"It's an actual fact that not just women experience periods"

[PaddleBoardingMomma]

So this is the latest campaign from cosmetics company Benefit...

I have a lot of questions. Firstly, why on earth a cosmetics company are not only jumping on the current trend of "let's somehow get menstruation into our ethos even though it's not related to our company, just so the women think we totally get them" but why they are jumping on it and taking such a stupid, exclusionary and ridiculous view point. Baffled doesn't begin to cover it.

Secondly, how can anyone other than a woman have a period? Answers on a postcard...

www.instagram.com/p/Cc0EGUWIYzr/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

*However, I also know a socially transitioned teenage female, a transboy, who wears more make up, and dresses much more femininely that I ever did or do. (Ie. Dresses pretty much like their friends do)

Because, they are expanding the bandwidth of how males dress, or so I gather…*

I've had to read this a few times and I'm still a bit baffled. Am I right in thinking that -

• The person is female
• Who identifies as a boy
• Who dresses in stereotypical female clothing
• So it's a female, 'presenting' as a girl.
• But this is apparently expanding the bandwidth of how males dress. Despite the person being female?

Trans men and non binary people who menstruate ARE BIOLOGICALLY WOMEN.

That is the biological fact.

Stop encouraging the pretence that non-women can menstruate.

"It's an actual fact that if you decide words have no meanings then a cat can be an astronaut"

It has more chance than a man having a period. After all, animals have been blasted into space.
^^

'According to a small minority, it's not only women who can menstruate, which goes against actual fact'.

There, corrected Benefit, you're welcome! I'm free for any future proofreading😜

"Women, transgender men and non-binary people all menstruate. It's not only women that will experience periods, however, we're led to believe that it is just cis women who menstruate.

Nobody is 'led to believe' that though. Everyone understands that female people menstruate regardless of what they call themselves. We also fully understand that a proportion of female people cease menstruating or never begin because of menopause (natural or induced) or because of medical issues.

None of this is complicated other than for the people who benefit from pretending it's complicated.

It also has nothing to do with make up unless someone was planning to stem their menstrual flow with a mascara wand. 🙄

It's just making you look silly, Benefit.

😪Laika

Nobody is “led to believe it’s only cis women who menstruate”. That’s the whole bloody point! There’s no ‘cis’, just women regardless of how they identify. No one (apart the deluded sex-deniers, believes that transmen or female ‘non-binary’ people <insert massive eye roll> don’t menstruate.

If benefit want to take an ethical stance, then stopping selling in China and allowing their products to be tested on animals would be more appropriate than this virtue signalling stance.

If I was not already boycotting them for their support of animal testing, I'd be boycotting them for their meaningless bandwagon jumping.

Shame, because they do nice things. However, there are lots of nice makeup brands that don't test on animals that don't do identity politics. Glossier, Charlotte Tilbury, bare minerals etc.

Just add them to the 'value virtue signalling and profits over customers and true ethics' pile. Joining body shop and lush in my list of no go. I used to get all my presents from these companies so they are missing lots of revenue.
Their choice.

I don't understand why they are jumping on the period bandwagon I mean they sell make up.

Dickheads.

however, we're led to believe that it is just cis women who menstruate.

Who believes that?
And who or what is leading people to believe that?

I don't think people do believe that it's just cis women who menstruate. Benefit can't just make up 'facts' to suit their ad campaign.

Benefit shouldn't be touched with a bargepole any way. My ethical starting point with any brand is are they still testing on and torturing animals (they sell in China). Horrible company.

"Benefit is NOT Cruelty-free. Benefit Cosmetics pays and allows their products to be tested on animals when required by law. Benefit also sells its products in stores in mainland China where animal testing is mandatory for most imported cosmetics.

In addition, Benefit Cosmetics is owned by LVMH, a parent company that is also not cruelty-free."

The words Man and Woman have become totally meaningless. They basically refer to gender now, which is merely a social construct and has no basis in biology. I think we need to focus on male and female sexes. You can identify as man, woman, gender free, non binary, or even as a broccoli if you like. What matters is that only the female sex has periods.

Look, transmen are women; non-binary people are either male or female. It's really not all that complicated, despite a few people trying very hard to make it look that way.

I have an acquaintance who’s biologically female, uses a female name, dresses in a feminine way and wears makeup, is not attracted to women and is married to a man. But they are gender neutral and queer. I’m immensely puzzled by this and it’s one of the reasons why I think we need to stick to talking about biological sex.

Yes quite! A bold statement that then goes on to say non binary and transmen also have periods. no shit sherlock! Why are they so concerned about two minority groups that are least likely to use their products??

They are absolutely correct … female apes and monkeys menstruate , I believe, and they’re not women. Not sure why a face goop company is giving us a zoological lesson though.

Seriously, enough with this coy pretence that the word woman means anything other than human female. Trans men and female non binaries are women.

Note to self, don't buy Benefit anymore.

Is this the company that gives its products weird, sexualised names or is that some other 'quirky' 'down with the kids" brand?

How about

“People with uteruses can menstruate. In all cases these people are females who have reached puberty. This group of people are biologically known as ‘women’”

I won't be buying benefit makeup again

I read the other day that it is possible - sorry, VALID is probably the preferred term - for a trans-identifying person to have the following characteristics:

Sex: M (or F)
Gender identity: F (or M)
Gender expression: M (or F)

No, me neither.

That would seem to cover the cases mentioned here, and the Tory MP who has declared a trans identity but is retaining birth name and not changing clothing/hairstyle etc for the time being. It would also cover Jameela Jamil and Laurie Penney, who are both 'queer', present as female and are married to males.

It reinforces what I've always thought. This is a clique and to get into the clique your face has to fit and you have to parrot the right jargon. Older women are mostly written off as too dull, closed minded and thick to gain admittance.

I really don’t care about how people identify. But there’s a lot of ‘sex is biologically make or female’ and that’s not strictly true.

Sex is defined by your chromosomes, genitalia, visible physical characteristics and hormone profile. There is a LOT of scope for those not to all be typically male or female. Hermaphroditism, to varying degrees, is a biological reality and not a freak rarity.

Since they are a cosmetics company, a better and far more fitting slogan would be,

'It's and actual fact that it's not just women that wear mascara!'

An actual fact.