‘Humans with uteruses’ term for Maisie Hill event causes science festival furore The Times 03.03.20

The original article is here. 

Organisers of the Edinburgh Science Festival have come under fire after using the term “humans with uteruses” to describe women.

An event at the next month’s festival, entitled Period Power, is led by Maisie Hill, an American author, whose book of the same name was the Amazon top 50 when it was published last year.

A description of her event on April 19 from the science festival programme provoked ridicule online. It is listed for adults and children over 12 and says: “Maisie Hill is the periods and hormones expert that humans with uteruses deserve.

“Arguing that our hormones are there to serve us and, if utilised correctly, can be used to help you get what you want out of life, Hill believes that yes, we are hormonal, and that’s a very good thing.”

The term prompted a wave of criticism, with Twitter users accusing organisers of chasing “woke points”.

Julie Bindel, the author and radical feminist, wrote: “As a ‘human with a uterus’ I find this deeply offensive.”

Wendy, a Twitter user, said: “Essentially @EdSciFest is saying that women are not valued as individual and are no more than their reproductive organs. It is more than offensive, it borders on being misogynistic.”

A festival spokesman said: “As a science organisation the festival is not an outreach group aimed at a particular segment of society.

“Maisie Hill’s book is a profound and practical blueprint for aligning daily life with menstrual cycles.

“As with all of our events, the Period Power event is open to anyone and everyone with an interest in hormones and periods, be they men, women, trans or non binary.”