Shambala festival tweet: "gender inclusive period spaces essential (and a good place for non-menstruators to learn more!)"

[standupsitdownturnaround]

Tweet here: twitter.com/shambalafest/status/1429849157368418309?s=21

The reason I'm starting a thread about this is because I think it's an example of the unhealthy assumption that women's private/personal/ health and bodily functions are a novelty to explore as part of being gender inclusive.

Some people may feel open about sharing their menstruation experience in a public bathroom but I think suggesting it's a good place to learn is wrong, intrusive and potentially quite upsetting.

Interested to hear other views.

I'm sorry, I can't process a tweet that mentions non-menstruators.

🙄 so it's our job to educate everyone is it?

Why can't people read/Google themselves.

Fucks sake.

Well there is an aspect of period fetish in autogebphylic males. There are boards where trans women discuss how to mimic a period and how to make fake blood etc. I won’t share this as it’s disturbing to read.

So yes, it is important to make sure safe facilities are provided for menstruating women and girls without having to be the subject of being fetishized by autogenphylic males.

I could see men who happen to be medical professionals perhaps being part of this for informational purposes. But I can’t see why men would want to be “educated “ on a period or need to be included in a woman’s space.

The menstrual cycle has been seen as something shameful for ages, so I get why people want to speak about it, but also women and girls shouldn’t have to be on display and educate men about a private bodily function.

Google is still free so men can also Google to learn about periods. They can also ask their mother, wife, girlfriend as well.. so no need to go around asking women you don’t know about their period. It’s private.

Since when are we required to share private bodily functions and share this with anyone? Are we moving away from any privacy at all in society now?

I hope someone has told Yaniv. Very keen to learn more.

Since when are we required to share private bodily functions and share this with anyone? Are we moving away from any privacy at all in society now?

Well it's all just fictional movie fantasies isn't it. Like teenage girls and their pillow fights in underwear..women walking around naked in locker rooms. Some perceived sisterhood porn fantasy that goes on in womens toilets.

Why is it "important to note" when designing women's toilet/ period facilities that not all women menstruate?
This is a given, surely, and how would it change things from something designed on the assumption that all women do menstruate - you're not going to take away provision in case someone not currently menstruating is using that loo?

What a genuinely bizarre statement.

@MonsignorMirth

Why is it "important to note" when designing women's toilet/ period facilities that not all women menstruate? This is a given, surely, and how would it change things from something designed on the assumption that all women do menstruate - you're not going to take away provision in case someone not currently menstruating is using that loo?

What a genuinely bizarre statement.

Quite. I don’t menstruate, but I still prefer single sex facilities for a whole host of reasons. I suspect that I’m not who they are thinking of, though.

I'm in two minds about it - period provision at festivals is pretty woeful (I was at Green Man this weekend which is using compost toilets - hard to see and no bins or handwash nearby so you have to walk around with a handful of sanpro waste to dispose of - using mooncup etc would be almost impossible). So any initiative which is designed to make it easier and recognise the need in the first place is a good thing. BUT I don't think most women would appreciate being on show for the sake of someone else's education or described as menstruators (surely this would be true of trans men too!).

Imo it would be best to separate out the functional facilities from the educational part so that people who just want to use a properly equipped facility can do so and others who are more interested in talking about all things periods can do that. Which I think there is also a place for - imo many music fest attendees come from a kind of "love your body and its power, don't be ashamed of it" perspective and it's not unusual to see talks about female anatomy and charity stands like CoppaFeel ...think the interest in the educational part may just reflect those kind of views in the audience that attends. It's interesting that actual provision lags behind though. Like Green Man had a talk from the vagina museum folks but when it comes to actually making provision for women who happen to be on their period it was pretty crappy.

I should imagine that most "non menstruators" would run a mile from any learning initutive about women's bodily functions.

What a time to be alive, and a male with fetishes

I'm currently a non-menstruator but having menstruated quite a lot, the idea that I need to learn more about it is a leeetle patronising. I expect most current and future (however temporary) non-menstruators feel likewise.

It depends on the quality of the materials imo... I started using an app called FitrWoman to support my sport training and learnt loads from that about how hormone fluctuations impact all sorts of things I wouldn't have expected. So I'm open to persuading that there could be information there which might be useful to me. Being described as a menstruator however would guarantee that my hackles would be up and I wouldn't engage with it 😬

Like Green Man had a talk from the vagina museum folks but when it comes to actually making provision for women who happen to be on their period it was pretty crappy.

Yes, well, them.

Loos are not really a good place for even "menstruators" to be "learning" other than by practice, for which they want supportive privacy not inquisitive "non-menstruators" (which would be fucking creepy and the very reason single-sex loos are wanted by many).

What. The. Fuck. kind of education are we talking about here for non menstruators. Oh please.

Ive been in a workshop for women only, who have had miscarrages, at a festival where a natal born man who identified as of the female gender demanded entrance, and got very angry when the women in the workshop were not very keen to share their personal experiences with aforementioned natal born man.

I know I'm not the only person who has posted on here about similar experiences.

That's disgusting. Why do males always barge into these personal things?

It was in the Woman's Space, as well! (Think Red Tent type of thing)
I was appalled. First time I'd come across that sort of behaviour.

Why does everything have to involve social media virtue signalling and deep conversation? Can’t they just provide some bins and sinks for the women’s toilets FFS, like many other facilities have been doing to many years?

Menstruation as performance for an uninvited slacious audience?

#nothankyou

to SpringCrocus and the other women who were entitled to expect privacy when sharing a grievous experience. I am so sick of these self-entitled males, and even more disgusted by any women who enable them.

I just don't see the connection between menstruation education and music festival attendance. Like, why not a tent to learn about colon health? Or properly cutting your toenails?

Was it Jessica Yaniv who wrote about hanging around in the lavatories aboard ferries in the hope of being able to assist young women to insert tampons? And I'm sure I've also seen material from men triumphant at having been able to get their hands on used sanitary towels and planning to wear them themselves.

I always fall back on 'what would decent men do'? The decent men I know wouldn't want to invade women's privacy.

Was it Jessica Yaniv who wrote about hanging around in the lavatories aboard ferries in the hope of being able to assist young women to insert tampons?

Specifically 10 year old girls, I think.

@LobsterNapkin
I didn't say it was "just" a music festival? The festivals I have attended have music , crafts, sustainability, circus skills, women spaces, men spaces, political, comedy, poetry workshops and performances .
So why on earth wouldn't there be a miscarriage workshop in the WOMAN'S area?
And, pretty well every "music" festival I've also attended, has all sorts of other stuff going on.