Period Glove: Two German inventors came up with a "period glove" to help women dispose of sanitary products. The men were criticised and received backlash on social media as the product was deemed useless and sexist.
The Pinky Glove is a plastic “period glove” that also acts as a disposal bag that provides a “discreet solution for pads and tampons”. Andre Rittersweurden and Eugen Raimkulow are the men behind the product. The two met in the army and presented their product on the German version of the television show Dragons’ Den, where inventors pitch their ideas to potential investors. They received 30,000 euros from an entrepreneur.
The criticism began immediately as the hashtag #PinkyGate began trending on Twitter. On the television show, Raimkulow stated that “We both really do understand women”. They stated that their understanding of women comes from both of them being married and having lived with women.
Raimkulow stated that occasionally he would “dare to” look in the trash can. He added that “After a while, it just smells unpleasant. And you see it because it starts seeping through the paper.”
Gynaecologist and author of The Vagina Bible Jennifer Gunter tweeted her displeasure for the product.
So these dudes designed pink gloves so tampons and pads can be disposed of properly and discretely. I shit you not. (The text is translated from German). pic.twitter.com/cn5spME2OT
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 14, 2021
Every day there is another useless product for the vagina. Every. Damn. Day.
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 14, 2021
The daily newspaper in German Die Welt pointed out that plastic gloves and disposal bags can be brought at a significantly cheaper price. It said “Is this
The creators Ritterswuerden and Raimkulow published a video that addressed the criticism. They stated that “We are absolutely in favour of the issue being de-taboo. We’ve realised we still need to learn a lot and have some blind spots. We take your feedback very seriously and rethink our product and reflect the entire history of origin.”