Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has started selling jade eggs as a means of empowering women, but not everyone agrees with the product she’s pushing.
Feminism has opened means for women to become the best version of themselves, and Hollywood has embraced the market this movement has given. Paltrow’s blog and website, Goop, is the latest to come under scrutiny for jade eggs – an item that is supposed to be used internally in women’s vaginas.
Goop, which claims to be the ultimate beauty and wellness guide, is Paltrow’s online lifestyle magazine that its editors say seeks to help women around the world achieve their maximum potential. Since its launch, the website has enjoyed a massive following.
It has promoted controversial products in the past, but the sale of jade eggs has become a cause for alarm as more and more readers document it, Tech Times reports. Goop’s description reads, “Yoni eggs, once the strictly guarded secret of Chinese concubines and royalty in antiquity, harness the power of energy work, crystal healing, and a Kegel-like physical practice. Jade eggs’ power to cleanse and clear make them ideal for detox, too.”
In addition, there is an interview with “jade egg guru” Shiva Rose, a health activist, who talks about the benefits of wearing jade eggs. She said, “The word for our womb, yoni, translates as ‘sacred place’, and it is a sacred place-it’s where many women access their intuition, their power, and their wisdom. It’s this inner sanctum that we can access when it’s not in use creating life. I see it as a place to celebrate ourselves as sexual, powerful beings, or as mothers, not a place to carry negative or un-dealt-with emotions.”
These eggs are supposed to enhance sexuality, and make women feel and be perceived as more attractive.
However, scientists disagree, saying that not only does this practice fail to provide any health benefits whatsoever, but it could also bring on uterine infections.
Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN from San Francisco,
For one, this is a porous rock you’re putting in there, not medical-grade silicon, and who knows what bacteria can lodge in those nooks and crannies. Then there’s also this magical belief that putting something inside you can do something to your aura or chi.
Gunter, who specializes in pelvic floor disorders and infectious diseases, says that Paltrow should not be promoting such pseudoscientific mysticism as these are medically flawed practices.
Gunter’s open letter to Paltrow reads, “Nothing says female empowerment more than the only reason to do this is for your man! And then the claim that they can balance hormones is, quite simply, biologically impossible. Pelvic floor exercises can help with incontinence and even give stronger orgasms for some women, but they cannot change hormones. As for female energy? I’m a gynecologist and I don’t know what that is.”
