This is progress? Woolworths and feminine hygiene

[IrishMumInLondon2020]

I despair. Feminine hygiene has now been renamed ‘period care’.

Because boys and men can have periods too.

Is this meant to be progress?

@ErrolTheDragon

My guess is the OP reacted to this because of rejecting the rise in dehumanising language such as 'menstruators'.

But the difference here is quite simple - 'period care' or 'menstrual products' are referring to things. They don't need gendered euphemisms. Product descriptions referring to the users of these products, however, should have proper respectful terms referring to their users. Women, girls and whatever other 'inclusive' terms referring to female people are deemed appropriate.

Yes I think your guess is right, and I can understand the OPs reaction. The later post about the company using the word women in justifying the change was (sad it’s come to this) reassuring. The onus is on manufacturers of period products to keep the words women and girls, and the biological female symbol on their products, rather than bowing to pressure to remove them.

But the difference here is quite simple - 'period care' or 'menstrual products' are referring tothings. They don't need gendered euphemisms. Product descriptions referring to theusersof these products, however, should have proper respectful terms referring to their users. Women, girls and whatever other 'inclusive' terms referring to female people are deemed appropriate

Thing is though that the companies have run adverts for donkeys years where the key points are all about hygiene, discretion , banging on about how you cant tell and here have a special case that no one can tell it has a tampon in it. Oh and don't forget to give yourself thrush by using our scented ranges because your vagina matters less than sone poor un suspecting bystander who might accidently smell u..

It is all centred around making you paranoid people can see something or smell something and making you feel disgusting , and embarrassed. I mean even the liquid on the adverts was blue.

And yet they worry about the language on the aisle being offensive?

'feminine hygiene' implies a dirtyness.
and a 'not naming something' because it's shameful.
I think period care is appropriate and far less stigmatising than 'feminine hygiene'

The tampon tax debacle was quite useful for puncturing that sort of regressive stupidity. I remember grinning when I heard George Osborne, probably in a budget speech, cheerfully and unabashedly referring to tampons in the House of Commons.

^^YetAnotherSpartacus

Wonder if they will add some chocolate to the aisle?

Love this! 😀

What infuriates me is that, as posters have said, the companies making and selling tampons and towels have spent decades reinforcing the message that menstruation is something that needs to be hidden and is somehow ‘unclean’. They play on insecurities to sell product.

Getting rid of the term ‘hygiene’ is a start but how about they stop pushing scented tampons and towels (that can seriously irritate the skin) suggesting that we need to scent our fecking vaginas during a period. No one can smell a tampon when it’s inside you. Scent is adding a potential irritant to very sensitive area.

Although I may be bitter as I never learned to rollerblade ...

Feminine hygiene covers more than periods in any case, surely? If that is an appropriate term (not sure it is).

I agree with calling period products period care.

I always thought it was a Greek goddess 🤷‍♀️

@MissBarbary

Period Care is too limited (because of other products that aren't about menstruation like vaginal infection creams, incontinence pads, pantyliners, pre-natal vitamins, etc.)

I'm sure I covered this point yesterday. All the products to protect your knickers are located in "the period and incontinence care" section of shops.

The vitamins are in the vitamins section and medical treatments are in the non- prescription medicines section.

My stores have them on the same aisle called "women's health"

Another to say that I feel like 'period care' is better.

Feminine hygiene always strikes me as 'women need to sort their dirtiness out'

@FrankButchersDickieBow

Another to say that I feel like 'period care' is better.

Feminine hygiene always strikes me as 'women need to sort their dirtiness out'

Yup.

Always found the phrase rather twee; ooh, let's use a euphemism because we can't talk about this in polite company, can we?

And YY to the 'dirtiness' implication - is that how we got to the point that young women new to their periods thought they smelled, and had to put chemicals on their privates to mask it? Yuk.