The twitter tag #LiveTweetYourPeriod, initiated on Twitter by social justice advocates to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding periods, has unintentionally caused a criticism of modern society’s alleged intolerance toward the trans community, whose menstruation patterns are as up to personal choice as their gender.
The tag, say other social justice advocates, suggests only women can get their periods, which is gender exclusive.
Weasel Zippers, a conservative watchdog blog, first reported the development in the gender identity discussion by reposting a tweet to @feministfists, a private account, saying “remember to be inclusive of our trans sisters, brothers & genderqueer kin when you #LiveTweetYourPeriod. Not only women get their period.”
National Review’s Katherine Timpf went on to investigate other tweets supporting period rights:
#LiveTweetYourPeriod this is a very cissexist tag not all women have vaginas or periods
— Irony War Boys (@SHREKFLEX) June 24, 2015
I have a real problem with the menarchy movement. Not all women have periods, and not all who have periods are women. #LiveTweetYourPeriod
— Maddie Miller (@Ahoy_There_Mate) June 24, 2015
#LiveTweetYourPeriod is a hashtag of privilege. Who can't partake? Non cis, ppl living w stigma of periods, ppl who can't afford tampons….
— EC (@ihatewhiteboys) June 22, 2015
The discussion about period rights for trans men is not a new one, with gender rights blogs and web sites issuing “explanations” for the phenomena of a trans man getting a period, even though he believes he’s no longer a woman.
From MyPeriodBlog.com: “Menstruation can be a particularly difficult time for some trans men because it is a reminder that their bodies don’t match their true gender identity. For the same reason, menstruation can also be difficult for some genderqueer people (people who feel like they don’t neatly fit either the ‘male’ or the ‘female’ category).”
There is a great deal of heated debate surrounding the biological logic of menstruation in gender transition on the Internet, from professionals like those over at MyPeriodBlog.com, to confused trans-folk jumping from forum to forum, hoping to find an answer for what the heck is going on with their menstruation.