Pinky Gloves gloves are supposed to give us women a "more hygienic, odor-free and discreet" period. What two men came up with ended in a huge social media shitstorm.
It all began quite innocently. As one start-up of many, the guys appeared in front of investors on the Vox show "Die Höhle der Löwen" (The Lion's Den) and tried to explain their concept and sell it to the man/woman.
Neither the founders nor the investors expected what happened next. The product of the two men caused outrage and horror.
They developed "Pinky Gloves" for women to dispose of their menstrual products in an "odorless" and "discreet" way.
The idea behind Pinky Gloves
"We are both real women savvy," was the first sentence of the two. They want to "make life easier for women" and have invented Pinky Gloves to do so.
The pink gloves are to be used at festivals, in other people's homes or in public toilets. In other words, anywhere where hygienic removal of tampons and pads is difficult. In the opaque glove, the hygiene product is then also disposed of and disappears invisibly in the trash can.
The pink disposable gloves with adhesive strips received an investment of 30,000 euros.
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The reactions on the net to the Pinky Gloves
The dust settles pretty quickly. The presentation by the two men triggers a wave of criticism. They are accused of misogyny, insulted and even insinuated that the invention is a step back into the Stone Age.
In an Instagram post, author Franka Frei speaks out. She sharply criticizes the presentation of the founders: "It can't be that two guys make money by convincing menstruators that they need another absurd product to cover up their period, which is so incredibly disgusting, in the best possible way."
Pinky Gloves are unnecessary, harmful to the environment and contribute to the stigmatization of menstruation.
Within a very short time, Franka Frei's comment went through the roof. It took just 19 hours for it to be liked over 35,000 times and shared in countless stories.
Founders apologize
In their latest Instagram post, the founders respond to the sharp criticism. Acting in a misogynistic way or having that in mind, they reject. They emphasize that menstruation "is of course something completely natural" and that "no one has to be ashamed of it".
And the next shitstorm was not long in coming. Almost 5,000 comments can already be found under her last post. The largest part condemns the concept of the product very sharply. "Thanks for nothing, bye", "WTF a bad joke" or "We don't need Pinky Gloves!!!" are still the harmless ones.
One of the founders admits, "We didn't sufficiently and properly address the issue. That was a big mistake." The two would take the feedback very seriously and rethink the product. It's exciting to see what's still to come.
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The opinions
The question that now arises: Do we really need such a product? This creates additional waste that doesn't have to be there. And the topic of menstruation, which should finally be de-tabooized, is now to be hidden even better.
For the fact that we live in the 21st century and consider ourselves very enlightened, this is probably a step backwards. Other women are not so critical of the product itself, but doubt that two men would have invented it.
Among the many negative comments, a few positive ones can be found: "I would use this at a festival" or "Anyone who has ever had to change a tampon in a public toilet knows how disgusting it is. However, the majority of comments are negative across the board.
Either way, it was a shot that clearly backfired for the founders.
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