World menopause day....no mention of women!

[Bonsaibreaker]

I work for a council who are advertising world menopause day and offering support to managers & staff on "coping with the menopause".

It's quite a lengthy document detailing the health affects of the menopause and how it can be supported in the work place.
This is great don't get me wrong but throughout the whole document the word woman is not said once.
We are instead:
Employees
Staff
Many people
Those who experience menopause

The page encourages staff to talk openly and without embarrassment about the menopause yet they cannot even use the word woman!

I know this is a small hill to die on but as a WOMAN going through peri-menopause it pisses me off.

Too right. It gives me the absolute righteous rage.

It’s not remotely a small hill to die on!! Only Women however they identify can experience menopause

Challenge them on the lack of the word "women" and see what the response is.

dementedma

They are proud Stonewall supporters and challenging them would not work out well for me. This council ate all the woke cookies.

I am a single mum and need this job so as much as I want to fight the good fight losing my job would not be the best thing. I have watched them manage people out over the last 6 months who they believe do not follow the councils values.

The word woman is “wrong speak” and they are just being the good little Borgs they are and not getting into trouble.

I would love you see the language around Prostate awareness day

It's not a small hill at all. The experiences of menopausal women and their day to day function has been completely neglected in both medical circles and wider society, including the workplace. It's become a massive issue these last couple of years - that's the only reason your work is doing anything about it, it's the cause du jour. At last we are allowed to speak about it! But hang on, oh no, it's compelled speech, you'll speak about it the way TRAs want you to, and you will include that late transitioning transwoman in your discussion. Fuck. That. Shit.

I would be tempted to push for prostate awareness day and erase men at all points in the same way. And argue how important consistency is.

But it is probably not the right way to go.

O my fucking god.

Being inclusive of the young girls forced through meno by pbs because they think they're male.

Fuck off.

Which council - can you say (Bristol, is it Bristol?)?

Not Bristol

I would rather not say but it's very typical of them.
The page even links to and advises staff to visits the International Menopause Society which in all of its information manages to use the word woman throughout which is refreshing so why have my council chosen to omit the word

My employer also has a Menopause policy that somehow does not mention that word woman at all. Employees, team members, individuals. Makes it sound like it happens to everyone (mentions the ageing process). Has anyone challenged this at work?

If only I were male - I'd be tempted to identify as menopausal - is there someone who could do that for your place of work?

I heard something about male menopause the other day. A man mentioned it (trying to be kind about actual menopause) - I scoffed loudly and pointed out that a mid-life crisis is psychological and not physiological, and man has never suffered from the menopause (or there’d be an effective, universally available treatment by now).

Have you got any Tory councillors you could approach in confidence? A lot of them hate this kind of money-wasting ideological nonsense and you're often pushing at an open door.

Spindle I haven't been with the council long enough to build up those sorts of relationships and honesty the 1 thing that stops me from speaking out is fear for my job and future progression.
I am very low level and have zero influence but I do want to move up the ladder and I have a tiny bit of hope that if I do I can have a voice that maybe heard.

It’s Brighton and Hove - I bet my house on it…

It’s ludicrous - please can you point this out to them??

Do you think that organisations that are Stonewall champions or whatever it's called,have to have a little detector installed. One that automatically activates if someone uses the words 'women,females or girls'. A claxon sounds at SW HQ and inclusivity points are deducted. For major transgressions,the person causing the activation is identified and sent for 're education'?

Ahh Frances I won't take your house as its not Brighton. It's a lot more Nothern

@Bonsaibreaker

Ahh Frances I won't take your house as its not Brighton. It's a lot more Nothern

I was convinced!!!

Now, where could be more wokey than wokier-than-thou London by the Sea??

West Yorkshire or somewhere in Scotland.
Loads of woman-erasing options I fear.

I think if my organisation pulled a stunt like this I'd try to devise a very positive response thanking them for initiatives to help women in the workplace through what can be a difficult time, and how good it is to see actions which help combat structural sexism and ageism.

@SpindleWhirl

Have you got any Tory councillors you could approach in confidence? A lot of them hate this kind of money-wasting ideological nonsense and you're often pushing at an open door.

Something's gone badly wrong when this is a serious suggestion - and about the only avenue open!

I see Liz Truss is speaking up for Professor Kathleen Stock - haven't seen much support from Labour MPs.

I do despair - when will this lunacy end?

Red Wall area?

'They are proud Stonewall supporters'.

Well you may find that they're doing a U turn on that before very long. Idiots🙄

I don't blame you for feeling scared to raise this issue, which is very significant and important by the way! We had a virtual webinar about menopause in my workplace recently, led by a very experienced and no-nonsense nurse. I found myself feeling pathetically grateful for her constant references to 'ladies', as in 'some ladies experience hot flushes' and 'a few ladies report X symptom'. She knew exactly who needed to be included in her content, and who didnt

I've hit the point now of please don't witter at me about the importance of female biological issues or virtue signal with it unless you have the guts or care for females to name them. Because they are 100% of the target group, 99% of them prefer to call themselves women, and you're excluding many of the most vulnerable by exclusively catering to a few.

It makes an absolute hypocrisy of pretending to care about women when you make it clear that they are a dirty word.

We are so far through the fucking looking glass
Agree with whoever said “fuck this shit”