I wasn’t sure whether I should write about this. The world, big and small, is complicated enough right now. But I would still like to tell you about an email I received last Monday from Feminists of Maastricht (FOM). They objected to our reporting about the free tampons and pads that can now be found in almost all faculty buildings. This is a one-year trial, funded by FOM – a group of UM students – with the Diversity and Inclusivity Grant they won this year. It’s a great initiative.
We wrote that the products are intended for women who lack the financial resources to purchase them (menstruation poverty) or unexpectedly get their period. The problem is the word “women”. FOM wants us to change it into “people”, because, they explain, “women aren’t the only ones who menstruate”.
This is a fairly new discussion in the gender field that has not yet crystallised into generally accepted conclusions. Until then, we have decided to stick to conventional terms and notions: women menstruate. FOM does not agree with this, and said so in no uncertain terms. To quote from their email, “You have published a transphobic article and FOM expects that you change this immediately or we will mobilise our community against this. We would also suggest that you contact the D&I office to, perhaps, have a workshop regarding inclusion, because for now you are greatly failing at this.”
We clearly disagree, which is fine. But using aggressive language and threats to make your point is unacceptable. Observant is an independent newspaper that independently makes its editorial decisions. FOM wants to dictate which words we can and cannot use. And if we don’t…
This attitude, especially at a university, is troubling. We have invited FOM to write down their objections in a letter, which we will publish. They have not (yet) responded to our invitation.
Jewish student
And then there’s something else: last week, a Jewish UM student criticised Maastricht University on the website www.israelnieuws.nl. The interview links UM to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment and alleges that Jewish students feel unsafe here.
This has already caused parliamentary questions to be asked by the political parties PVV and VVD, ChristenUnie and SGP. The article does not substantiate the accusations in the slightest, nor does it contain a response from UM itself.
Last Monday, we asked the editors of israelnieuws.nl for the factual substantiation of the accusations and for UM’s response. After all, any self-respecting journalist knows that the subject of an accusation must always be afforded a right of reply before publication. We have since learnt that UM was not asked for a comment – a journalistic sin.
We have not yet received a reply.
Letter to the Editor Feminists of Maastricht (FOM)
In April 2021 Feminists of Maastricht (FOM) received a Diversity & Inclusivity (D&I) Grant to provide free menstrual products to all faculties at UM. The project aimed to be consciously inclusive of women, transgender men, and non-binary people by not specifying the gender of the product user; we sought to ensure that all people who menstruate at UM would have access to these.
We were pleased that the Observant devoted an article to this project. However, we were unpleasantly surprised to see that neither this article nor the Observant’s editors follow FoM’s gender-inclusive approach, but instead state that menstrual products are for women only. Along with the Centre for Gender and Diversity at FASoS (CGD) and D&I Office, we object to how this non-inclusive language erases the experiences of those who are not women and menstruate, such as non-binary, trans, and intersex people.
We were also surprised to see a passage from a private email published in an editorial one week later without our consent. This passage was taken out of the context of a long email exchange, and it came to the simplistic conclusion that we are supporters of censorship. This is ethically dubious at best: we imagine that this falls into that category of “journalistic sins” that no “self-respecting journalist” should commit.
The editorial mentioned a presumed “discussion in the gender field that has not yet crystallised into generally accepted conclusions”. We want to assure all readers that neither FOM, nor the D&I or CGD will ever engage in a “discussion” that takes the denial of anyone’s gender identity as its starting point. We advocate an inclusive understanding of gender that does not discriminate against those who do not adhere to cis-normative and patriarchal standards of gender.
It all boils down to whether the editors of the Observant are willing to use inclusive language to steer free from sexism, racism, classism, ageism, ableism, homo- and transphobia to the best of their ability. We assume that such efforts would be beneficial, given that the Observant’s mandate is to be the independent press for the whole UM community.
FOM