National Museum of Scotland - people who menstruate

[Holdmypint]

The National Museum of Scotland have acquired materials relating to periods through the ages - interesting: blog.nms.ac.uk/2023/02/13/period-products-for-a-21st-century-scotland/

But in an article that talks about the social stigma of periods, it's interesting how a very new social stigma is evident - using the word 'woman'. Yes we do get a desultory mention towards the end, but in the main it's that dehumanising 'people who menstruate ' again, or sometimes just 'people'.

Interesting too how the article mentions provision of period products in schools, so that girls don't have to miss school - never mind the fact that if there are mixed sex toilets in schools, period products are not going to stop girls missing school.

Some months ago I commented on a blog post at the NOW website in the US. The post was about the importance of letting transwomen into all women's sports and contained dreadfully biased interpretations of major studies.

My comment never appeared, so a few friends also commented. None of their comments appeared, either.

The authoritarianism of the new progressive feminism is part and parcel of the wider authoritarianism everywhere in politics, but it is heartbreaking to observe happening. Though in this case I suspect that it was the blog author at NOW who decided which comments would be posted. The power from below, so to speak.

I'm okay with "girls" since girls do menstruate too, I started at 11 and I was nowhere near a woman yet. But no men or boys do.
The NMS annoys me, they have a tour of "LGBTQI+ history" and it's got some great things in it, but it's all things from lesbians and gay men who would never have wanted to be called "queer", let alone what the "+" could stand for. It includes exhibits about Alan Turing who was put on hormones as a punishment for being gay, and they don't see any irony in lumping him in with the TQ+ and all that stuff.

'girls' is fine, of course, when it's used for girls. But when all females are 'girls' it's a different matter.

Not a single comment published! Pah.