For anyone who thinks calling pregnant women 'birthing people' is not a big deal, here's where that leads

[Clymene]

Femcare is an organisation in Canada which provides education and advocacy around periods, seeks to end period poverty and end the stigma and health issues associated with periods.

Look at this tweet in their series about PCOS: 'another complication that may arise as a result of polycystic ovary syndrome is a menstruator having a miscarriage or premature birth of the baby'

A woman who is pregnant is not menstruating you fucking idiots.

This is where this shitty language gets us. Organisations which are created and funded for women's health have completely erased us.

We are menstruators, birth givers, ovary havers.

Ps I am gratified to see that my iPad doesn't like the word menstruator. I'm sure that will change with the next update

I just looked at their website. Founded and mostly run by women, but their Director of Digital Marketing is.... drumroll... a man (aka a spaffer)

I notice one of their board is wearing a hijab. I wonder if she's wearing it because she is a menstruator or just because she identifies as one?

Even when talking about miscarriage they cant even use the word women can they.

Fuck off.

Wtf is this shit

I went to their website. It said: periods aren’t a ‘woman’ thing.

What, pray tell, is a 'woman thing'?

Perhaps someone could enlighten me.

It's hilarious to me how they're all soooo desperate NOT to let women be identified as a biological sex class. But when they want to describe the set of people formally known as women how do they do it? By referring exclusively to our different female specific biological functions. Because that's the only thing that unifies us as a group, our biology and the unique challenges associated with it. It's so fucking stupid that I feel like my eyes will start bleeding each time I read it.

Menstruators. What garbage. After the birth of my second child neither I nor my husband menstruated for the next 14 months. But only 1 of us felt the need to ask the health visitor if that was normal. I wonder why that could be 🤔. Morons.

Canada is a worldwide lesson in "PR the Leadership"

Christ on a bike - from the Twitter feed:
"One of the partners of Fem Care is the Minister for Women and Gender Equality."
(One Maryam Monsef.)

[quote Awning10]... and from their website:

crimsonconversations.andsisters.co.uk/femcare-and-trans-community/[/quote]
You can email them here:

[email protected]

Did anyone notice “ We’ve all been there – curled up on the sofa with a hot water bottle, a bar of chocolate and a good chick flick streaming on Netflix.”
In the middle of that “Femcare and the trans community” post above.
Do transmen all like chocolate?
Non-binary menustrators all like chick flicks?

Nice messaging.

Paraphrase: "Hey! Those ('women' in old money) with PCOS may have trouble breastfeeding and might not produce enough milk! Byee!"

Translated as: you might not have enough to worry about, so here are a few more things. Happy fretting, menstruators.

I am so angry about this. What the hell are they playing at?

I wonder if overt cases like this could actually be effective at convincing some of the well-intentioned (but naive) wokies that removal of the word "woman" actually has serious consequences, and that "be kind" can work multiple ways. This kind of language, used in this context, is so clearly inappropriate, that I would hope it might stir a few brain cells.

Probably wishful thinking, but one can hope.

This language upsets me so much. I don't understand how WE are the ones accused of 'reducing people to body parts' when all we ask for is that female human beings be referred to as women. I'm not a fucking menstruator. My university has just been boasting about how much it's going to do for "Movember" - apparently there will be loads of activities to raise money and awareness for "men's" health and "male" mental health issues. As blood usual, there isn't a single 'ejaculator' or 'prostate-haver' to be seen. Men get the dignity to be called men, and meanwhile I am literally referenced by my reproductive function.

I well recall the horror of ‘menstruating’ while pregnant (miscarriages).

That’s heartbreaking, Dozer.

Shame on Femcare. I wonder why they alienate their target audience? I wouldn’t seek help from an organisation that shows such contempt for women.

Yeah. Too cynical now to summon up the will to point out the sheer dickish insensitivity of this, but I will signpost the obvious point.

They have made the whopping mistake of using 'menstruator' to mean woman. Adult human female. Because it's inevitable that a word for that collective class. Mistake because it gets in the way of the point, which was supposedly that biological function wasn't sex connected: they're calling pregnant people etc menstruators when they really aren't menstruating.

So we have the whole dehumanising. The reducing of women to body parts. The half assed attempt to join the pretence that there's no such thing as women by replacing one word for another. And any second now the outrage will start that there's a word in disguise meaning 'woman' that's attached to a female anatomy only bodily function and this is exclusionary to male born people.

So menstruator will become hate speech in three, two...…

Because it's inevitable that a word specifically for that collective class *is needed when talking about things regarding that collective class that require shared meaning.

@Clymene

It's so reductive

But look at their twitter feed. And look at how many followers they have

They are a bunch of grifters

Going to explore a bit more

As anyone lobbied male focused charities to change their language?

@balla20

As anyone lobbied male focused charities to change their language?

I don't think trans activists aim their activism at those, to be honest. Or it could be that men simply don't care to be 'inclusive.' It would be fun to know which the case might be.

So we should probably start lobbying them. I am thinking of good alternatives. Ejaculators, prostate-owners, bepenised people, erectors.

I can't imagine a transman would be overjoyed at being called a menstruator either.

Tough shit, it’s inclusive. It’s kind.

@Deliriumoftheendless

Tough shit, it’s inclusive. It’s kind.

It's so weird how women are supposed to roll over and give every word we have that defines us away. And when we say that's not inclusive or kind of our feelings or wishes, we're met with aggression.

It smells a lot like misogyny to me. You know, in the if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck kind of way.

💔 No words...

So menstruator will become hate speech in three, two...…

I mean you have to laugh

Delirium but how is it kind to refer to someone with a pos-related miscarriage as a menstruator? Surely their menstruation itself is a painful indication that a wanted pregnancy is no longer going ahead?

And what about the many many women who find the term offensive, reductive, cold, upsetting, and not a label they want? Why is a label which someone wants to use defined as kind when many of the people it refers to take it as unkind? Who wins this game of top trumps and gets to define what kind is, and who gets bequeathed kindness and who has to shut the fuck up and be treated like crap?

Oh, a biological man gets to decide? Of course, how did I not guess...