Originally a comment by Catwhisperer on Does Dwight Schrute write tweets for Tampax?

Radio 4 has a 28-part series about the menstrual cycle (28ish Days Later, if anyone wants to check it out) which I thought was an impressive amount of time to dedicate to the subject. I’m most of the way through but struggling a bit now – it started off with the interesting detailed biology stuff and then went off into New Age Moon Goddess hippy dippy territory. Anyway. The presenter explains right at the start that they will be mostly saying “women” but of course not everyone who has a menstrual cycle identifies as a woman blah blah blah but they stay reasonably on track after that I think.

There is a whole episode with the first transman to front a period product campaign (how did I miss that happening!?). It was…. interesting. Things that stood out for me:

If I worked this out right, this kid was 15 in 2010, at an all girls school, convinced she was a boy, and presumably with everyone around her playing along, in the UK. I didn’t realise that’s where we were 12 years ago. It’s always worse than you think!

First period was traumatic because “the narrative” was that only girls get periods and she was a boy. Her mother didn’t tell her this would happen because she thought it would be too upsetting. Seriously? More upsetting than getting your period when you believe that you are somehow exempt because of how you feel? Poor kid.

The dissociation from her body to the point of total absurdity such as “there’s not enough research into trans bodies” – what does that even mean? Aren’t trans bodies the same as other bodies? Isn’t it their mind that we are told is different?

The obligatory reference to “harm”. Messages from trans people who didn’t agree with her doing the ad campaign were upsetting because she didn’t like the idea that she had “harmed” people in her “community”. When your own movement bullies you, something’s not right.

Message of support from someone she went to school with: “I’m so glad you exist!” What? Who says that to anyone, on any occasion? Unless the poor girl has been so confused by the nonsense about how evil transphobes don’t want trans people to exist that she thinks this is the right way to be supportive?

It’s worth a listen just to hear from a gender-confused female person for a change.