Fifteen-year-old me would rather have died than talk to any man about my period. Forty-year-old me still isn’t that keen.
For all the feminist bravado I can muster on all the big issues of the day, I’m still uncomfortable talking about matters of women’s health to, well anyone, really.
From monstrous period pain to smear tests, breast screening and all the rest of it, my first instinct is to endure and dodge until common sense eventually reminds me to get a grip.
So I completely get why there’s been such a strong reaction to the appointment of a young man as a Period Dignity champion for Tayside.
It wasn’t helped at all by the Room 101 public relations disaster that was the picture of this guy enthusiastically holding court with a bunch of period products on the table.
His “let’s talk about cramps” vibe offset by the “will you aye, when did you last bleed?” sass of the women looking on.
If you’re looking for a villain in all of this, and god knows we’re now trained to, it’s probably the person who thought this photo shoot was a good idea.
Somebody who singularly failed to judge the mood of a country that’s in the midst of a febrile debate about womanhood in the context of trans rights at the moment.
Using a poster boy for women’s health would be a bold move at the best of times.
But it’s a particularly courageous one at the minute.
Twitter storm overshadowed Scotland’s proud moment on period poverty
The saddest thing about this whole sorry episode is how it eclipsed what was otherwise a good news day.
The enactment of a law which should effectively end period poverty in Scotland is a great step forward.
By providing free products in public places, Scotland is leading the way in ensuring its women are not denied dignity, good health and hygiene because of an absence of cash.
Monica Lennon, the Labour MSP who introduced the bill and the SNP who later adopted it deserve great credit for this ground-breaking and progressive bit of legislation.
Tayside’s Period Dignity Officer will be charged with project managing the roll out.
If that means getting boxes of tampons and sanitary towels into every community centre, library, sports facility and public building in the region, then I’ve got no problem with him doing it.
The Courier report today that he was appointed by a group of senior women who standby the fact they think he’s the best person for the job.
That’s their professional judgement.
I’m not convinced opponents would like it much if Twitter piled into their workplace and passed judgement on all the day to day decisions they make.
Twitter hate figure was not in the job description for Jason Grant
What started as a bit of a Twitter storm snowballed yesterday into a media frenzy.
Leading UK-wide commentators, such as the blogger Guido Fawkes, picked it up and fed it into his bonfire of wokeism.
There’s a picture of this guy in most UK newspapers today.
He didn’t ask for this attention and he’s probably ill equipped to cope with it.
Presumably the job was advertised as "No experience necessary"? https://t.co/RHRAUTdyMY
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) August 16, 2022
Imagine if you woke up one morning and the world’s most famous tennis star had attacked your appointment on the internet.
Martina Navratilova has more than 400,000 followers online.
That’s nearly half a million tennis fans who now know the name of some guy who used to work in the Dundee College student union. It’s bananas.
Google his name and it’s awash with abuse.
If 1,000 people decry something as creepy on the internet, it becomes the perceived wisdom.
We should all be aware of the mob mentality that flows from Twitter storms like this.
If mob rule wins, who loses out?
Social media platforms create a space for communities of people with a shared view on an issue to organise and mobilise.
There’s value in this, but there’s also real danger.
The more time we spend in groups like this, the more convinced we become of our own righteousness.
We wind each other up and get angrier and surer. Less tolerant of those who disagree with us.
I’m not sure a single mind has ever been changed voluntarily with a pitchfork.
These stories have what seasoned political hacks like me might refer to as “a narrative arc”.
It feels likely, although not inevitable, that this young guy will either be hounded out of his job or quietly moved on.
Jason, Scotland’s 1st period dignity officer (he’s bloke in the blood red polo shirt) mansplaining menstruation to a couple of woman. Wonder if he’s ever experienced the horror of a blood stained dress in public, or the gut-wrenching fear of a missed period? No, didn’t think so. pic.twitter.com/HX7aZ4DBoZ
— Susan Dalgety (@DalgetySusan) August 15, 2022
Would that be a victory of any sort?
I fear this guy is going to be utterly miserable in post because his existence will continue to attract heat from the embers of this firestorm.
It might be tomorrow or it might be next month. But the mob will persist and then it will likely win.
Will that make a single young woman more likely to talk up about the debilitating pain she’s in?
Does it make anyone more likely to know there’s free tampons in the sport centre?
Does it reduce the stigma around the one of the most natural processes in the history of humankind?
I have my doubts.
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