The Minnesota Legislature is on a roll.
Of course, most politicians are embarrassing, so I shouldn’t be too shocked at how stupid and morally vacuous they can be. But still, I keep hoping that there are limits, and I keep getting disappointed.
As I was perusing my local paper, the Star Tribune, I ran across this Op/Ed arguing that schools should provide menstrual products to students.
I don’t have a problem with that. I have never been a teenage girl, but I can imagine the embarrassment of needing menstrual products and not happening to have one. While I usually scoff at the use of the term “trauma” when describing incidents of discomfort, in this case I can imagine a teen girl being traumatized by such an experience at school.
In this article: "menstruators of color"
Inclusive language means nothing unless you've reduced people to their skin color *and* bodily functions. Intersectional wonders never cease!https://t.co/d5q1Gv1020
— MauertheBulldog (@BullyMaus) January 13, 2023
But the argument for what seems a common sense policy is undermined by the ridiculousness of the proponents. Rather than just pushing through a normal bill or asking the Department of Education to quietly issue a rule, the legislators and activists have to turn the whole thing into a DEI monstrosity.
Period poverty dramatically impacts the ability of many students across Minnesota to get a quality education. Period poverty is defined as the struggle to afford adequate menstrual products. The impact is felt disproportionately by menstruators of color and is pervasive. In a recent study, 84% of those surveyed who struggle to afford menstrual products have reported missing school as a result.
We are thrilled and relieved that the Minnesota Legislature is going to do something about this pressing issue.
This legislative session, the Menstrual Equity Coalition is focused on passing the Menstrual Equity Bill (HF44/SF50). This bill will require all Minnesota district and charter schools to provide free menstrual products in all bathrooms, grades four through 12, ensuring access for all students who menstruate.
Now I have a hard time believing that affording menstrual products is actually a massive issue requiring the might of the Minnesota government to eradicate. The fact that in 2022 we have to invent a novel term indicates to me that perhaps they are being a bit hyperbolic. And the ability to produce a precise statistic (84%!) on what until yesterday was a non-issue leads me to suspect that too much grant money is sloshing around, allowing non-profits to hunt for new outrages to build coalitions around.
As usual, it is White liberals who are most concerned about people of color.
But what really annoys me is the utter inability to refer to girls and women as people. We don’t refer to people by bodily function. Women are not “menstruators”–a term my spell checker informs me doesn’t exist, and shouldn’t. And to refer to young girls as “menstruators of color” is utterly dehumanizing. Don’t most female primates menstruate? Menstruation also occurs in bats and shrews.
This is a menstruator of color:
The fact that Leftists bend over backwards to refer to human females as women and girls, while simultaneously referring to some human males as women and girls is frankly disgusting and disturbing. It is unserious and leads to dehumanization.
We don’t generally use “animals whichj pee standing up” or “beings who light their farts” as substitutes for the terms men and boys. Thank God. Next we will refer to human beings as “defecators” because we poop. Can you spare a square?
For God’s sake, this is embarrasing. Stop it and just help the poor teen girl.
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