Periods do not define your gender

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Did You Know That Not All Who Menstruate Are Women?

Periods are a natural occurrence. Every month the body prepares itself for pregnancy and when it doesn’t become pregnant, it expels the tissue that it no longer needs to nourish a fertilized egg.

Around half of the world’s population does, has, or will menstruate, but still it is a taboo topic in many parts of the world as period blood is considered dirty and impure. Women who have regular periods have the following functioning properly- hypothalamus, pituitary gland, ovaries, uterus

Some cisgender women (assigned female at birth) don’t have periods due to menopause, stress, disease, or a hysterectomy. They may have never started menstruating due to a variety of medical conditions or they may be transgender or intersex. At the same time, there are people who menstruate who aren’t cisgender women. They might be Trans men, intersex, and genderqueer or non-binary.

A 2016 study led by Joan Chrisler noted that “scholars and healthcare providers have only recently begun to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities also menstruate, thus little is documented about their attitudes toward and experiences with menstruation”.

Not all women have periods

Some cisgender and transgender women (assigned male at birth), do not experience a period but can experience PMS-like symptoms.

This is because those who are assigned male at birth do not have a uterus but when they are transitioning sexually to a female, they may experience specific symptoms typically associated with menstruation (bloating, moodiness, increased libido, cramping, nausea, cravings, headaches, and/or migraines, photosensitivity, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. This can be a psychosomatic response to hormone levels or physiological response.

Trans women and cis women who have had a hysterectomy or are on a hormone replacement therapy to include estrogen and/or progesterone, frequently have a period linked to certain points in their estrous cycle. Oftentimes, this cycle lasts about five weeks (as opposed to four), with symptoms lasting two to eight days because their bodies switch from a testosterone-dominant situation to an estrogen-dominant situation. This can be similar to menstruation but there is no blood here because there is no organ for its outlet.

Also Read Know Your Transgender Terminologies

On the other hand, not all who menstruate are women

Trans men (who are assigned female at birth) and non-binary people get periods too. They are born with a uterus and hence menstruate with blood once they attain puberty. But when they identify and transition to a male, this becomes a very difficult time for them. Medical transition and hormone therapy can be sought which can eliminate the monthly period. Some Trans men do feel pelvic pain, emotional changes, or experience spotting even after menstruation stops. This may be different for Trans guys who have had a hysterectomy, oophorectomy, and/or gender-affirming genital procedures.

Transgender artist and menstrual health activist Cass Clemmer, (Pronoun- they/them) uploaded an Integra photo highlighting the reality of #BleedingWhileTrans. The photo shows Clemmer free-bleeding while holding up a sign that says, “Periods are not just for women.” In the photo’s caption, Clemmer shared a spoken-word poem they’d written for menstrual health.

Class Clemmer #BleedingWhileTrans — Source: Reddit *#BleedingWhileTrans*

How to be more inclusive

Inclusive language like “people who menstruate” or “people with cycles” is helpful, as it is inaccurate and demoralizing to address women only when we talk about periods. This way we alienate the Trans community and with the existing bias and stigma in the society, it only distances them more from such important conversations.

While we are at it, let’s also look at terms like “people with vulvas” or “people with cervixes”, instead of “female” genetilia; and “people who can become pregnant” or “people who menstruate” while describing people of a certain physiological group. Also, there are people who are affected by certain medical procedures: “people who need mammograms” is also helpful for them. For Trans women, “people with prostate glands” may sound relevant. The language we use needs to transform for the LGBTQ community at large so that they can accept what is relevant or irrelevant to them, without having to identify with a certain gender or group.

For transsexuals, their bodies do not identify as their identity and this can cause dysmorphia and can be a huge struggle for them. Topics like these need to be discussed openly to create awareness so that we can have a safe space for all to coexist in society.

Highlights

Menstruation – and the tools required to safely process it – became just another means to discriminate against an entire gender, simply because patriarchy felt nauseated by a natural human phenomenon.

Stigma, like charity, begins at home.

Imagine if someone told an inquisitive kid, “it’s the superpower that made it possible for your mum to give birth to you”, instead of “it’s private ladies’ stuff, move on”.

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This Content is a Part of The Menstrual Hygiene Awareness 2021, in collaboration with The Logical Indian and Pee Safe.

A black polythene bag is closely tucked under her arm as my mom walks into the house, back from the market. Without a word, she rushes to her room and slides the bag along with its contents, into her wardrobe’s drawer. Then comes back out and takes care of the rest of the stuff she bought. 10-year-old me, as you would’ve guessed, is mighty confused. But I forget all about it; kids and voters have a very short memory span, after all.

Growing up, it was hard to ignore references to menstruation, even though I didn’t know anything about it. I saw ads for Whisper, the same package I’d surreptitiously seen in Mom’s drawer. I wondered why a group of grown men were pouring blue ink all over a product that my child’s brain could fathom was very personal to my Mom and my sisters, when none of them used blue ink. And yet my innocent queries were almost always shot down – “It’s just ladies’ stuff”.

It took a biology lesson at school and exposure to the World Wide Web, for me to realize it’s far more than that. Most crucially, sanitary napkins are a privilege that numerous poorer families can either not afford (non-profits and tax policies are helping bridge this gap) or don’t care about, due to the awkwardness surrounding it. “It’s impure”, they say, as they block menstruating women from entering the temple. Menstruating women in some traditional households are outcasts in their own homes. This awkwardness, this stigma, comes at the cost of women’s health. Menstruation – and the tools required to safely process it – became just another means to discriminate against an entire gender, simply because patriarchy felt nauseated by a natural human phenomenon. Stigma, like charity, begins at home.

It was only years later, when I started dating women, that I was jolted out of my passive stance around the topic of menstruation. I got educated in a way that school, society, and family could never; by someone who needed to share how she felt when PMS’ing, just like she would after a bad day at work. Stigma was thrown out the window, simply through an open conversation. That’s all it took. It helped me learn what women have to go through as they menstruate, and not just physically. I met someone who was shy about admitting that she was menstruating. She instinctively felt a need to hide it, as if hiding a fault in her – feeding off of the stigma that clouds this topic. Professional life, I realized, becomes further hell for women. Taking a day off to tend to menstrual cramps is explicitly allowed, but implicitly considered a liability, restricted to one gender. This problem has a far more complex solution than just changing the rules. Changing the rules doesn’t change deep-rooted biases.

I think the stigma is the root cause of why menstruation is harder to tackle than just the physical side effects of it. Imagine if someone told an inquisitive kid, “it’s the superpower that made it possible for your mum to give birth to you”, instead of “it’s private ladies’ stuff, move on”. I’m sure this kid would grow up to be a better husband, a better boss, a better friend, and a better Dad.

Author- Ashish Jha