Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop has agreed to pay $145,000 to settle a lawsuit regarding misleading claims it made about several eggs it encouraged women to hold in their vaginas.
The eggs in question are the Rose Quartz Egg and the Jade Egg, which are still available on the Goop website. According to Goop, the eggs “harness the power of energy work, crystal healing, and a Kegel-like physical practice.”
The website argued that inserting an egg into the vagina and holding it there throughout the day could increase “chi, orgasms, vaginal muscle tone, hormonal balance, and feminine energy in general.” But doctors quickly warned that doing that might not be entirely safe.
In a much-shared blog post from 2017, gynecologist Dr. Jen Gunter wrote that jade is porous and could cause infection in the vagina, and that clenching one’s pelvic floor muscles all day would also be a bad idea.
Let’s quickly go through Goop’s claims one at a time to reveal exactly what made doctors and scientists so upset.
”Chi” is the Chinese word referring to the “natural energy of the universe” that permeates all living things. Basically, The Force. It’s an abstract, metaphysical concept, with no empirical evidence that such a thing exists as described in New Age medicine.
Next, orgasms and vaginal muscle tone.
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Believe it or not, according to Dr. Gunter, pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegels, can help with incontinence and help women have stronger orgasms. But you certainly don’t need to hold a rock in your vagina to do it.
Next, hormonal balance.
According to Dr. Leena Nathan at UCLA, “Jade does not result in hormonal changes even when inserted in the vagina.” You might be able to strengthen your pelvic wall, but you can’t change your hormones.
And finally, feminine energy.
Well, that’s a vague term that doesn’t really have a definition and can’t be measured. As Dr. Gunter wrote, “I’m a gynecologist and I don’t know what that is!? How does one test for it? Organically sourced, fair trade urine pH sticks coming soon to GOOP for $77 I presume?”
The lawsuit was brought after Truth in Advertising analyzed this and dozens of other medical claims made on Goop.com, and found 50 instances in which they claimed their products could cure or prevent various diseases. These claims included wearing “earthing gear” to cure insomnia, and a perfume they say increases memory and treats the common cold.
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Prosecutors in the case, however, specifically focused on the vaginal eggs, and a “floral essence blend” that Goop claims assists in the clearing of guilt, shame, self-criticism and blame.
Goop probably has plenty of that stuff on hand, since they’re not admitting any guilt as part of the terms of the settlement. They have agreed, however, to offer refunds to anyone who purchased those products and to stop advertising them as health remedies on their website.
Since Goop’s launch in 2008, it has frequently been lampooned for selling and recommending curious products, including a $15,000 gold vibrator and a morning smoothie made with sex dust, which we actually made and tried ourselves on What’s Trending a few years ago.
It cost us over $200 plus shipping to get all those ingredients.
Of course, Goop is not the only website to sell these products or make these claims, but they are one of the most visible. In fact, all the negative press hasn’t seemed to hurt them at all.
In fact, Goop is now worth 250 million dollars and is one of the most successful brands in the wellness industry.
What do you guys think? Would you ever leave an egg in your vagina over night? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
