Liberal OB/GYN Jennifer Gunter launched a hashtag on Monday, speculating how the world would be different if men had periods. Gunter and many others started mocking the idea, and a great deal of their tweets were genuinely funny. LGBT activists, however, took huge offense to this.
“Yay, I love transphobia. Always heartwarming and not at all awful #IfMenHadPeriods,” declared Charles Clymer, an Army veteran and alumnus of Georgetown University who has 22 thousand followers.
Yay, I love transphobia. Always heartwarming and not at all awful. #IfMenHadPeriods
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) September 6, 2016
Clymer wasn’t alone. Rather than taking a joke, LGBT activists had to point out that transgender men actually do have periods — unless they’ve taken the full sex reassignment surgery, of course.
Are we really trending #IfMenHadPeriods like trans men don't exist? Let's stop the gender essentialism and transphobia please
— Birthday Weightlifting Princess 2/17 (@SourceDuMal) September 6, 2016
So mocking the biological fact that people with an X and Y chromosome (previously called “men”) do not get periods is “transphobic” and “essentialist.” But wait, the LGBT crowd has proof:
https://twitter.com/ZawehZaweh/status/773099473434243072
And there’s this “inclusive” claim that people of “all genders” can have periods:
#IfMenHadPeriods actually, some do, some do not. Same with women. Same with other genders. Fun facts.
— AX #24601 (@Makofury) September 6, 2016
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but since an OB/GYN started this, I would think she might have a scientific response like “I was talking about biological sex, not gender identity.” To a sensible person, this might make sense, but to the LGBT community, it probably sounds like just another excuse to push transphobia.
Oh, and apparently it isn’t just transgender people who should be offended by this.
https://twitter.com/cantrellwriter/status/773027368029949952
Among other things, this writer interpreted the hashtag as saying “Cis women who don’t have periods for medical reasons don’t count” and “intersex and non-binary people don’t even exist.” Interestingly, this author also interprets the hashtag as saying that “Cis men are all insensitive, uneducated, macho jerks.” While many tweets do indeed suggest this, I think most men who are also biological males (previously known as “men”) can get over it. As much as I am tired of hearing about my “privilege” and the “patriarchy,” even I — horrific white male that I am — know how to take a joke.
Conservative blogger Matt Walsh took it in stride, making fun of the fracas.
#IfMenHadPeriods is trending, but I thought men CAN have periods because gender isn't binary. So confused.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 6, 2016
A conservative young black woman had the best response of all, however.
https://twitter.com/youngblackcon/status/773086453215600640
Next Page: What is the hashtag really about?
Jennifer Gunter started the trend with this tweet:
If men had periods pads would be free
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) September 6, 2016
Taking the traditional feminist line that the “patriarchy” has all the power in society, she suggested that if men had periods, government would subsidize tampons, making them “free.” This is rather ludicrous, but a lot of feminists liked the idea, and the notion “if men had periods” can be very hilarious.
A pediatrician near Philadelphia called on all #girlmedtwitter, as in every female doctor on Twitter, to promote Gunter’s tweets and the resulting #IfMenHadPeriods hashtag.
Calling all #girlmedtwitter to join the #IfMenHadPeriods convo on @DrJenGunter's Twitter feed. 😂😂😂😂
— Joannie Yeh MD (@BetaMomma) September 6, 2016
And it took off! Hilarious jokes like this one went around:
#IfMenHadPeriods there would be a sharp increase in bar fights due to being asked if it was "that time of the month."
— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) September 6, 2016
Finally, this ridiculous (warning: very crude) graphic started taking over.
Omg I'm dead 😂😂 #IfMenHadPeriods pic.twitter.com/MxXvV6QtvG
— Liz Finnegan (@TheGingerarchy) September 6, 2016
Naturally, there was the occasional feminist tweet saying that government would pay for feminine products if men needed them, and pushback generated this … lovely … tweet.
Just prioritizing my vagenda.
It can't all be manocide https://t.co/2Qa3J29l1H— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) September 6, 2016
But of course, Steven Crowder had a great come-back to all the feminist pleading.
Lol. Even in the ironic #IfMenHadPeriods feminist hashtag… feminists whine for more free stuff. Embarrassing. https://t.co/vKtvhOhZnx
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) September 6, 2016
These social media scuffles aside, menstrual cycles are indeed stigmatized in some countries, like Madagascar. Many women across the globe do not have access to running water and working toilets for when they do get their periods, and the group WaterAid ran a series of videos asking “If Men Had Periods” in order to raise awareness.
WaterAid ran a survey and found that 70 percent of women believe the stigma surrounding periods would be overcome if men had a monthly menstrual cycle. The idea is funny, but it is also important for men to understand what women go through. You don’t have to be a feminist to sympathize, and you don’t have to support government-funded tampons if you do sympathize.
But it does seem like you can’t be an LGBT activist and get the joke.
Check out the video for “Manpons” on the next page.
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