A screen shot from Goop’s article on “The 8 Essential Crystals,” in which it claims Carnelian helps treat infertility and PMS symptoms. It does not.
A cursory look at almost any of Goop’s articles will reveal some seriously outlandish, unverified claims. It promotes aromatic sprays to treat depression and anxiety, and most infamously, jade eggs to increase vaginal tightness. Currently, the brand sells a $90 pack of vitamins called High School Genes, which it says could benefit women suffering from Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Since many women with PCOS struggle to lose weight due to their disease, Goop seizes the opportunity to sell them a product with an infantilizing name that suggests it can help get a woman back to her younger, presumably thinner physique. Of course, these supplements do not need to be approved by the FDA.
“Paltrow and Goop are preying off the same insecurities that the patriarchy has put on women for centuries”
Goop has not held back in this latest round of controversy. Last week, Gwyneth Paltrow went on Sophia Amoroso’s #GIRLBOSS Radio and addressed her company’s critics by implying they were sexist and ignorant about her products.
“I wish that people would actually read the article or do their homework before they are vitriolic about it,” Paltrow said. “A lot times they’re not even addressing what’s on the website. [Especially because] we encourage discussion and we love the back and forth. And we love different points of view.”
It’s worth noting that after her appearance on #GIRLBOSS Radio, I started asking questions on Twitter about why Goop—and Paltrow—peddle pseudoscience. I was promptly blocked by the brand. So much for “loving the back and forth.”
Goop has unintentionally dug its own grave. In addition to facing criticism for selling expensive snake oil, now, it can be admonished for being hypocritical, too. It’s also really pissed off folks who did their “homework”—in med school. Many doctors have publicly criticized Goop for unnecessarily stoking women’s health fears, particularly back in 2015, when the brand suggested women’s bras could be linked to breast cancer.
Dr. Jennifer Gunter, a San Fransisco-based OB/GYN who regularly debunks Goop’s erroneous medical claims on her blog, had some choice words about Paltrow’s homework remark.
“That’s fucking bullshit and you can quote me on that,” she told Gizmodo.
Medical falsehoods aside, maybe the most disturbing thing about Goop is that it knows its audience, and how to manipulate it. Though it postures itself as a feminist, progressive lifestyle brand, Goop enforces the same insecurities traditional advertising tells women they should have: that their bodies are too fat, too old, and ultimately, undesirable.
“Paltrow and Goop are preying off the same insecurities that the patriarchy has put on women for centuries,” Gunter said, “like that your vagina smells or there’s something wrong with it.” Shoving a porous jade rock up your vagina—would, as Gunter previously noted to Gizmodo, could harbor all sorts of bacteria—is naturally what Goop suggests as a solution to this “problem.”
This latest complaint may be the beginning of the end for Goop, or it may not go anywhere at all. Hopefully, regardless of the outcome in court—if it even comes to that—will see Goop for exactly what it is: a bunch of empty promises in a SoulCycle t-shirt.
“There’s this idea [Goop] is branded or marketed as ‘empowerment’ or advocacy,” Gunter said. “My point—and many people’s point—is that you can’t be empowered with inaccurate information.”
Update 3:29pm: We’ve tweaked a line in the text to reflect that Goop could come under fire legally should this complaint move forward through the appropriate channels, but not necessarily that it will.