The new frontier: NYT refers to women as "menstruators" for the first time.

“Addison” begs to differ: “I’m a girl — full stop., Period.”

I’m shocked it took them this long to fall into line.

The New York Times referred to women as “menstruators” for the first time in a Thursday article on changing attitudes towards feminine hygiene products.

“New menstruators,” the article said in reference to young girls who have recently started their periods, “often turn to a parent for products and advice — now parents can hand over more than a disposable pad or tampon.”

The article avoided using feminine pronouns when noting that “the average menstruator can use thousands of tampons in their lifetime.”

The author did not use the words “woman” or “female” at any point in the article, and the article only says “girls” in reference to two specific girls the NYT interviewed for the piece. Instead, the author says “people” when referring to women experiencing menstruation periods and “young people” to describe girls experiencing menstruation.

“Young menstruators are having a completely different experience in terms of managing their periods with reusables throughout their life,” Michela Bedard, executive director of Period Inc., told the NYT.

“For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?”
― George Orwell, 1984