Althouse: "It's extremely offensive because it's pretty much saying..."

January 2, 2012

"It's extremely offensive because it's pretty much saying..."

"... the only way you can be a woman is to get your period."

68 comments:

Wince said...: My advice to the disconcerted tranny in the commercial is the same as my reaction to those who found the commercial "extremely offensive":

why don't you shove it up your ass!; 1/2/12, 3:56 PM
jacksonjay said...: My advise would be to "grow a pair."; 1/2/12, 4:03 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Transphobic?

Not me.. nosir.

Some of my best friends are bus drivers.; 1/2/12, 4:08 PM
jeff said...: I see the confusion. Clearly getting a period is NOT the only way to be a woman. The only way to be a woman is to.......uh, be a woman.; 1/2/12, 4:10 PM
Paco Wové said...: "The ... ad also ... reinforced the belief that transgendered people were not normal, Ms Witehira said."

Not normal? Perish the thought.; 1/2/12, 4:15 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: The only way you can be a woman is to get your period.

You ever notice no one is concerned about being a lady anymore? If they were, many would fail.

Ahh, who am I fooling?

I Fall In Love Waaay Too Easily,...; 1/2/12, 4:17 PM
rhhardin said...: There can't be transphobia. Trans is Latin and phobia is Greek.

That's worse than automobile.

It has to be either epiphobia or transtimorousness.; 1/2/12, 4:17 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I'm sure the tampon company is as worried about outrage from transsexuals as it would be about outrage from men.; 1/2/12, 4:22 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: All transsexuals should boycott these tampons.; 1/2/12, 4:25 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: All transsexuals should boycott these tampons.; 1/2/12, 4:26 PM
bagoh20 said...: I happen to have a woman's liver (God bless her soul). I think that makes me even more female than a transsexual. I don't even get a letter in the LGBT, it needs one more "T" for "transplant".

Surprisingly, getting a female liver has made me less bitchy, and yes I do know how to be a lady. I just choose not to be. Like my fellow LGBTT brothers and sisters, my mind overpowers my physical reality and I remain a man of extraordinary manliness, despite my female parts.; 1/2/12, 4:31 PM
Toad Trend said...: Tampon-envy transgenders providing a 'plug' of their own to the tampon company.

God I love this country.; 1/2/12, 4:31 PM
Cedarford said...: Females are females from birth to death. Any cell in their body can be taken, put under a microscope and pronounced "female origin". And for sure, being a women doesn't end with menopause.

The problem we have as a society is that we are so grovelling to "personal choice" (led by certain vapid carriers of the XX chromosome) - that people are reluctant to offend by stating the obvious:

1. A short man in elevator shoes or on stilts is not a tall man. He is a short man who has "Chosen" to be taller and demands others consider him taller.
2. Chastity Bono is not a bona fide new man, Chaz Bono. Chastity is an "it" and no surgery or hormone treatments will make "it" a man...despite PC calls that we must look upon Chaz and BELIEVE it is so, because "Chaz wishes it to be..and we should-never-offend!!"; 1/2/12, 4:32 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Yea. Pretty much.

Genetics are what they are.

Or ....you can't food Mother Nature.

All transsexuals should boycott these tampons

LOL; 1/2/12, 4:32 PM
Rick said...: Great ad, and the first tampon ad I have ever watched. Are they all this good?
Great point about real women, too.; 1/2/12, 4:33 PM
kimsch said...: When you spend your time searching for reasons to be outraged - that's all you'll find.

It was clearly a drag queen vs a young woman.

Yep, they can both use lipstick and mascara as those products are meant to be used. Nope, only one can use a tampon as it's meant to be used.

And yet, the outraged say that the commerical implies that the only way to be a woman is to have a period.

Do they forget all the post-menopausal women or those that have needed a hysterectomy and consequently have no use for a tampon? Are they no longer "women"?

wv: chmme; 1/2/12, 4:33 PM
bagoh20 said...: Some threads only really need the first comment. Well done, EDH.

The tampon companies have an opportunity here for a new product designed for a new kind of customer.; 1/2/12, 4:35 PM
bagoh20 said...: These PC outrages are often a result of someone stating the obvious truth, and the aggrieved party wanting to 1) Deny that truth, and 2) Blame someone for it being true.

The desire is to hurt someone else because you don't like the truth. That's a little evil if you asked me.; 1/2/12, 4:42 PM
edutcher said...: Rather surprised the Kiwis, who are pretty doctrinaire in the PC department, even aired this, but the "How Dast Thou?" tone of the homosexuals is really over the top.

But, then, I think things like this are the rocks on which the homosexual agenda will eventually founder.

The Crack Emcee said...

The only way you can be a woman is to get your period.

You ever notice no one is concerned about being a lady anymore? If they were, many would fail.

Crack, don't ever let anyone tell you you're not one of the good guys.; 1/2/12, 4:48 PM
DEEBEE said...: I always thought that transphobia was a fear of trans-fats, like big macs not big maxine.; 1/2/12, 4:52 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Transphobia" could be a fear of organ transplantees. There is no reason to fear us - we mean you no harm. We are just like you, although substantially superior, like a car with new tires.; 1/2/12, 5:03 PM
michaele said...: I found it playful and sly and, although female, at 63, I don't use tampons.; 1/2/12, 5:20 PM
Gary Rosen said...: The ad worked great even if it's never shown again. Tons of free publicity for the product.; 1/2/12, 5:20 PM
mythusmage said...: So would women who never went through puberty and thus do not have periods not be women?; 1/2/12, 5:32 PM
mythusmage said...: Cedarford,

So an XY woman, born female, developed female, functions female is not female?

If only the universe worked as simply as you prefer it would.; 1/2/12, 5:36 PM
rhhardin said...: Any cell in their body can be taken, put under a microscope and pronounced "female origin".

Also her zodiac sign.; 1/2/12, 5:44 PM
Michael Haz said...: "All transsexuals should boycott these tampons."

Except in hospital ERs, where they are the preferred treatment for stopping bloody noses.

I know this first hand.

And I also know that no matter how badly one wants to return to the bar where one's friends are, walking in with tampons in one's nose is never a good idea when one's friends have a camera.; 1/2/12, 5:56 PM
dbp said...: If anyone is outraged shouldn't it be women? Implicit in the commercial is that women should be fine with men dressed as women using the ladies room.; 1/2/12, 5:58 PM
John Burgess said...: @Cedarford: Here's a question for you...

I've a friend who has/had a form of leukemia that required a complete marrow transplant. The source of the marrow was his sister.

If one takes his blood sample, his DNA is 100% XX, not the XY that males exhibit.

Is he male or female?; 1/2/12, 6:02 PM
Rockeye said...: Freeman Hunt sez:
"I'm sure the tampon company is as worried about outrage from transsexuals as it would be about outrage from men."
Pithily Redundant!; 1/2/12, 6:10 PM
Grant Michael McKenna said...: The drag queen is Sandee Crack, of Melbourne, Australia. She identifies as a drag queen, and, afaik, not as transsexual.; 1/2/12, 6:10 PM
Beth said...: Drag queen and transgender are not the same thing. The folks in an uproar have conflated the two, which makes this all very funny.; 1/2/12, 6:35 PM
Titus said...: I don't care for trannys.; 1/2/12, 6:45 PM
grackle said...: I’m fine with drag queens and other gays. I’m fine with same sex marriage. But the medical profession has a lot to answer for in the case of sex change operations. These folks need counseling not a sex change operation – which doesn’t really change the sex of the patient anyway.

If I were to tell my doctor, “Hey, I really feel like I should be a one-legged person. Would you mind amputating one of my legs?” I think he would not do it.

But if I were to tell him that I felt like a women and want my penis removed he would probably refer me to a sex change doctor. Such is the power of political correctness, even in the medical profession.; 1/2/12, 6:58 PM
jacksonjay said...: What is Rachel Maddow?; 1/2/12, 7:00 PM
Cedarford said...: John Burgess said...
@Cedarford: Here's a question for you...

I've a friend who has/had a form of leukemia that required a complete marrow transplant. The source of the marrow was his sister.

If one takes his blood sample, his DNA is 100% XX, not the XY that males exhibit.

Is he male or female?
========================
If I graft a plum shoot onto a peach tree that later branches next to the pear branch grafted in earlier...is it still a peach tree? Yes.
The thing the PC crowd ignores is that the XX or XY gamete in almost all cases, with freak exceptions, is on a path to being a male or female of the species with "hardwired features" like brain activity, skeletal structure, liver function, metabolism showing gender differences and no changable by surgery or hormone shots or multiple sessions with a psychologist.
Indeed, the source of this PC is a small community of psychologists that believe gender is a readily transformable "choice".
Which is crap.; 1/2/12, 7:12 PM
Peano said...: OK, here's the rule: If you are born with a dick, you can't be a girl.

Any questions?; 1/2/12, 7:27 PM
Craig said...: Didn't Supreme Court judge Alice Cooper rule on this in 1975 when he/she/it recorded Only Women Bleed?; 1/2/12, 7:46 PM
chuck b. said...: "If I graft a plum shoot onto a peach tree that later branches next to the pear branch grafted in earlier...is it still a peach tree?"

Oh, but pears do not graft well onto peach, or any other fruit tree. Pears are famously easy to graft onto other pears tho'. (Plum onto peach *is* correct. The other way does not work.)

:); 1/2/12, 7:48 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Grackle,

Don't be too sure that your doctor wouldn't clop off that undesired limb of yours. Take a gander at this.

I, like you, am astounded at the supportive & completely uncritical treatment of people requesting gender change surgery. I mean, be supportive of someone who's filling their house with detritus? How weird! But get some guy who wants to have all his equipment totally removed, depilated, two saline bags inserted into his chest, shot full of hormones, and then have a trench carved into his middle --- well, let's all get on board with it!

What percentage of surgically transgendered folks regret their surgery? Who knows, especially from the popular press. Is the desire to change gender really the desire to be the other gender or is it like apotemnophilia, a deep seated desire to be rid of body parts that is psychologically transformed into a desire to be the "other".; 1/2/12, 7:55 PM
jacksonjay said...: I thought it was Justice Steven Tyler's ruling regarding the appearance of the Dude!; 1/2/12, 7:58 PM
YoungHegelian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/2/12, 8:05 PM
Craig said...: I passed a kidney stone. That should count for something.; 1/2/12, 8:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Craig@8:06

I feel for you, and yes, it counts for something. I'm just not sure what.; 1/2/12, 8:12 PM
Titus said...: What if you are a woman who is a hag and doesn't flow anymore/; 1/2/12, 8:13 PM
YoungHegelian said...: And, no, ladies, I mean no disrespect to you & your original, factory installed equipment when I describe the artificial vaginas created for transgendered individuals as a "trench".

The male body of a trans-woman treats the new vagina as a wound, and tries mightily to close it. Trans-women require lots of hormone treatment and frequent dilation to keep their vaginas from disappearing!; 1/2/12, 8:15 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Well, this perimenopausal woman thinks she's still female even while not menstruating. Just sayin'.

wv: troveste!; 1/2/12, 8:20 PM
Titus said...: Do you older gals get down after you can't be on the rag anymore?; 1/2/12, 8:29 PM
Titus said...: Is menopause immediate or is it a long process where eventually after many months you just dry up?; 1/2/12, 8:32 PM
traditionalguy said...: This is a lot like left handed golfers demanding respect for their disability.

If they want respect, then they should turn it around and putt the ball into the hole with the front of the club.

Buying left handed clubs doesn't make one into a real golfer.; 1/2/12, 8:53 PM
Quaestor said...: mythusmage wrote:
If only the universe worked as simply as you prefer it would.

So being a woman amounts to donning a costume and affecting a certain manner of speaking and moving, is that where your thinking takes you?; 1/2/12, 8:56 PM
Milwaukee said...: What I want to know is why Ann posted At the Fingerling Café... at 3:44 pm, and then this one at 3:47 pm. Is that so we could look at the pictures of the bowl of whatever at the Fingerling Cafe and then think about tampons? Whats up with that? Not at all subtle.

One of my complaints about all of the PC sexual orientation stuff is that it tries to make concrete what is fluid. Men, for example, demonstrate a wide range of behaviors, some are more masculine like, some less, which doesn't necessarily mean feminine, although some males are more feminine like. That is they seem display behaviors and preferences similar to what "typical" females might express, assuming anybody has any idea what a "typical" female is like. That is both an individual male in different settings, and males as a group.

So nurturing is associated with females, yet men can be nurturing. Does that make them ... what? In other-words, it takes more than clothes and surgery to make a woman out of a man. I know plenty of women who are not slaves to fashion, does that make them less women? I think not.

We do know males and females exhibit gender specific traits: men are more likely to identify themselves by their work: I'm a lawyer, I'm a farmer, I'm a carpenter. Women are more likely to identify themselves by their relationships: I'm a mother, a sister, an aunt or a daughter. (The vast majority of this audience is mature enough, I hope, to see that the vague words I'm using, such as "most" and "more likely" to indicate just that: a strong characteristic. There are some Black men who can't jump, and some Asians who aren't good at math. For those of you in the minority, I'm sorry you're in the state of misunderstanding.); 1/2/12, 9:02 PM
William said...: If you chose to live a transgendered life, I would recommend, even more than hormone shots, developing a sense of humor....To the extent that a tampon ad can be in good taste, this was in good taste. What if they took their cue from paper towel ads?; 1/2/12, 9:41 PM
William said...: If men menstruated, tampons would be a source of endless gross out humor. They would be bigger than farts.,; 1/2/12, 9:47 PM
William said...: Also men would brag about how many tampons they had to use during their monthlies.; 1/2/12, 9:49 PM
William said...: Also, tampons would have cooler names like Clotbuster, Rampart, or Brinker. There'd be a guy like the Marlboro man riding along a dusty culvert. He's say that don't let the dust fool you, out in these parts you got to watch out for flash floods. A real man packs Ramparts when it's that season.; 1/2/12, 10:05 PM
reformed trucker said...: "So being a woman amounts to donning a costume and affecting a certain manner of speaking and moving, is that where your thinking takes you?" - Quaestor to mythusmage

I thought mythusmage was saying you need to be born with a pussy to be considered a woman...; 1/2/12, 10:38 PM
KCFleming said...: Somewhere in hell, Michel Foucauld is laughing his ass off.; 1/2/12, 11:04 PM
Known Unknown said...: Are any of these upset trannys named Francis?; 1/2/12, 11:30 PM
Joan said...: Comments over there (so far) are awesome: Do you really think Libra care if tranny's are upset? It's not like Libra are offending their customers, as men dressed as women are hardly the target market of the tampon industry.; 1/2/12, 11:34 PM
Chip S. said...: I'm now ready to pitch an ad to Gerber that involves two hungry babies, a lactating mom, a tranny, and a bottle of Good Start™.

Thanks, Althouse!; 1/2/12, 11:59 PM
Gene said...: "Obviously we can't menstruate. But we identify as female."

Obviously we can't fly. But we identify as a bald eagle.; 1/3/12, 3:24 AM
Bob_R said...: @rhhardin - Don't you think that a word that "goes both ways" is appropriate in this situation?; 1/3/12, 6:28 AM
TMink said...: Of course transgendered people are abnormal, it is a very, very rare condition with far less than one in a thousand having that problem.

Someone needs to understand the meaning of the word normal.

Trey; 1/3/12, 8:26 AM
Conserve Liberty said...: I can't define a woman, but I know her when I see her.; 1/3/12, 9:08 AM
Jose_K said...: In Spain and Venezuela there were two great scandal when a female public official in the former and a male one in the latter said that women were the only animal that bleed without been hurt..; 1/3/12, 9:20 AM
Methadras said...: The Crack Emcee said...

You ever notice no one is concerned about being a lady anymore? If they were, many would fail.

Ahh, who am I fooling?

I Fall In Love Waaay Too Easily,...

A Rooney Mara drugged out wannabe? Really? lol; 1/3/12, 2:05 PM
Methadras said...: The only time I ever had tampons shoved into my body was after my septoplasty surgery and then seeing them get taken out. Awful.; 1/3/12, 2:06 PM