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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Have you seen the new Bodyform advert?

468 replies

Fairenuff · 03/07/2020 11:20

Just that really. Sorry if there's already a thread.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/bodyform-s-new-advert-breaks-period-advertising-taboos/vi-BB16hTmF?ocid=msedgdhp

OP posts:
flashbac · 04/07/2020 17:04

Yes, the shagging was unnecessary in such a powerful advert. I wanted to watch it with my 12 yo.

TheId · 04/07/2020 17:06

Loved it too
And might have something in my eye now..

I loved that the Dr is female
I loved the imagery of the little gardener in the womb

I have had
miscarriages
Leaking
Pain
Dripping on bathroom floor
Felt overjoyed to not be pregnant
Felt overjoyed to be pregnant
Writhed about in pain on bathroom floors

They should have had some wadded up loo roll at some point though. I bet that's am almost universal female experience.

Chaotic45 · 04/07/2020 17:24

Wow I loved it. So powerful and for me a spot on representation of my experiences:
Flooding
Excruciating pain that sweeps my legs from under me.
Heartbreaking miscarriages
Hysteroscopy for odd symptoms
Choosing old pants
Flooding at the most inopportune moments

I loved the little girl nurturing the womb, the passionate scenes, the music, bittersweet humour.

I would have no issue watching it complete with sex scenes with my teens and tweens- but I assume that it can't be shown on TV due to this element which is a huge shame?

Ereshkigalangcleg · 04/07/2020 17:42

Best song ever! I’d LOVE to see an advert for period products featuring the Vagina Anthem but I doubt it will ever happen.

That would be wonderful!Wine

Ereshkigalangcleg · 04/07/2020 17:44

Honestly, I’m as GC as you will find, but I’m alright with a female bodied person who identifies as trans, in the advert, as the fact that they are barely noticed, shows that they obviously haven’t been centred, as so many are, in women’s issues. It’s still a strong female centred advert that doesn’t fanny about catering to the woke brigade.

I agree. I thought it was fine too.

talesofginza · 04/07/2020 17:46

I loved the advert too! I showed it to my partner and mentioned the positive response it's been getting from women -- and how we're used to rolling our eyes at the 'magical blue liquid' or the rollerblading in white hotpants (my personal favourite was one where a careefree young woman in a flimsy white playsuit leaps onto her girl friend's back during a night out... Like, yeah of course... I shudder to imagine what would happen if I did that on a regular flow day!)

We ended up having a really nice discussion about how a lot of women's reproductive health issues have been (and in some cases are still) quite taboo, something he had never really realized. He suggested that maybe people don't talk about miscarriages that much because they aren't so common, and was pretty surprised when I showed him the NHS page saying that they affect at least 1/8 pregnancies.

@Theld - the wadded loo roll is for sure universal! I would add being paranoid and asking a friend to drop back when out in public to carry out an emergency 'leak check' -- the only time I ask someone to please check out my bum! :)

Ereshkigalangcleg · 04/07/2020 17:48

That's a particular type of internalised woman hating to believe that by erasing the word woman you suddenly become 'inclusive'. I'm always saddened to see young women being so clueless about the roots of patriarchy, misogyny and discrimination that they buy into this male dominated behaviour.

I completely agree, but I think the average person reading a copy of Metro on the tube sees through it.

Silentfrog · 04/07/2020 17:52

Ive gone back to look for the trans man. Is it in the very split second bit? I think I saw a woman with mastectomy scars - is that the one you meant?

Highperbolay · 04/07/2020 18:07

Ive gone back to look for the trans man. Is it in the very split second bit? I think I saw a woman with mastectomy scars - is that the one you meant?

Yes, it's in the split second bit. I don't think they are mastectomy scars as mastectomies for breast cancer usually remove the nipple as well, and they don't look like cancer mastectomy scars. Plus there is a lot of hair on the body. Its a trans man. Which I have no problem with because trans men are female.

LillianBland · 04/07/2020 18:08

@Silentfrog

Ive gone back to look for the trans man. Is it in the very split second bit? I think I saw a woman with mastectomy scars - is that the one you meant?
That’s why I’m reluctant to say that she is trans. My youngest has hormonal problems that weren’t dealt with, before she came to live with me. As a result she suffer from Hirsutism. The female in the advert might simply have embraced her body, instead of following the ‘women must shave’, mantra, so I think we need to be careful.
PearPickingPorky · 04/07/2020 18:09

I thought it was wonderful.

I'm surprised so many people are saying they have never dripped blood onto the floor. It happens to me relatively often in a use loo, wipe, stand-up, turn on shower, undress, wait for shower to get warm, drip on floor way. I consider it a success if I miss the bathmat with it and can just wipe it up.

There is a transman in the film. That's fine. It's showing all types of women, even the ones who don't want to be. It was just a second, which is a proportionate amount of time given how few of them there are.

It does show the dark and difficult (and amazing) aspects of being a woman, but I think that's powerful: look how capable women are at dealing with normal life while also dealing with all of this, quietly and discreetly too. Women are phenomenal.

LillianBland · 04/07/2020 18:13

Actually, I go back to my other comment, about not actually caring if it’s a female bodied person who identifies as trans. If they are, that’s fine, as they’re obviously confident enough to recognise the reality of their sex, while having their belief in what gender they are identifying as. Just like many of the male bodied people who identify as trans, who recognise they are of the male sex, who occasionally post in support of women.

Silentfrog · 04/07/2020 18:15

@Highperbolay thank you.

PearPickingPorky · 04/07/2020 18:16

Fair point Lillian, could be that too.

In a way it's good that it could be either, shows how some "trans" experiences of being female overlap with other females.

LillianBland · 04/07/2020 18:29

@PearPickingPorky

Fair point Lillian, could be that too.

In a way it's good that it could be either, shows how some "trans" experiences of being female overlap with other females.

Indeed. Also, I’m happy to have ALL XX females included, even if they don’t identify as women.
everythingthelighttouches · 04/07/2020 18:43

That was absolutely brilliant

PearPickingPorky · 04/07/2020 18:49

Also, I’m happy to have ALL XX females included, even if they don’t identify as women.

Me too. It's a properly "inclusive" advert.

merrymouse · 04/07/2020 19:28

Me too. It's a properly "inclusive" advert.

Agree. The thing that annoys me about 'menstruators' and 'people with a cervix' is that they coyly pretend that periods and cervical cancer could happen to anyone and are completely unrelated.

DuDuDuLangaLangaBingBong · 04/07/2020 19:37

Yep, I’ve always been fine about all female people being included - just as long as no boring-old-cunty-women aren’t shut out in the process (especially the women who are already at risk of being marginalised due to SEN, or English as a second language)

Ninkanink · 04/07/2020 19:44

Trans men are of the female sex, with female biology and all its implications for better or worse. There is always space for them, at every level of womanhood and the female experience. They may prefer to identify differently, but in many respects they simply cannot identify out of being female. And that’s okay! They can do womanhood exactly how it feels right for them.

So this ad has been made to be properly inclusive, and properly

Ninkanink · 04/07/2020 19:45

Oops posted too soon!

...and properly reflective of the depth and breadth of the female experience.

Ninkanink · 04/07/2020 19:49

@Ninkanink

Trans men are of the female sex, with female biology and all its implications for better or worse. There is always space for them, at every level of womanhood and the female experience. They may prefer to identify differently, but in many respects they simply cannot identify out of being female. And that’s okay! They can do womanhood exactly how it feels right for them.

So this ad has been made to be properly inclusive, and properly

**small correction: should really have said, they can do femalehood exactly how it feels right for them.
Evelefteden · 04/07/2020 19:54

I went down a twitter rabbit home last night and seen a post that was saying something like - ‘I bet mnetters won’t like the fact there is a trans person in the ad’, it had been shared.

But look, no nasty posts for those who are coming to rubber neck Grin

Loved the ad and have been showing it to friends today. They were impressed too!

LillianBland · 04/07/2020 19:56

@Evelefteden

I went down a twitter rabbit home last night and seen a post that was saying something like - ‘I bet mnetters won’t like the fact there is a trans person in the ad’, it had been shared.

But look, no nasty posts for those who are coming to rubber neck Grin

Loved the ad and have been showing it to friends today. They were impressed too!

They must be gutted. 🤣
SomeoneInTheLaaaaaounge · 04/07/2020 20:10

Fucking brilliant, can’t even be sad that it’s an advert. Just to see my life, acknowledged, brilliant. The pain and anguish and beauty