Sanitary products for people who menstruate

[jellyandiscream]

Sorry for the daily fail link but has anyone seen this? Sanitary products for people who menstruate from Superdrug. What were they thinking?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8697841/Shoppers-ridicule-woke-Superdrug-launches-sanitary-products-people-menstruate.html

The comments are very heartening though. Vast majority critical, and angry about erasure of women.

I look forward to their new lines of inclusive, unisex razors and foam, 'for people who shave' - and price cuts on all the expensive hair-removing crap apparently made especially for women. The wrongness of which I won't even get started on. The again, while we're at it, let's stop telling women their nether regions smell and need special washes. 'Washes for people who want to put soap on their genitals' is much more inclusive after all. WHEN will this insanity and misogyny end?! Alas not while there is money to be made from it I fear.

Meh. Does anyone really read the back of packets?
I don't, anyway.
If it makes trans men feel included too it takes nothing away from me, I'm still a woman doing it.
Is the "people who shave" comparable? I don't think it is as men who shave isn't the same as trans men would call themselves men too.
So already inclusive, being trans men.
Trans men with women's products though, not inclusive for trans men.

I probably wouldn't care if it was a one off thing but when viewed as part of the wider picture where the word woman and even the word female are rapidly becoming unsayable then I'm not prepared to let it go. It's just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the current war on women.

It strikes me, reading that, that they could have avoided the clunky 'person who menstruates' by something like 'If you menstruate' or 'if you have periods'

@Quaagars I think the comparable would be people who shave as being inclusive of trans women

@OvaHere

I probably wouldn't care if it was a one off thing but when viewed as part of the wider picture where the word woman and even the word female are rapidly becoming unsayable then I'm not prepared to let it go. It's just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the current war on women.

Exactly. It's the tip of the iceberg, a small part of the bigger picture.

Their ridiculous phrases are everywhere now. It began with 'people who menstruate'. Now we're here:

twitter.com/CompellingCopy_/status/1301843633004597248

They can fuck right off with it. No one has Endo because they were 'assigned a female at birth'. They have Endo because they are female, it's a female condition, absolute muppets.

@FeedTheSparrows

I look forward to their new lines of inclusive, unisex razors and foam, 'for people who shave' - and price cuts on all the expensive hair-removing crap apparently made especially for women. The wrongness of which I won't even get started on. The again, while we're at it, let's stop telling women their nether regions smell and need special washes. 'Washes for people who want to put soap on their genitals' is much more inclusive after all. WHEN will this insanity and misogyny end?! Alas not while there is money to be made from it I fear.

All disposable razers and foam are unisex. There is nothing on them which says they are for men. No one is forced to buy the women's version- although from memory the women's version does, I think, have a moisturiser strip which the unisex version doesn't have. Your comment is just whinging for the sake of whinging.

I look forward to the day that condoms come with packaging that says they are for people who ejaculate.

@Quaagars

Meh. Does anyone really read the back of packets? I don't, anyway. If it makes trans men feel included too it takes nothing away from me, I'm still a woman doing it. Is the "people who shave" comparable? I don't think it is as men who shave isn't the same as trans men would call themselves men too. So already inclusive, being trans men. Trans men with women's products though, not inclusive for trans men.

If no-one reads the back how is it going to make them feel included?

I don’t want to budge an inch at this point so no I wouldn’t buy these products.

'^^For many, changes like this might seem pretty small - insignificant even - but for trans people, it can help them feel safe and seen.
So erasing the word woman allows transmen to feel safe and seen. We'll, that's okay then. Step aside women.
**Now I can confidently walk into a Superdrug and if anyone challenged me I could point to the packet and say "look, this is made for me".
Strangely, whenever I ask DH to pick up sanitary supplies he has never felt that he would be a challenged or questioned on his purchase. Why would anyone be challenged for buying sanitary products. Its not an illegal activity.
Such a load of blliks.

If it is about validation for trans men, maybe they should put “for men” on some of them and put them in the men’s section? This would also be quite a good indication of the actual demand for this product...

@ErrolTheDragon

It strikes me, reading that, that they could have avoided the clunky 'person who menstruates' by something like 'If you menstruate' or 'if you have periods'

or they could have just included "and other people who menstruate" to be inclusive, if that's what they're asking to be referred as. Everyone is catered for then

I look forward to the day that condoms come with packaging that says they are for people who ejaculate

See, how is that comparable as well?
Women don't ejaculate (yes, before anyone jumps on me, some trans women might) but I'd assume they wouldn't want to be included on condom packets for the exact same reason trans men want to be included on sanitary products?
I'd have thought trans women would hardly want to be included in something they don't identify as, but trans men don't get a choice in sometimes having to menstruate so makes sense (to me anyway) to include them.
Takes nothing away from me, I still know I'm a woman who needs them once a month.

'As a trans person who still experiences periods, I dread the days when my supplies start running low.
'I run through a million scenarios of people staring at me, questioning me, laughing behind my back. Now I can confidently walk into a Superdrug and if anyone challenged me I could point to the packet and say "look, this is made for me"

Err... What?
I mean, back in the real world... Has anyone ever been "challenged" at the till for buying sanitary products? If you look ever so slightly female (androgynous people have existed for a while), no one bats an eyelid. And if you look like a manly man (and possibly slightly embarrassed), people just assume you're some sweet guy buying them for your girlfriend/wife?

I understand there's some deep social anxiety underneath this kind of paranoid thinking, and I don't want to make light of someone's mental health issues, but really shouldn't such toxic, irrational, narcissistic thoughts be challenged (ideally by a skilled therapist)? ("no, the whole world is not staring at you, constantly trying to guess what's in your pants")
Instead the unhealthy paranoia gets validated... For woke marketing purposes!

All disposable razers and foam are unisex. There is nothing on them which says they are for men
You articulated better than what I was about to say, but yes, this - razors are unisex anyway!
Although interesting to know that some of the women's ones have moisturising strips, I didn't know that - always wondered what the point of a "woman's razor" was - I just pinch one out of DH's packet if I ever need one

I look forward to their new lines of inclusive, unisex razors and foam, 'for people who shave' - and price cuts on all the expensive hair-removing crap apparently made especially for women.

Good fucking point - they seem to know what a woman is when they want to charge them more for things like razors by marketing them a certain way!

Perhaps we should be encouraged by the implication that women (who menstruate) are still people, not yet completely unpersoned.

But I am not at all sure that is what is intended.

If - and IF - anyone challenged someone for buying these, here’s a thought - they still would do so because we all know what they are even if they don’t explicitly say. Unless they are planning on hiding them under the counter ‘a little something for the weekend 😉?’

I think this is pure mischief or attempt at trendy marketing/pr. Otherwise all the items like Nivea for Men, shaving foam, after shave, shaving brushes etc would have the same treatment, which they don’t. I know because I pick up these for my son (and no one is ever asked/commented/challenged me).

I mean, back in the real world... Has anyone ever been "challenged" at the till for buying sanitary products? If you look ever so slightly female (androgynous people have existed for a while), no one bats an eyelid. And if you look like a manly man (and possibly slightly embarrassed), people just assume you're some sweet guy buying them for your girlfriend/wife?

Exactly!

Why would anyone even bother to 'challenge' someone walking into Superdrug and buying sanitary towels?

Oh my goodness - I just remembered! As a teenager not only did I wear men’s jeans and DMs (they didn’t even do women’s versions back then I think) I also used to use brylcreem on my very cropped hair (and wear my dads old jackets).

Has any till worker ever said to anyone buying sanitary products 'hmmmm, don't think you should be buying these'?

@Quaagars

I look forward to the day that condoms come with packaging that says they are for people who ejaculate

See, how is that comparable as well?
Women don't ejaculate (yes, before anyone jumps on me, some trans women might) but I'd assume they wouldn't want to be included on condom packets for the exact same reason trans men want to be included on sanitary products?
I'd have thought trans women would hardly want to be included in something they don't identify as, but trans men don't get a choice in sometimes having to menstruate so makes sense (to me anyway) to include them.
Takes nothing away from me, I still know I'm a woman who needs them once a month.

Your naivety (or wilful ignorance) around the trans umbrella is astounding. No wonder you can't come up with a coherent argument.