I want to reply to this email! Help me word this

[Nameychangey11]

Name changed for this
My work has just sent an email out about menopause

Not once does it mention women

Around half the POPULATION goes through menopause

I understand they are trying to be "inclusive" but feels like alienating to women

Should I say something! Help me draft what I should say because here's what I would say "why no reference to WOMEN who are actually the ones who experience this?"

Why cant you write it yourself if you feel so strongly about it? Or are you just outraged on principle?

But what they have said is true.

I would say something like if they want to inclusive, but clear (especially important in cases where, for example, English is someone’s second language), they would be better to say ‘women, trans men and some non binary people’

Accessibility of language to the female people this is relevant to. This language is terribly middle class educated white English, with all its pet preoccupations and special patronised groups front and centre. It's not inclusive. It's not accessible. It does nothing to make the information available to women who speak English as an additional language or women with literacy barriers, women with Autism and literal understanding of language, or women who do not believe that some females are not female and some males are female and consent to participate in maintaining this illusion. Inclusive and accessible either means all groups or it is appropriating and manipulating those words for hidden political purposes.

And that's before we get into the ethics of detaching women from their own language and biology because male people might feel not sufficiently pandered to. This erases and reframes women away from their bodies, their sex, it makes an absolute nonsense of virtue signalling about 'look at how progressive we are talking about this!'. It's political Keeping Up With the Joneses. It cares nothing about women or menopause.

In fact in short, I'd ask what was the primary purpose of this.

If it was to support women, it failed.

If it was to signal to male people how very important they are and how centred they are by this politically very very good and progressive group? Well that was probably more of a win.

I would say something like:

I appreciate that employers are finally acknowledging menopause in the workplace, but I'm wondering why you were unable to specify that it's the female half of the population that will go through it. Sex is a protected characteristic of the 2010 Equality Act (link) and menopause is sex-specific; only women will experience it. Clarity of language is particularly important when discussing health issues. There is no point in getting over squeamishness in discussing the human body, to then be coy with the terminology. This is especially important for the large proportion of the UK population for whom English is a second/third language. I would therefore be grateful if you could modify information on menopause training to use the word "women", with a footnote acknowledging that this also impacts transmen and female non-binary people.

‘Thankyou for your recent communications handling issues around the menopause. You mention that 50% of the population will go through this, but there is no indication of how I can recognise those colleagues to whom it might apply. Perhaps you could clarify/name which class of people you would expect to experience these issues? That would make the communications so much clearer, especially for those colleagues who might find your language confusing because of….’ - groups and explanations clearly listed by pop’s above

Hope this helps get your ideas moving

Tempting to ask which 50% of the population and how you know if it’s relevant to you?

X post with Beowulfa’s much more professional approach 😉

@nilsmousehammer
*This language is terribly middle class educated white English, with all its pet preoccupations and special patronised groups front and centre. It's not inclusive. It's not accessible. It does nothing to make the information available to women who speak English as an additional language or women with literacy barriers, women with Autism and literal understanding of language, or women who do not believe that some females are not female and some males are female and consent to participate in maintaining this illusion. Inclusive and accessible either means all groups or it is appropriating and manipulating those words for hidden political purposes.

And that's before we get into the ethics of detaching women from their own language and biology because male people might feel not sufficiently pandered to. This erases and reframes women away from their bodies, their sex, it makes an absolute nonsense of virtue signalling about 'look at how progressive we are talking about this!'. It's political Keeping Up With the Joneses. It cares nothing about women or menopause*

This is so well put!

^^ I think this is excellent, but I would also be asking for a confirmation of a date when it will be changed and how the language change will be communicated. Otherwise everyone will nod sagely and do fuck-all.

I really appreciate your responses

Yes I could write something myself but this will be the first time that I "put myself out there" to defend the fact women shouldn't be erased

I really really appreciate everyone's replies here and you have massively helped me formulate a response which is basically a copy and paste of alot of your replies!

NHSP have done much better.

Well, no, because all those individuals are women. So 'women' will do nicely.

A company that is good at DEI is one that recognises that different groups have different needs. It is women that are directly affected by menopause and it is important that employers recognise and name them. If they want to add female trans identifying people into the conversation that is good too. I imagine if a company was supporting Pride they would have little problem naming the people they are supporting so the same should apply to women.

I wish there was a like button @nannync

I dunno..

I often think that men in general think of the population being men, and women and children are others. So reminding them that they are only a part of a whole is a good thing.

Also, by saying "women experience menopause" will just make men disregard it because it's not a real problem and only affects a few women of a certain age and only for a couple of months. We know the reality is very different, but often they don't.

And not all women do experience menopause so it's possible they are trying to be inclusive of all women.

You’re preaching to the choir.

But the OP said originally that they wanted to question why the word women wasn’t used. Not out themselves as a dyed in the wool GC’er.

Isn't the point they're trying to make (writing to all employees) that this is something experienced by 50% of the population so it's high time we paid mote attention to it?

There are plenty of good battles to fight about language but this doesn't sound like the most important one, it's a style choice.

@And not all women do experience menopause so it's possible they are trying to be inclusive of all women.

Aye right. Nothing to do with the tiny number of women who lose their ovaries before puberty but everything to do with excluding the word woman from anything to do with female biology, because it upsets the male people who want to use this word to describe themselves. All about the men!

by saying "women experience menopause" will just make men disregard it

Who cares, it's not about men. It's about women finding help.

And not all women do experience menopause so it's possible they are trying to be inclusive of all women

Do you mean menopause symptoms or are you talking about men who claim to be women here? Because women using the word women in regards to talking about the menopause has fuck all to do with these men.

All women will go through menopause if they live long enough., so why would they need to stop using the word women in regards to menopause, 50% of the population, just because it might upset a tiny minority of females who claim they aren't women or some men who claim they are?

What was the point of the email? Are there workshops, info sessions, training? Or is it just telling you that a random half of the workforce will have to deal with something and nobody knows who that will be?

As a person of a class capable of producing large gametes, the cessation of large gametes production directly affects me. It might happen from a surgical intervention at a younger age than is common but I will still experience symptoms surrounding cessation of gametes production when it happens.

Since “person of a class capable of producing large gametes” takes up a full sentence, it is productive to reduce this term to a shorthand. The word ‘woman’ is ideal. Please use it in all communications about the menopause to avoid confusion.

Your Sincerely
A female person

Makes you wonder what the hell they think the end game of this is. In forty years when the workforce is largely made up of bright young things raised in the belief that biological sex isn't a thing and menopause happens randomly and unpredictably to 50% of people with no way of predicting whom...? Are we going to have all the staff, male and female, worrying whether they're having hot flushes and dry vag as their uterus and reproductive system shifts through hormonal changes? Where years ago there were whispered conversations in toilets and dark alleys about what a period was and why you were unexpectedly bleeding because it wasn't something women could talk about, are there going to be scared whispers about 'don't worry, this won't happen to you because you (hushed voice, checking for police) were born male '?

Or does this rely on everyone knowing really that this is only going to happen to biological females and acting accordingly, but all politely pretending otherwise for.... reasons not really specified other than currently being terribly fashionable for a very, very small group of people? Many of whom will have taken hormones and chosen medical procedures that mean their typical reproductive systems and cycles have become wholly individualised and medically supervised anyway and so it's not relevant to them personally?

Why this huge performative lie when it blocks information from people who do need it?

Which is why another PP suggested putting in a disclaimer (ideally footnoted?) stating that this also applies to x, y, z groups.