiding the question!

Which is a shame, because I too would be interested in knowing what more there is to being a woman than biology.

@LemonadeAndDaisyChains

I don't need to include any male or male-centred person in my women's biz

OK, you're entitled to you but I don't feel my womanhood threatened just because others may see themselves as a man and want to feel included too.

Good for you. Thing is, it's not all about you...can you not recognise that, just as some trans people might have issues with certain words that they feel triggers them for whatever reason (clearly not all trans people though), some women do feel threatened, again for a variety of reasons? Why are their worries and fears minimised as being unreasonable, hysterical, unkind or transphobic, just because you don't have those specific feelings yourself? I also go back to my earlier point of why are women being unreasonable to have these feelings but it's perfectly ok for trans people to feel threatened by a word?

I am so tired of this. How can removing the word 'women' or 'female' be the solution. I support anyone to identify however they wish, but why is this at the expense of erasing the word women from predomenantly women's products? Even 'biologically female' is not OK. I have a uterus and a vagina. I menstruate, I've been sexually assaulted by a man, I've been vaginally raped by a man, I've been pregnant, I've miscarried, I've given birth, I've left pools of blood on the floor of a delivery suite, I now have even more horrific pain and periods since giving birth, I now piss when a violent sneeze catches me by surprise, I now work part time because neither my husband or I have the financial ability to make other choices... I also get female orgasms and was granted a fantastic breasts to hide my cake and C-section stomach so there's the upside I guess. All the ups and downs of a female body. I exist both as a person - who will accept anyone who treats me with respect - and as a woman.

No I don't want pink scented panty liners or a nice floral lacy design for any "oops moments" as Tena Lady would call them (side note: no one seems to be clamoring for all their products to be renamed Tena Fancy-Piss-My-Pants-Person). I don't need the aisle to be delicated named "feminine hygeine" - menstration products would be just fine. Just like non gendered hair removal would be just fine too, but there's money to be made by charging women more for the same thing so hey ho.

There MUST be a better solution to inclusivity than just erasing the word woman from existence on issues that relate predominately to women's issues. Women have had to deal with the distress of not being able to have children, hysterectomies, or enjoying vaginal sex just as men who have the equivalent issues have to without wishing to erase other's own experiences, so why does this have to be so different?

For heaven's sake nobody is worried that their 'womanhood' or 'identity as a woman' (whatever the heck that means) is being threatened. We're worried that our sex-based rights are.

@SunsetBeetch

For heaven's sake nobody is worried that their 'womanhood' or 'identity as a woman' (whatever the heck that means) is being threatened. We're worried that our sex-based rights are.

Yup - I’m sure there are far more boring old women who genuinely worry about this potential actual harm than trans people (or more likely their ‘allies’) bothered about the word woman/pink packaging on a tampon.

Try to think why?

I’d much rather be referred to as a person than a woman. Then everyone is equal. Why does everything have to revolve around what’s between your legs?

Well with periods it's quite difficult for it not to be what is between your legs.

Funny things, words. So utterly vital to get right when they relate to trans people, so utterly insignificant when it comes to women.

It’s not inclusive language. People it alienates or excludes:

Women who don’t have English as a first language
Women with learning difficulties
Post menopausal women
Women who find being called a menstruator or a person who menstruates dehumanising.

And girls, who need clear, simple messages in straightforward language.

Absolutely, flo

I posted similar on another thread the other day, but can you imagine teaching the early stages of sex Ed (periods, pubertal changes, how babies get made) in a world where we are all reduced to a list of parts and functions?

Like, how would you explain to a mixed sex group of children which half of them are going to become ‘people who menstruate’ without using girl/woman/female?

People who menstruate are the people with ovaries and uteruses - but kids who are yet to learn what an ovary, uterus or menstruation is, or what type of human has what kind of gamete, will all just be confused as fuck.

Throw in the SEN kids and the ones who come from homes where everyone speaks in a language that doesn’t even have a common alphabet with English and I predict a fucking rocket in unplanned pregnancies in 10 years time.

We need a word for humans that were up until know known as women and girls!
I feel compassion for transmen, but denying their female reproductive function will not help anyone in the long run, I’m thinking of that poor transman who suffered a still birth in a hospital emergency department without anyone realising the pregnancy existed, or the transman who was denied a place on the kidney transplant list because impaired kidney function has different cut offs for men and women and their’s were calculated using the male scale instead of the female scale.

I understand that trans identifying people don’t want to be misgendered by a medical receptionist but changing your sex marker on your health records seems like a recipe for long term disaster to me. I don’t want any female people to be denied accurate and timely medical attention (not even if they hate me and call me a t**f) and now that we are really learning lots about the differences in male and female function in relation to disease and drug dose etc, transmen are increasingly in danger of getting fucked. Who benefits here? Not transmen and not us boring old cunty-women.

Just AGPs, as far as I can see.

Totally agree

It's funny. I borrowed my male partners men's deodorant this morning. I was able to use that without feeling my gender identity was threatened. I also tend to buy men's razors, and again, I'm able to use those without feeling my womanhood is threatened. If a person needs a sanitary towel then they are obviously biologically female. I don't see how the fact that the packaging says 'woman' on it should affect their gender identity.

Has anyone checked in with the Plain English Campaign on how this mangling of the language is hindering actual communication? Can’t imagine they’d be in favour.