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Kate Barker Swindell's avatar

Jessica - you are always so on the money. I work for a menstrual equity nonprofit and we are in the throes of crafting a statement in response to the enactment of laws that BAN sex education as well prohibit educators and school nurses from using the word "period" (or "menstruation" or whatever else they decide is unlawful to utter.) We were discussing the importance of using the word "ban" in our staff meeting yesterday. It's powerful, evocative and above all, TRUE. Thank you for this timely take on a very important nuance in language and who gets to say what.

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Kim Batchelor's avatar

It’s time for the prochoice movement to call for an end to the use of medieval ‘homunculus’ language--‘preborn babies’ and ‘unborn humans.’ That language, such as what Kazmeryk used,

Is coercive, inaccurate, and deceptive. Men do not deposit fully formed babies into the uterus. They need to use appropriate scientific/medical terms and stop inaccurate representations in the models they choose.

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