Boots menopause advice for "people with a vagina"

[Givemepickles]

On their menopause support page, where apparently they want to normalise the menopause...

https://www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/womenshealth/menopause-support

"The menopause is a natural process which people with a vagina go through as they get older however, in some cases, is medically induced. As oestrogen levels start to drop, periods become less frequent and eventually stop altogether. For some, their periods stop quickly, but for others, it can take a few months or a few years. Everyone is different.

Menopause signs and symptoms are different for everyone and usually begin between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age for people in the UK being 51. Whilst some choose to seek treatment plans from their GP, others will look for other solutions to help manage signs & symptoms."

I'm so sick of this. I'm not defined by having a vagina! I am a woman. Piss off Boots.

Changing one phrase is not going to cut it, Boots.

Women need our words back.

Can't believe we're still having to deal with this nonsense.

To be fair I probably prefer the use of period care. "Feminine" just sounds so faux coy, and re-enforces the idea that being a woman is the same as being feminine.

🤣🤣🤣

Some advice for Boots from a person with a vagina: use proper words, respect your target market & remember, go woke, go broke.

I'm disgusted with Boots. I've bought gifts, skin care products, make up, false nails and contact lens solution there for years. Done with them now, they won't be getting a single penny more from me.

What's Superdrug like on this?

gosh did it really get changed?! let's get on to the rest of the pages quick smart :)

It's like bloody whack a mole

I'm sure someone has made this point already but post-operative transmen will arguably no longer have a vagina but they will presumably still have a menopause as they have ovaries/womb (unless removed) whereas trans women may have a surgically constructed vagina but won't go through the menopause as they have no womb. So aside from being medically incorrect, who exactly are they trying to include with this? Pre-op transmen and non-binary people? As someone has said, why do the 99% of women who identify as such have to shove along and be defined by (incorrectly defined) body parts?

Also I can't get my head around the idea that non-binary or pre-op transmen would genuinely have an issue with the word "woman" in this context. It feels like Boots are solving for an issue that never existed in the first place.

Well done Mumsnetters who emailed and kicked off!

They don’t like when women organise and here is proof as to why. I salute you my vagina having comrades 😉

Difficulty is the ‘period’ section often includes intimate wash products, incontinence pads, daily pads, sometimes pregnancy tests, contraception and women’s multivitamins etc. Well in my local store it’s all one area.

Female Health Products would be more encompassing I think.

And the way they seem to have dispensed (ha!)with employing reasonable numbers of staff.
I used to get my prescriptions via Boots, I don’t any more. There was rarely pharmacy cover.

Power to the people. Sorry, I mean women. 😄

Looks like they changed it!

Surely it should say people with ovaries if it has to not say women?

It does say this ...

The menopause is a natural process which women go through as they get older

It said 'which people go through' before! Wow, have they really changed it?!

I’ve emailed the CEO of boots and also Sexmatters. Having revisited the Boots website they have changed one word on the front page , every other piece of writing is carefully avoiding using the word woman or female etc.

I can't see the bit about vaginas anymore - I'm either looking in the wrong place (highly likely) or they've changed it (probably less likely...)

I wonder why men aren’t described as ‘penis havers’.

@SirChenjins here you are, I screenshot it as. I thought it might disappear

Having come to this thread late and seen that many of the links I've checked have been updated to use clearer/more correct language, I think this is a really good news story.

Well done to Boots for responding quickly and the women of FWR for persuading yet another company to change it's mind.

The PCOS section is still wrong, as are a couple of others that I've found. I think it's worth us all continuing to write to them.

I'm beginning to find these hilarious.

No one feels squeamish about saying vagina, vulva, uterus, hole, breast, submissive, periods, menopause. Corporates are falling over themselves to show how unashamed and progressive they are in using private words in public!

But the words sex and woman? anything to refer to the group of adult human female? Argh! Run for the hills. Ewwww!

@boudiccathecat This is the text that I'm seeing now (on my PC so not able to screenshot it)

WHAT IS MENOPAUSE?
Here at Boots, we are on a mission to normalise the menopause. We want to be there to support you through your journey; from perimenopause to when you are post-menopausal.
The menopause is a natural process which women go through as they get older however, in some cases, is medically induced. As oestrogen levels start to drop, periods become less frequent and eventually stop altogether. For some, their periods stop quickly, but for others, it can take a few months or a few years. Everyone is different.
Menopause signs and symptoms are different for everyone and usually begin between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age for people in the UK being 51. Whilst some choose to seek treatment plans from their GP, others will look for other solutions to help manage signs & symptoms.

Here you go