You may have spotted from my overly dramatic public quitting of Instagram, that changes have been in the offing for Naked Grapefruit for a while. Now, some of you speculated that must mean a takeover is on the cards. If you’re one of the said speculators, pls unsubscribe xo. There will be no takeover and (still) no investment from the men in suits who wish to commercialise feminism to make a few extra bob. After all, is another “sustainable” tampon subscription startup what women (and the world) really need(s)?
Instead of conforming to the seemingly inevitable monolithic, technocratic society we’re heading towards, we’ll be continuing to try and do things slightly differently. Just with a few differences to the past three years. In 2019, when the world was slightly less of a shitshow (but still very much a massive shitshow), I started Naked Grapefruit with the humble goal of “normalising female pleasure”. Since then, I’ve changed, you’ve (probably) changed, and the whole world has changed. I’d argue for the worse but then again, you can now get your groceries delivered in 15 minutes, so some perspective is required…
As a result of all of this change, Naked Grapefruit, at least to me, feels somewhat archaic. So it’s time to throw all of your stickers, posters and even socks in the bin. It’s time to say goodbye to Naked Grapefruit and hello to Dirty Gurty.
Shoutout to my inspiration for this change.
Before you get all panicked because of your fierce loyalty to the brand, don’t worry. Under the guise of Dirty Gurty, we’ll still be selling First Base (albeit also rebranded (TBC, good suggestions welcome but probably ignored)). And, more importantly, we’ll still be championing issues we discover and decide to give a shit about. Think of Dirty Gurty as your favourite pub landlady, effervescent yet elusive, caring for her community but taking no prisoners. Yer da’s barred.
In practice, the hope is that Dirty Gurty grows to be the antithesis of the “sustainable” period startups, the avaricious 15-minute grocery companies and even the Instagram-based meme pages with some hilarious yet utterly pointless carousels (looking at you @nakedgrapefruitt). From now on, every dollar will go into a big old pot that everyone can see (once I’ve sorted the website out). This pot will then be used for absolutely everything, from postage costs to exorbitant underserved salaries (just call us Goldman). More seriously, it’ll also be used to directly fund all the issues we bang on about. Anything from helping a homeless woman get some period products to funding research into new contraception so future generations don’t have to go through the same old shite we did.
How will you hear about all this good shit we’re doing I hear you ask? Precisely – because what’s the point of doing a potentially good deed if you’re not getting external validation from others for doing so? For now, everything will be centred around a weekly email (revolutionary, I know), full of updates, random musings, products designed to help people and maybe even your lonely hearts. It’d be brilliant if you’d join us for the journey.