Guardian eradicates women

[ASmallMovie]

The Guardian, a once fantastic champion of women’s rights, managed to write an entire article about periods without using the words ‘girls’ or ‘women’, presumably lest they offend.

Utterly depressing.

The original speech by Jacinda Ardern talks about ‘girls’ missing school due to period poverty, but this article avoids the apparently now offensive word ‘girl’ and refers to ‘9 to 18-year-olds’.

How the fuck can the Guardian editor and all its reporters be okay with this?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/26/new-zealand-supermarket-chain-countdown-becomes-first-to-use-period-label-on-menstrual-products

I know I'm against the grain here but I think when talking about periods it's fine to say 'menstruators' etc

No, because when there is discrimination against women, it needs to be linked to structural sexism.

I just don't think you can deny that "menstruators" is a term with a specific biological meaning

Why not say girls? It’s only girls that have to deal with missing school due to lack of sanitary products.

There’s just no good reason to use an unnecessary term like this

Menstruator is a horrible dehumanising word, and was used by the Women's March London simply as a synonym for "female" regardless of known menstrual status giving the lie to the "inclusive" language excuse. This type of language isn't used for men generally. It's an attack on women.

Hate the Guardian and I used to buy it regularly. It's so ....wet and liberal. The only good thing about it was the quick crossword and Steve Bell anyway. PollyToynbee gets on my nerves tbh.

Menstruators is not appropriate as it is ‘othering’. In the same way that describing a child with Downs Syndrome a Downs child is disabilist. .

This link explains the language better and why it’s important to get it right. www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/about/terminology-guide/

loads of women on the mini pill don't menstruate

How likely are schoolgirls on mini pills? You have to be very careful about timing with those, I think it’s mostly popular among older women? They are prescribed more traditional birth control pills where the timing is not as important.

But the main point is that this is specific problem only faced by young women and girls, so why hide that fact?

I don't think a word should stop being used just because bigots use it, unless it is actually a slur. That way madness lies.

I understand where you are coming from, bishopgiggles and I used to agree with your stance but I am becoming increasingly worried about the political implications of 'gender-neutral' language. It masks real power differentials between different groups in favour of catering to the sensitivities of tiny minorities. That undermines any collective action - and this is a real concern. Do see your p.o.v., though.

It's a word that is primarily used to validate trans people. It doesn't have anything to do with the menopause or mini pill or whatever.

When would the word menstruators ever be needed were we not in this shit show of female erasure?

Where is the linguistic need for a word which describes the person who bleeds monthly as part of their reproductive cycle? I have never ever needed to specify people who menstruate separately from women or women and girls because that category of person does not exist. I'm sorry for FTM people who think they are not women but they are and I cannot collude in their delusion.

This is why the word ejaculator is not needed. Or sperm producer or prostate owner or any of those other terms that are not used anywhere ever. These words are weird ways of saying men and we already have a good way of saying men and it's men. We already have a good word for women but we are not allowed to use it.

Ironically this article is about getting rid of euphemisms around periods. Whilst not being able to say the most relevant word of all.

My disgust for the Guardian grows daily.

Erish, I'll have to agree to disagree on that! I certainly don't use it to validate anyone!

I don't think a word should stop being used just because bigots use it, unless it is actually a slur. That way madness lies

OK well N*** should be fine then. Literally means black. The actual word contains no pejorative information. But it's used by bigots so all good.

I have never ever needed to specify people who menstruate separately from women or women and girls because that category of person does not exist

But I'm one and not the other!

Bishop what does that word accomplish that girls does not?

Readers of a newspaper should know and understand it’s exclusively girls facing this problem.

Did this word even exist a few years ago? Completely unnecessary invention meant to erase women.

bishop do you call men ejaculators? Try it and see how that goes.

Look, if you don't think the n-word is a slur then i think I'll bow out now.

but I'm one and not the other

Me too. Women still describes people of the class who have periods. Including old women, including women who've never had a period. Including women on the pill.

Men who don't ejaculate are still men.

This "menstruator" language wasn't used until transactivists made a fuss. Not sure what you are disagreeing with about my point? It really wasn't used until a few years ago. It's not inclusive. It's alienating.

Look, if you don't think the n-word is a slur then i think I'll bow out now.

Quite clearly she does

bishop you are right. This is part of a broader conversation about removing women and girls from communications aimed at females.

The use of menstrual/menstruation/menstruator is used deliberately to be inclusive but it is not the language women use. So, my point is that any communication to do with ‘menstruation’ or any other biological process or body part that pertains to women, should use language that the majority of women themselves use and understand. And if it is to be inclusive, use ‘female’ (because no one is denying sex exists) or a cumbersome phrase such as ‘girls, women, transmen and non-binary.’

My post was not directed specially at you bishop and I apologise that it came across that way. This is but one article in a flow of communication around periods that uses this language.

Of course it's a slur. It's a slur because it's used by bigots. That's what makes it a slur. Same with TERF. Slur because it's used by bigots, not because any of the actual words in the acronym are offensive.

But nice try.

But I'm one and not the other!

Presumably you have in the past or are on medication that prevents it. So you have experience of it.

Or if not, you would have gone to the doctor to see why you hadn’t had a period because it’s not normal or healthy for a young girl.

So periods (or lack thereof) still affect you in a profound way that males will never know or understand.

The overwhelming majority of women either menstruate currently or have menstruated at some point in their lives. It's a thing we rightly associate with being a woman. If you can't, you are no less a woman, there's just a reason you don't menstruate.

if we cannot even own the word woman or girls for human females then really what is the fucking point?

it is NOT inclusive to bin off the words women and girls to accommodate a handful people who cant deal with the biological sex they are, its the opposite of inclusive!

So periods (or lack thereof) still affect you in a profound way that males will never know or understand.

Exactly. This is the heart of the matter. It's not progressive to pretend that this isn't the case.