A transgender activist by the name “Ben” and others were upset that Always had a a womens symbol on their products andpressured them to remove it because they said “anyone” can have periods.
I wasnt aware of this.
I guess for the first time some feminists are getting tired of trying to “erase women”.
I guess this is the feminist equivalent of a White Pride parade?
This reminds me of the kerfuffle over Starbucks having a holiday cup that wasn’t sufficiently “Christmas-y”. Don’t people have better things to worry about than what logos aren’t on the packaging of products? I mean, I guess I can see if a product started to print a swastika and Hitler quotes on it’s packaging, I’d probably be troubled. But troubled by the ABSENCE of some specific symbol?
Is the product still a good menstrual pad? How’s the price?
Uh the website you linked to is infamous for its inaccuracies and outright distortions. As a transgendered person, let me say even if this story is true 99% of us could care less about “issues” like this.
I think the starbucks cup kerfuffle was mostly made-up, too.
Both the Venus symbol and the Isis cross are extremely gynecological. While they do not apply to anybody and everybody who may need gynecological care, they do apply to anybody and everybody who has periods.
Ben and co aren’t just speshal snuflekx, they have never taken one good look at those symbols.
I feel like it’s highly unlikely they wouldn’t see that, especially if you pointed it out, but it’s both entirely possible to realize that a symbol comes from certain features of human anatomy but also has come to refer to a certain social group because of the same long-standing biological assumptions they’re going against. That is, the original intent doesn’t matter decades or centuries down the road, what matters is the social implications.
The point of the matter is that AFAB non-binary people, trans men, and third gender identifying AFAB people, don’t want to be equated with women because of their physical medical needs. The symbol, regardless of what it represents, culturally means “woman” and they’re trying to cast off the mantle of “woman”. Is this The Most Important Battle About Gender In History? Yeah no. Not at all, and the brand wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t seen as profitable in the current trend of “woke marketing”, but it is a small cultural victory. Note that the activist mentioned won an award primarily for a documentary they (not sure about pronouns) did, this news is just a side effect of a bunch of people making a little noise, and a push from someone with a tiny bit of name recognition. They have done and continue to do unrelated more important work.
Though I will note, as far as I’m aware (I could be wrong), the consensus is that the Venus symbol originally represented a necklace (some say hand mirror but this is more recent), not a birth canal (as admittedly yonic as it is). The Ankh (I’m assuming this is what is meant by “Isis cross” my browser won’t load the Daily Wire article cuz of script blockers and I can only see the Mail article) I’ll give because it’s likely based off the Tyet, which is thought to resemble Isis’ menstrual rag.
… that said if they complained about that one I don’t think I’ve commonly seen the Ankh used as a women’s symbol though… mostly either a pan-African symbol, a goth symbol, or a new age symbol (or a “HEY LOOK THIS IS MEANT TO BE SET IN ANCIENT EGYPT” symbol along with sphinxes and pyramids). Admittedly New Ageyness from a certain era trends “divine feminine” and can be heavily culturally intertwined with Second Wave Feminism and such (though nowadays it hews very non-specifically queer too)… but I’ve never seen that symbol used over, say, the Symbol of the Goddess or crescent moon or similar symbols. Honestly I’d say I’ve seen Baphomet’s horned head used to invoke that anatomy more than I’ve seen the Ankh.
Backwards: yes, thank you, I was drawing a blank on “ankh”. And the same people who say the Venus symbol is a necklace also say the Mars symbol is a drawn bow and arrow.
I double-checked a couple of hieroglyphic dictionaries, and there are a lot of words spelled with an “ankh”, but none of them have anything to do with women, or with sex. The most common root means “life/live”.
The “Venus”/“copper” alchemical symbol was adapted to represent female plants by Linnaeus (1751). ETA: he used “Mars” for male plants, and “Mercury” for hybrids.
Gotta say, as I kid I always got the male and female symbols confused, because the “female” symbol looked to me like a circle with a penis and balls hanging off it.
:shrug:
I think you can see whatever you want to see in these things.
Yeah this feels a lot like another very smart and productive shtick by the “I identify as an attack helicopter” crowd tbh.
Not only do trans folk in general don’t give a shit about mainstream products being binary IME (or rather just deal with it because nobody’s got the time for that) ; most are consumed by slightly different problems than the symbols displayed on their fucking tampon boxes. Stuff like “Can I be allowed to exist ? A little bit ? Please ?”. You know, simple and comfortable stuff.
The **only **people concerned that trans or queer or NB folk are imposing their oogyboogy personal gender frameworks and ramming them good and hard and long down our in retrospect suspiciously eager mainstream throats are the usual pearl-clutching, scandal manufacturing, concern trolling, bad faith arguing fuckmooks. You know, guys like noted mass murder-inspirer Ben Shapiro, of The Daily Wire’s and getting ridiculed by an arch paleo-conservative live on the BBC’s fame.
I’m also sure the Daily fucking Mail is reeeal concerned about trans “erasing women”, first because it really is a thing that exists and is happening you guys, not entirely unlike white genocide ; second because Daily Mail readers can’t get enough RadFem analysis and post-modern critique of consumerist culture. It’s just their jam, queen, they signal boost that shit to the Heavens. The Daily Mail’s lit light that.
As for myself, I can’t get enough TERF takes pushed by notoriously progressive, for real honest Injun no fooling ally and haver of good opinions Urbanredneck.
Jesus, and actually reading the article is even worse. “A chilling move in elimination of women’s biology” ? Fucking really ?
This reminds me of a stiry a couple of years back about a campaign to encourage men to be checked for prostate cancer, and there were complaints that it was transphobic because “some women have prostates”, and the campaign was changed to say something like “people who have prostates” should have prostate screenings.
ROFL
I, for one, am abjectly terrified that my biology will be eliminated by trans activists writing letters to the makers of feminine hygiene products.
I know, right ? Can’t you see your cooch ever so progressively ebbing away from you under your very eyes in a slow, artful fade ; possibly in black and white ; certainly with a soul stirring somber violin melody seguing into intense EDM untss untss’s as the trans activists are suddenly Having Their Way ?
Anyway that’s my rational vision on this issue. I should make videos for the Daily Mail.
“Anyone can have periods” - well, if “anyone” means, only those who have a uterus.
We’re living in an outright Emperor’s New Clothes society these days.
Strictly from reading the OP’s linked article, it’s the “feminists” and not the “transgender activists” who sound like the nuts.
And not all of those who have a uterus are women. See, you were 2/3rds of the way there already, don’t quit trying to keep up !
I am outraged! This is very concerning! Thank you OP for forwarding this chilling information. I will certainly keep this in mind as I go to the polls. You have done a great job here.
Oh, yeah.
Full disclosure, I have a friend who is a transman who hasn’t had surgery. So he has a uterus. And I’ve read a Facebook post where he was happy his doctor had a sign that said, “guys can have periods, too”, or something like that. So I’ve run into this idea before.
I’m sure he doesn’t care enough to wrote to a tampon company to ask them to remove a “female” symbol from their packaging. Because there are probably 5000 issues he cares more about – most of them having nothing to do with sex or gender (he has a life, after all.)
The crazies are the ones who are OUTRAGED and feel threatened by the removal of a symbol from the packaging. How can you be upset about the LACK of a symbol. It’s not like the package doesn’t tell you what it is.
And I doubt there really are many people in that camp, either. I think it must be a slow news day or something.
This really is like the fake outrage over Starbucks having a snowflake instead of a tree on their “holiday” cup.