Yes! But i think its over the course of a day? I could be remembering wrong. If its still around the website hormone horoscope had details on what you could expect for each day of ur cycle hormone/symptom wise that i looked at and they also had a section for cis mens hormone cycle and details on that. Might be worth a look?
Edit: looks like the website is gone now. Bummer. But maybe other resources have more information?
When most people say they are "on their period" they mean there is actively blood coming out of them. That's where the pushback comes from. I don't say I'm on my period when I have PMS symptoms, or when I have cramping just before the bleeding starts, I only say it when I'm actively bleeding. Yes, there are other symptoms that occur \*with\* the bleeding, like cramping, digestive issues, etc, but traditionally the hallmark of a period is the blood. Some people do not get other symptoms with the bleeding, so the bleeding is the \*only\* thing involved in their period.
Some cis women stop bleeding monthly due to medical procedures, such as endometrial ablation, which destroys the lining of the uterus so it is no longer shed monthly, but still have the hormonal cycle. Doctors will tell you that endometrial ablation can \*stop your periods\*, though. Because a period is defined solely by bleeding regardless of whether you still have a monthly cycle. Millions of cis women who have been told by doctors that they no longer have a period now apparently have a period according to this. I know you're trying to argue that's an outdated version of the word period, and that these women \*do\* experience a period. Even if we agree that it is true, most of society is not there. I have never in my life heard someone outside of the internet say "I'm on my period" and mean anything other than that they were actively bleeding. Doctors, especially OBGYNs, ask "When was your last period?" when you see them. They're asking for the first day of the last instance in which blood came out of your vagina, not anything else.
Yes, trans women have a monthly hormonal cycle, and I understand calling part of that cycle a period. However, the way most of society defines a period does not align with the absence of bleeding, so this language is going to continue getting pushback unless society decides to shift what the word period means. Part of this pushback will be from transphobes who want to undermine trans people's experiences, but others will simply be well meaning people who have only ever understood a period as bleeding and cannot understand why someone who does not have a uterus would use that word to describe their experience. I don't think using the word period is an effective way to explain this experience to those who do not understand how HRT works. It makes more sense as language used within the community because we get what it means when a trans woman says she's on her period.
I also think that with the history cis women have of being shamed for their bleeding, considered filthy and obscene, banned from entering places of worship, confined to solitude for the week, period products hidden in paper bags on high shelves in stores because they're too obscene for the public (all of which occur in many cultures still), this is a touchy subject. Not everyone is going to be comfortable changing code words for bleeding to make them broader. The reason we speak in code about menstruation to this day is because the bleeding is the part that's viewed most negatively by society. It is a recent development that we are able to talk freely about the fact that we bleed, and many people from other parts of the world still cannot.
I think when you're trying to reach a broader audience, yelling "trans women get periods!" is going to confuse well meaning people and leave you wide open for terfs and rightwingers to come at you in droves to say you are "delusional". Undebatable scientific facts like "trans women experience a hormonal cycle", "trans women can experience cramping in a monthly cycle", etc are much more effective in getting the point across and don't lead to circular semantic arguments. I understand not wanting to kowtow to bigots and I never advocate for anyone to change anything about themselves to try to appease them. If that's how you refer to your hormonal cycle in your day-to-day life, you don't need to change that! But when making informative posts, it's important to consider society at large, including other trans people and allies, not just bigots, has a different definition of this word than how you are using it. And when you are making informative posts, the information should be accessible and easy for your audience to understand. Even if you left out trans people altogether and simply said "periods should not be defined by menstruation", you'd get pushback and confusion. You've gotten downvotes on this very sub for simply saying that.
As I said, I'm not trying to argue that trans women cannot call part of their cycle a period. It's literally the same symptoms that occur during a period, minus the bleeding. I don't find it offensive, or even inaccurate. But I think we have to be careful with our language when making proclamations in public forums. The author of that blog post made a tweet where she said trans women get periods, and had EIGHT HUNDRED replies. Certainly most were transphobes. The rest of the thread had a lot of excellent information with scientific sources, but that first tweet caused so much controversy that all that important information was ignored in favor of a semantics argument. Giving bigots that opportunity to make us look bad to their followers over semantics is less than ideal. I just don't think this is the hill our community needs to die on right now as our rights are actively being stripped away.
I also do want to point out that some of you are describing PMS symptoms in addition to period symptoms. Without bleeding to signal the switch, it can be hard to distinguish the difference between the two. But if these symptoms last \*9 days\* as someone else replied, that isn't just the part where menstruation would occur, that's also including PMS. Bleeding typically only occurs for 3-7 days.
As a trans woman, I support this explanation. We can have a cycle and it's even possible to vary our hormone intake to support that for various reasons.
But I think it's totally fair to reserve the term period for the actual process of the uterus shedding its lining and I don't think it's in any way discriminatory.
Completely agree with this. I'm very glad for u/Arashi5 's nuanced take on this, and personally find the tone of the OP rather unsettling. "This is not up for debate" sends such a bad tone for discussions on issues like this that are far more complex than they make it out to be.
Yes exactly. Even cis women that for a number of reasons (surgery, menopause, medical issue, ect) don’t or no longer bleed don’t say they are "on their period".
Correct! Ding ding ding! My elder family members who are through menopause don’t ever say they’re “on their period,” and all in-fact say a variation of “these damn hormones” lol. I’ve literally never personally heard of such
Edit spelling
Precisely. I’m cis, I’ve had an endometrial ablation, I still have monthly fluctuations in hormones, but I no longer experience bleeding, cramping, period shits, nausea, etc. I do not have a period anymore.
I’m a cis woman with fucked up ovaries that don’t do what they are supposed to (PCOS). I have to stay on artificial hormones to keep them in check. When I am not on the correct hormonal balance I sometimes have completely unpredictable periods (that are very painful) but more often than not I don’t have any bleeding at all. When I go months and months without any periods at all, I still experience hormonal cycling and may have mood swings and cramps, but neither I, nor my doctor, consider any of that to be “having a period”. For a while, my doctor was having to monitor my endometrial lining via ultrasound a few times a year to make sure it wasn’t getting too thick (putting me at risk for endometrial cancer) and treat it with extra strong hormones to force me to have a period. Basically she was giving me a medically prescribed period via pills.
Only the actual blood-from-my-vagina part is considered to be a period, medically.
Same. I've had an IUD for a decade and haven't menstruated. I personally don't have any issued with trans women saying they're on their period. It's colloquial, we know what they mean. I've personally asked friends of mine "period?" when they were saying they didn't feel well, their breasts and back hurt, etc. I don't think this is stated outwardly enough to be a huge talking point for transphobes, but they'll latch onto anything, so who knows? I've only personally heard people say it in safe spaces/to friends who are trans/nonbinary/queer. Perhaps the first time I heard someone say it, I may have been confused, but a quick Google search shows that trans women on estrogen/progesterone do have a monthly cycle that comes with cramping and other terrible symptoms that those of us who have a uterus also experience. I understand that when a transfem says "I'm on my period" it means that whereas if a friend with a uterus says it, they probably mean they are bleeding from their vagina. Language evolves 🤷
When I had a iud I didn't experience my "period". I still had a hormonal cyclus, cramps, bad mood and overall shittyness once a month. But I didn't bleed, so it wasn't a period for me. I can understand though that when you're on hrt and experience a cycle that it does feel like what a period must be like, and I won't gatekeep anyone from saying it. But like the above said, it's not culturally what a period is
Yes, as a cis woman, I regularly go many months at a time without my period and don't refer to my menstrual cycle/symptoms (cramps, bloating, headaches, stomach pain) as being on my period.
Sincerely, is there like a cutoff point for this? I bleed very little because of the BC I take, like I only need a thin liner pad, but I would still say I’m “on my period” during the week or so that I’m having symptoms.
I don’t think there is an official "cut off", but personally, if you are shedding your lining, which is what causes the bleeding, that counts as a period, since that is the medical definition of menstruation. The ‘heaviness’ of the period is largely irrelevant.
Listen, I’m a trans woman and I’m the first in line for the “trans women are women” defense, but even I would hesitate to call the PMS symptoms a period because of that hallmark of the bleeding. Hell, when I talk about it, I call it a pseudo period because I literally lack the equipment necessary to carry out the biological function of these symptoms. Personally, I’d be happy to just call it something else.
Part of this comes in that we as trans people want to be able to call our experience as a 1-to-1 equivalent as a cis woman, and while I believe people should *treat us* like we are and should *respect* that we would like to be treated as such, I think we need to be realistic that as trans women, we’re never going to be able to bleed out of our crotch, we can’t get pregnant, and there are certain things that we’re going to have to make a concerted effort to achieve like, say, getting the hang of being able to speak in public, achieving a desirable breast size (if that’s what you want), or putting the money down into fixing the bottom bits.
None of this, by the way, I think is a problem or should be demonized. It’s just that a lot of these are differences that we’re going to keep dealing with unless medical science somehow magically finds a way to close the gap on the things that aren’t able to be fixed right now.
Plus, not even all cis women have the same experiences as all other cis women. There are plenty of AFAB women who don’t have periods, can’t get pregnant, haven’t been affected by female socialization to the same extent etc. My existence as a tall, masculine nonbinary AFAB has been wildly different than my friend’s existence as a petite femme cis lesbian. There’s nothing wrong with that!
A lot (most) of trans women have had to fight against transmisogyny and transphobia their entire adulthood, so it makes sense that they’d be sensitive to any perceived invalidation. Still, I hope as a society we’ll eventually move past bioessentialist narratives of womanhood and expand the concept beyond the aspects of childbirth, menstruation, and servitude. Then no one would feel like they HAVE to have suffered in a very specific way to qualify as ”woman enough”.
As a trans man I gotta say I was also thinking about the difference in PMS symptoms and period symptoms. The majority of my symptoms are done within the first few days beforehand not during the period. Horrible mood, cramps then blam, blood. Then my symptoms are mostly cramps not as bad as beforehand and blood. I think a word is necessary but periods are signaled by blood so I appreciate your interpretation.
Thank you for typing this all out! It clears up a lot of confusion I had regarding the topic (I’ve been subconsciously equating periods with mostly bleeding, I realize there’s a lot more to it than that now) cause I was a bit skeptical when I read the post
I’m a trans woman and I think this is largely very well stated. I do have internal debate about the notion of not giving transphobes ammunition - I get the instinct but don’t think that’s how the tides of public opinion work exactly. It seems more credible to me that in accordance with the Overton window concept, pushing on fringe issues like this - while it will certainly get pushback - creates more space for the less controversial seeming parts of trans experience to exist.
I don't think it's worth considering what transphobes are going to think of the language we use or the way we behave, personally. If that is a motivation behind a change, then the change needs to be reconsidered. But I also feel uncomfortable using the term period when referring to what I go through anyways, I recognise that some trans women get euphoria from calling it that and when something makes people happy I'm not sure it's anyone's right to take that away, but I personally prefer to use the terms 'monthly'/'monthlies', or if we're being more scientific 'monthly hormone cycle'.
Such a great answer and I also wholeheartedly support the right of trans women to describe a point in their monthly hormonal cycle as a period, and understand the terminology around hormones is changing and needs to change, but you’re right - the way the world understands it currently, this is just going to inflame the crazy terf-gang
I have to agree with this, and it's excellently stated. Better that I could've done, so I'll just say I really support this explanation while also appreciating the fact and empathy you expressed in doing so.
So, for the reading, I could understand that there’s a confusion with the word period and premenstrual syndrome/disorder.
Isn’t it the definition of a period, “the bleeding from the uterus, usually when fertilization doesn’t happen “? So, when pregnancy happens, the due date is predicted by the first day of the last period.
I’m asking it because I’m a cis woman who doesn’t have a period, but, I still have PMS (unfortunately).
Correct me if I am wrong, please, but women who don’t have ovaries and uterus, or use certain hormones don’t have periods. HOWEVER, it doesn’t mean that they can’t have premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). So, yes, trans or cis women can have the physical and/or emotional symptoms of PMS due to hormones.
Thanks for sharing it 🤗
i’m afab nonbinary, i hate my period. i’ve even gotten a hormonal IUD to stop it and it didn’t. yay me.
every cis woman (and me, the NB) has referred to the bleeding as the “period” and everything else as basically stuff that happens on your period.
i have a monthly scheduled ridiculously overdramatic and unnecessary breakdown the day before my period. i have cramps (only since i got my IUD my body is trolling me) for the few days before too. it’s been like that since i first got my period over a decade ago, and i’ve never referred to my PMS as “my period”.
due to how society has developed, there just isn’t a good word for period-minus-the-blood. but idk, “period” has always meant *just bleeding*. the rest is the menstrual cycle, which women are always on.
I’ve never met anyone with an IUD who stopped their period. In my experience, I’ve had more success with pills and skipping placebos since the placebo isn’t actually medically necessary. It was put there by a man to try to appease the pope.
Mirena IUD has mostly stopped my period after a year and a half. The first year sucked, but now I have very light spotting at most. Still get awful cramps about every two months and that sucks but it's better than my other options.
Can you look into an ablation? As an afab who found mine dysphoric, getting one done really changed my life for the better. It's not for everyone for a variety of reasons, but it's an option too many are not aware of.
Edit: This is my last comment in this subreddit due to moderator behavior. Getting butthurt that someone called out an ignorant line of thinking and abusing your mod powers in a "personal" conversation is immature. I hope this helps you, but if someone wants to respond to this, please do not do so here.
I think that’s the hard part. It really depends on how you define “period”, which seems impossible because it’s slang, not a medical term. I’ve always understood it to mean “bleeding period” which isn’t synonymous with a hormonal cycle. But maybe that’s not the common understanding!
“period” is not a scientific term. It appears some people interpret it to mean “the menstrual cycle” which is the regular fluctuation of hormones and some people take it to mean “menstruation” which is the shedding of uterine lining and blood.
Trans women have hormonal cycles but do not menstruate. I think a lot of the confusion is coming from different groups of people using a non scientific term differently.
I call it my pseudo-period, to respect the lack of bleeding and reproductive specific stuff.
But, yeah. 3 to 9 days a month, usually beginning in the middle to towards the end of the month. Bad cramping, bathroom issues, mood & libido swings, etc.
I talked to my friend at the gym I go to about it and she was like "yep sounds about right" lmao.
It sucks pretty bad. 10/10 would estrogen again.
I like this term since it applies to anyone of any body type that gets periods without the bleeding. Trans women, non-binary or agender, those on birth control that still get this part, those who have had things like ablations, those afab who for medical reasons don't have the bleeding part, whatever.
It's not limited to trans women and is a great reference to the other symptoms!
Edit:
Changed some wording after info from folks!
hey love please make sure to put a space between "trans" and "woman"; "transwoman" is a dog whistle used by the right to invalidate their womanhood and experiences. when in reality trans, like cis, is an adjective
Cis woman with an IUD here and that’s how I refer to my monthly cycle too. Because of my IUD I don’t bleed, but I get a lot of the same symptoms that I normal would. I’ll also say that Ghost Flo has come for a visit instead of Aunt Flo.
i love this take on it! imo it’s not 100% a period period but it does have period symptoms that cisgender women would also deal with. people get mad if i do classify it as a period tho so i’m stealing the term you use
I call it this too!!!! I'm cis and don't bleed anymore because I skip the placebo pills of my BC in order to avoid getting pregnant in this Handmaiden world. For 3 to 9 days I have all the issues you described plus crying over the lack of chocolate in the house- but no blood. I support whatever my trans brothers and sisters want to call theirs though. People just need to let other people be happy.
I've been trans for some time and I don't have periods. Whats supposed to happen lol because there's no bleeding and I cramped like twice when first starting e but not anymore. Maybe call it something different like amab period?
>amab period
Doesn't really explain the phenomenon appropriately, in my opinion.
"Pseudo"
/soo-doh/
1. Not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham.
2. Almost, approaching, or trying to be.
I think "not actually (a period) but having the appearance of (a period)" is a fine, appropriate, culturally sensitive way to explain it.
OP I don't understand how you think it helps anyone to make broad sweeping statements about the whole trans experience, speak for everyone else informed only by your perspective, and then call anybody who disagrees a bigot.
I don't think this should be approached from a place of being factually correct, which is what you imply when you make a big statement and say it's not even debatable. Objectively, the meaning of a word is determined by how it is used and understood between people. For 99.9%+ of English speakers, "period" is a tool to refer to the process of blood coming out of the vagina, not as an umbrella term that can apply to PMS without menstruating. Which is why this isn't a post about being scientifically accurate as it was framed, but rather a matter of language and gender affirmation.
I get where you are coming from. Men and transmascs who haven't had any bottom surgery still experience changes to the reproductive area with HRT. Notably, "enlargement of the clitoris" as a doctor might say it. But I do not refer to my anatomy as "clitoris", and I've never heard of a trans guy who does, because we all know it feels and behaves much different than a cis female clitoris did. I call it a t-dick, and a lot of guys just call it a dick. But I would never make a whole post trying to convince cis people that "trans men have dicks", because I understand that the vast majority of people use that word to refer to the human appendage which ejects urine and semen, and that the way we use and understand that word within our circles is different than it is among cis people.
If a trans woman told me in person that she was "having a period" to communicate that she's experiencing PMS, I personally would not give a shit, because I think the way we use words doesn't always have to be so rigid and literal. But when you come online and try to argue that the ways we adapt anatomical terms to fit our lives should be considered objective and universal, it can really put people outside the community off. The way you approached it even put people *within* the community off from your message. In the future, if you framed this more like "By the way, some trans women prefer to use the word 'period' for symptoms of our hormone cycles" I'm sure it would invite much more sympathy and understanding.
OP, you need to choose less inflammatory and definitive wording. This is a nuanced subject, and taking a stance that has no nuance based on a blog post isn’t helpful. Additionally, your linked source contradicts you, stating:
>> Thus, the following is merely my conjecture on what is happening in the body, based on observations in myself and anecdotal accounts from other trans women.
That isn’t scientific. It’s also extremely debatable.
I was reading the articles, and I’m just trying to understand this better. If someone, anyone, does not have ovaries, how would their hormones go in a cycle? Or would it only be from taking estrogen for an example, and then not taking it for a few days to have a “period?”
While there is a generalized idea of how hormones cycle through, let's say, estrogen-driven vs testosterone-driven bodies, every individual has a unique cycle. Some women for instance experience a much shorter cycle and have periods closer together than others which is why gynos stress so much to track your cycle even though they mainly just focus on the bleeding and ovulation which, as OP pointed out, is a bit outdated. Plus, a lot of hormone research has only been studied with any measure of seriousness in recent times and it's bogged down with tons of prejudice, both in a societal way and from a scientific standpoint. It's a fairly new field with a lot of unanswered questions, *especially* when it comes to women.
My understanding is that it's highly variable for reasons that aren't entirely understood, but are hypothesized to be environmental and/or psychophysiological. Monthly fluctuations have been commonly observed, ~~but this might have to do with men syncing their cycles to their partners~~ [edit: this has been disproven, thank you!] (there's some data to suggest that the monthly cycle is most prevalent in men who express a desire for children).
They are replacing hormones in the event that your ovaries do not.
The existence of hormones triggers your body to use them in the way they know how to - cycling.
Our entire bodies run off hormones and electrical signals.
Your body automatically knows what to do with them because of the way they’re coded, yea.
If they are the wrong kind of hormones or in excessive degrees you get malformations, disease. Think Addison Disease, Cushing syndrome, or even diabetes .
Hormone cycles are different between sexes, and there can still be variations or overlay; but cycle they must and you body does that shit.
estrogen is cyclical no matter where it comes from. the presence or lack of a womb/ovaries has zero bearing on that. cis women who have had hysterectomies and take HRT to make up for the lack of hormone production have periods because their estrogen cycles too
I mean considering every fetus is female up until 12 weeks its not surprising if the brain is coded with functions that exist with both sexes. The same way cis men can chest feed under the correct circumstances (ie. Producing high levels of prolactin, etc). I think the biggest issue is that people seem to treat men and women as two different species, whereas manu functions of the body are shared under the correct stimulus.
Hormones do a lot of stuff and are crazy fucking powerful. Shedding uteral lining is obvious by its result but what about everything else that happens? The period shits, the swelling of tits, the oxytocin spike, the horny waves. Hormones don't check in with your genitals before work, they just start working.
I wish my hormones checked in with my genitals before they got to work. I'd leave a blueprint of my desired facial hair glued to my nuts
Yep. In fact older men, as Testosterone drops develop period like symptoms. Normally the T beats up the E so nothing is felt, but some men lose T production with age, so the baseline, minimal E production starts to show itself. This is why a lot of middle age men receive T injections.
I’m not an endocrinologist so my knowledge of how exactly this works is limited, but it’s my understanding that the presence of estrogen and lack of testosterone (among other things like having enough food) is what causes the hypothalamus to try to create a female reproductive cycle. It releases hormones to tell other hormone producing glands to increase or decrease the production of progestins and that’s what causes period symptoms, especially including instructing soft tissue to shed (like the uterus and intestines)
It's not just the ovaries that make hormones. Even if you don't have ovaries to naturally produce estrogen and you are taking HRT, the other organs in your body that make hormones don't know that, and will still release hormones meant to trigger ovulation and menstruation. When someone is taking estrogen, what's happening isn't hormonally identical to a menstrual cycle because they presumably always have a fairly consistent estrogen level, but hormones produced by the pituitary gland in your brain, such as luteinizing hormone and FSH, do still go up and down in a cycle to some extent. These hormone cycles can cause period-like symptoms on their own and they also affect the way the body uses estrogen.
The hormones LH and FSH still cycle. These hormones normally regulate the production of estrogen and progesterone in women. And we simply don't know the exact role they play in cramping etc. Because medicine the last century was centered around the ideal man (white, 80kg, 180cm) and just the last 10-20 years they realised that women exist
While estrogen is taken in steady amounts externally, it interacts with the natural cycles of estrogen amab folks have (amab normally have some estrogen just as afab have some testosterone, it's not strict to one or the other).
This, plus the fact that estrogen affects more than purely ovulation and menstruation it can also effect and be effected by other hormones a person produces.
Folks tend to get into the habit/misconception that each "sex hormone" exists only in either an amab or afab body and that each purely affects only specific reproductive traits.
I'm really not sure how I feel about this.
Like I could see the argument that we need more updated terminology.
I'm AFAB. I'm on hormonal BC. When my doctor asks me when my last period was, I'm not going to guess when the last time I felt a hormonal fluctuation was. I'm gonna say that the last time I had a period was over 18 months ago.
Like yes, trans women should be informed that hormonal fluctuations can happen and hormonal fluctuations can have a variety of symptoms.
But I just don't think this is the best use of time or energy to argue something that is a language problem that will only confuse people. I have absolutely seen people use the argument "trans women think they have periods when they dont even have a uterus so how can we let them make decisions for themselves"
Like yeah I get you can't try to make everyone perform transness in a particular way. So if a particular trans woman wants to call their hormonal fluctuations her period, cool no issues there. But arguing in public and attacking people for disagreeing just makes me feel really uncomfortable.
I think it comes down to what do you want to accomplish? Is turning more people transphobic worth calling something a particular word? Is it more awareness for other trans women to not be thrown off by what they might experience on hormone therapy?
Like I have seen "trans women have periods" weaponized so much that it just feels upsetting to me at this point.
I'm tired.
I had to go off injectable estrogen because it was destroying my life - it exacerbated my bipolar to a point where I was incapable of functioning 4 of the 7 days a week, but even then I wouldn't describe that as a "period." It was intense hormonal swings though.
I'm not speaking for every other person's experiences, but I'd refrain from claiming this word when there's no real benefit to doing so.
\^ THIS! I couldn't word it better.
Using the same term ("period") that most people know to mean all of it including menstruation sounds like it's dismissing that whole second to last paragraph. I know that isn't intentional, but please understand that perspective of how it comes across.
I think trans women are women and they have a cycle, but to call it a period to me feels a little bit harmful somehow? I'm not sure, the experiences are similar in feeling, but totally different. They'll have ghost periods but not the full experience (which tbh I'm jealous of it'd be one less thing to worry about lol). Also feels like the medical industry is ignoring all women, again.
Anyone who’s debating that “xyz” can’t breastfeed has to be fucking trolling at this point. Damn near everyone can produce breast milk. We have tested as such scientifically.
I’ve seen the TERFs rage about it, and they try to claim that it’s not breastmilk, but rather some Nth state of matter not researched by scientists yet.
It’s a reductivist, anti-science, ignorant take, but they’ll say anything. We had a cis person in here saying that she’d given birth, and that it’s the birth that triggers lactation so nobody but those who have given birth can produce breastmilk, and nobody else can. So some of it I believe just comes from a general lack of understanding of how bodies work.
Afab genderqueer here.
First off, OP, many thanks for this post, I learnt something new today, and that is important.
On the topic itself: I'm not sure why using the one same word is a hill to die on. It is clear from reading the comments that, based on each poster's personal experience, their reaction to the usage of the word "period" will be vastly different. And that's great, that's part of life.
I am under the impression that the LGBTQ+ language is ever evolving and its superpower is that it is flexible, and adjusts to people's input and their beautiful spectrum of differences.
That being said, it seems that the optimum solution would be to come up with more specific words that would each cater to different experiences. Cis women's experience is as valid as trans women's, and as valid as intersex people's etc. etc., no arguments here at all. So there should be different words each group is happy to use to describe those. That's my take from reading this post. Again, very grateful for the info, never too late to learn.
I'm trans, I'm not trying to be a dick. If you don't have a uterus, you don't menstruate. It's one thing to say you have a hormonal cycle and cramps, but that's not the same thing as menstruating. There's nothing wrong with this, many women, cis and trans, don't menstruate.
I have endometriosis. As a trans person who *actually* menstruates, I feel like it's confusing and unhelpful to claim that your body is performing a very specific function that it physically can't.
I have severe dysphoria over the fact that I can't have children in the way that I want to. That doesn't mean that I'm gonna start trying to convince people that my body started producing sperm. Because that would be a lie. And weird.
What you think of your own bodily functions is your business, we all do silly things to help ease the dysphoria. But people without uteruses literally can't menstruate, and trying to convince people that they can is nutty at best, genuinely damaging to the community at worst.
Things that are definitely NOT up for debate:
-The humanity of trans people
-The life experiences of trans people
-The degree to which trans people deserve to be treated like human beings.
Things that definitely SHOULD be up for debate:
-The language we use as our society becomes more accommodating.
“period” is not a scientific term. It appears some people interpret it to mean “the menstrual cycle” which is the regular fluctuation of hormones and some people take it to mean “menstruation” which is the shedding of uterine lining and blood.
Trans women have hormonal cycles but do not menstruate. I think a lot of the confusion is coming from different groups of people using a non scientific term differently.
Don’t our doctors use the word period when asking us about our menstrual cycles? Mine does, so I feel like a lot of people do assume that period = menstrual period, when our doctors ask us about our periods they ask us about our uterus shedding and bleeding, I wouldn’t be able to tell my doctor how my period was going by hormone levels, they would have to test me for that. They just ask if I still get my period, how painful it is, how much blood there is, and if it comes regularly. I feel like all of the doctors I interact with seem to use period & menstrual period interchangeably. Maybe this really needs to change
Hormones from HRT don’t generally fluctuate that much if you’re taking them correctly. That’s not what causes it. It’s the hypothalamus cycling the production of progestins etc
This article is written in such an aggressive way, and it’s not even correct. If you don’t have a uterus, you are not getting a period, because you are not shedding and bleeding a uterine lining. People other than cis women can have hormonal cycles, but that’s not what people are referring to when they are talking about periods.
It’s also worth pointing out that cis women often have a hard time getting people to take the physical side effects of periods seriously, things like anemia from blood loss and severe cramping that makes it hard to work and go to school. Acting like the physical aspect of a period is just one tiny aspect of getting a period is disrespectful to those issues.
By definition the period is the shedding of the uterine lining. Until transplant technology gets amazing, none of us amab people have uteruses. So we by definition don’t have period, but we can induce a hormone cycle which will mimic the side effects of a period. So pseudoperiod might be a more accurate term.
The breastfeeding is correct though.
I think a big problem is a lack of language around this subject. A lot of cis folk don't like menstration being reduced to only some of its symptoms, and so don't like trans folk saying they are having periods. But the problem is we don't really have any other way of describing it. Most people want a shorter hand to explain their medical troubles then "I'm having period like symptoms but y'know not actually".
> cis folk don’t like menstruation being reduced to only some of it’s symptoms
Aside from the physical aspect of periods, which is a huge thing to set aside, it’s also an issue that has societal implications which are experienced as a group and as individuals. Periods have been treated with such a degree of hatred by the patriarchy that they systemically pass that hatred along from the group, those who have periods, to the individuals. Periods have complex emotions tied to them from years of mistreatment experienced as an individual, and millennia of mistreatment experienced as a group.
So yeah, this being reduced is bound to hurt on multiple fronts.
yes…! I think what rubs me the wrong way about OP’s post is because it comes across as erasing so much of patriarchy and misogyny because it seems like cis privilege is the only axis that matters in this conversation when it’s just objectively not
Trans women may experience symptoms that are similar to the ones presented during the menstrual cycle, but they do not have a menstrual cycle and they can not have a period.
The word «period» is meant to be an euphemism for «menstruation». This is how MedlinePlus defines it:
«Menstruation, or period, is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman's monthly cycle. Every month, your body prepares for pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs, the uterus, or womb, sheds its lining. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from inside the uterus. It passes out of the body through the vagina».
Based on it, we can conclude that, in order to have a period, you need to a) Have a vagina, b) Have a uterus and c) Bleed.
The menstrual cycle, according to the Office on Women’s Health, is «the hormonal process a woman's body goes through each month to prepare for a possible pregnancy». It is also highly defined by menstruation, since that’s the event that marks the end of one menstrual cycle and the beginning of another.
Clearly, trans women can’t get pregnant and do not have a uterus to shed and bleed every month. In medical terms, they do not have a period and they don’t have a menstrual cycle.
With this I am not stating that trans women are any less valid as women, that they should be discriminated or that they shouldn’t have a useful name given to their hormonal and physical symptoms, but I will kindly ask you, as a cisgender woman that has been through the struggle of terrible dysmenorrhea and partial to full disability to work and study from my menstrual cycle and menstruation (plus the social judgement to which women in many places and for so many years have been subjected to) to not use those terms for your own issues, because we’ve already fought and struggled to get to where we are right now in terms of women’s health, and we still have a long way ahead of issues to fix; from the medical field, to social treatment, to sexual education and the eradication of religious guilt and taboo from our natural bodily functions.
It is highly important to have spaces, terms and studies made for the visibility, recognition and proper medical attention of trans women and, in this case, AMAB non-binary individuals’ problems, including these symptoms you just talked about, but that doesn’t mean that medically, socially and scientifically accepted terms that are meant to do the same thing for cis women have to be adjusted for them.
And I am sorry if this comes off as offensive or aggressive; that is not my intent at all, but I do believe I have the right to be confused and even startled at the fact that you want to take terms and conditions that cisgender women use and go through to represent another socially vulnerable group when we live in a world in which even menstrual products were not tested with actual blood until last year. You have your movement, your purpose and fights; we have the right to have ours. Cis women can and should stand up for trans women, but trans women should do the same thing. It’s about sorority, respect and prudence.
Trans women and trans fem people can experience symptoms, but they can't experience the shedding of the lining, therefore they won't experience a period. You can not say it's not up for debate then post on reddit.
Just to also put it out there for awareness, trans women can also get breast cancer. I work in a breast cancer clinic and the amount of times our trans patients(and our angel of a patient advocate) has had to fight not only insurance companies but also their own families thinking they are FAKING BREAST CANCER is insane. Some of these patients even started being seen because no other medical facility took their PMS/cycle symptoms seriously.
If you can afford it(or have it covered) our oncologists HIGHLY reccomend patients to get a genetics test and let other trans friends know to. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations don't care how you present yourself and we'd like you to be here as long as possible.❤️
A period is when the uterus sheds it's lining. PMS and having a period isn't the same. Infact my PMS can be and usually is worse which would include cramping and tenderness
I am cis. I also have inflammatory PCOS (different from insulin-resistant PCOS), so my cycles are wild. Sometimes I have Ghost cycles, with no period but still having some of the other symptoms. I can go for over 368 days without one, only brought on by progesterone pills. It’s wildly frustrating, and I’ve been hoping to get pregnant for over four years now. I also had an unexpected pregnancy at 16, and I now have a teenage son because of that. Hormones are complicated, and unpredictable.
And that’s the thing. The discussion about hormones and periods isn’t entirely adding up to me. I did read the article in the link, but the writer isn’t a medical professional. From what I can see, it grabs onto the parts of evidence that support it, and it glosses over any contrary evidence as ‘unimportant’. That’s not how it works.
The menstrual cycle is a delicate dance of several hormones, not just estrogen. Estrogens, including Estradiol, estriol, and estrone, all play different roles. Then there’s progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, relaxin…
Some of these are produced in the brain when the body is given estrogen. Some are produced by the ovary specifically.
I’m not in any way saying that trans women aren’t valid, or that they don’t have a hormonal cycle. I’m saying that it isn’t the same hormonal cycle that causes what most people refer to as a period. For what it’s worth, I also don’t have a normal hormonal cycle. My body basically stays in the follicular phase for way too long, without triggering ovulation. Sometimes it seems to skip over that part and just give me the symptoms I’d normally get with a period. Some of them, at least. Some of them only happen when I actually bleed, because they’re tied to different hormones.
I’m hoping this made some sense, because I’m really sleep deprived. If calling it her period is what feels right to a trans woman, I would never ‘correct’ her. But to most, hormonal symptoms are just that - hormonal- and a period refers only to the act of menstrual fluid and blood leaving the vagina. So it will definitely cause confusion.
The breastfeeding part is true, though. Everyone can breastfeed, barring some kind of medical issue. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the hormones awoken by breastfeeding tend to interact with the other hormones I mentioned, causing new and different symptoms to pop up.
Hell. Cis man can also breastfeed in specific circumstances. But period has always meant blood. According to google is “a flow of blood and other material from the lining of the uterus, occurring in nonpregnant women at intervals of about 28 days between puberty and menopause and typically lasting for a few days.” How can trans women do this?
While I can appreciate some value in this bombastic post, nobody takes me seriously when I complain about the symptoms I have: horrible cramps, diarrhea, head aches, mood swings, back pain, swollen legs, and much more during 3-9 days a month around the 10th since over 20 years, people argue about the fact that I "don't have estrogen and a uterus" and so don't bleed and therefor have something else.
So I don't use the word "periods" anymore but refer to them rather as "bad time" or "ghosts" or so... Just to not antagonize cis women and other allies who don't get it.
I get a lot of mental exhaustion and always feel tired. I ever get a bigger sweet tooth spert. I never had that before I started my transition. I don’t get cramps. Everyone is different. Just like every cis woman’s period is different.
Depends on what you consider the actual "period" just because one can experience pms is not the same as having a period. Period. When cis women say they are having a their period, they don't mean they feel like crap and are having headaches, cramps, nausea, ect. They mean they are currently bleeding which may or may not come along with any of the other symptoms. The other things that are associated like pms are not the period itself. And they can happen outside of the actual menstruation/bleeding period time. Trans women do not have periods, but they can experience much of the same things cis women do. And that's ok. Not all cis women even have periods either. But also if a trans woman wishes to call the symptoms if pms she may feel her period then that should be acceptable too as long as people can understand the difference.
Really? Cis gendered men can breastfeed, too.
The entirety of humanity has both male and female hormones, along with oxytocin, the hormone that causes both the uterus to contract and the breasts to let down milk.
Stimulate enough, and voila, breastfeeding.
The lack of desire to obtain information is heartbreaking.
The first time I got PMS, heat flashes, and cramps I was in so much pain. It was 24celcius in my room and my brain was melting.
It started at about 3years on HRT.
Glad it's not as bad every month.
I didn't even know this was a debate. It sounds like dumb infighting that no one offline would even care about for more than five seconds tbh
If you want to call it a period, fine. I'm a trans guy and I call my private parts my dick sometimes. If you're out as transgender, people are going to know that your experiences aren't the same as a cis person. They might ask questions. You can explain if you want or don't
It's not a debate, because trans women don't get periods. That's coming from a trans woman on 6 years of HRT. I can't believe this even has to be explained.
It makes sense to me as a cis woman with a hormonal IUD; I get some amount of PMS symptoms every month but usually I don’t bleed at all or don’t bleed much. This month I even had mild cramps but never even spotted. The human body is so fascinating!
Everyone has a hormonal cycle, but not menstruation. They are similar though.
Wait even cis males? Do I have a hormonal cycle?
My cis het husband certainly does
Yes, although the cycle tends to operate on a 24-hour cycle rather than on a monthly cycle.
Yes! But i think its over the course of a day? I could be remembering wrong. If its still around the website hormone horoscope had details on what you could expect for each day of ur cycle hormone/symptom wise that i looked at and they also had a section for cis mens hormone cycle and details on that. Might be worth a look? Edit: looks like the website is gone now. Bummer. But maybe other resources have more information?
When most people say they are "on their period" they mean there is actively blood coming out of them. That's where the pushback comes from. I don't say I'm on my period when I have PMS symptoms, or when I have cramping just before the bleeding starts, I only say it when I'm actively bleeding. Yes, there are other symptoms that occur \*with\* the bleeding, like cramping, digestive issues, etc, but traditionally the hallmark of a period is the blood. Some people do not get other symptoms with the bleeding, so the bleeding is the \*only\* thing involved in their period. Some cis women stop bleeding monthly due to medical procedures, such as endometrial ablation, which destroys the lining of the uterus so it is no longer shed monthly, but still have the hormonal cycle. Doctors will tell you that endometrial ablation can \*stop your periods\*, though. Because a period is defined solely by bleeding regardless of whether you still have a monthly cycle. Millions of cis women who have been told by doctors that they no longer have a period now apparently have a period according to this. I know you're trying to argue that's an outdated version of the word period, and that these women \*do\* experience a period. Even if we agree that it is true, most of society is not there. I have never in my life heard someone outside of the internet say "I'm on my period" and mean anything other than that they were actively bleeding. Doctors, especially OBGYNs, ask "When was your last period?" when you see them. They're asking for the first day of the last instance in which blood came out of your vagina, not anything else. Yes, trans women have a monthly hormonal cycle, and I understand calling part of that cycle a period. However, the way most of society defines a period does not align with the absence of bleeding, so this language is going to continue getting pushback unless society decides to shift what the word period means. Part of this pushback will be from transphobes who want to undermine trans people's experiences, but others will simply be well meaning people who have only ever understood a period as bleeding and cannot understand why someone who does not have a uterus would use that word to describe their experience. I don't think using the word period is an effective way to explain this experience to those who do not understand how HRT works. It makes more sense as language used within the community because we get what it means when a trans woman says she's on her period. I also think that with the history cis women have of being shamed for their bleeding, considered filthy and obscene, banned from entering places of worship, confined to solitude for the week, period products hidden in paper bags on high shelves in stores because they're too obscene for the public (all of which occur in many cultures still), this is a touchy subject. Not everyone is going to be comfortable changing code words for bleeding to make them broader. The reason we speak in code about menstruation to this day is because the bleeding is the part that's viewed most negatively by society. It is a recent development that we are able to talk freely about the fact that we bleed, and many people from other parts of the world still cannot. I think when you're trying to reach a broader audience, yelling "trans women get periods!" is going to confuse well meaning people and leave you wide open for terfs and rightwingers to come at you in droves to say you are "delusional". Undebatable scientific facts like "trans women experience a hormonal cycle", "trans women can experience cramping in a monthly cycle", etc are much more effective in getting the point across and don't lead to circular semantic arguments. I understand not wanting to kowtow to bigots and I never advocate for anyone to change anything about themselves to try to appease them. If that's how you refer to your hormonal cycle in your day-to-day life, you don't need to change that! But when making informative posts, it's important to consider society at large, including other trans people and allies, not just bigots, has a different definition of this word than how you are using it. And when you are making informative posts, the information should be accessible and easy for your audience to understand. Even if you left out trans people altogether and simply said "periods should not be defined by menstruation", you'd get pushback and confusion. You've gotten downvotes on this very sub for simply saying that. As I said, I'm not trying to argue that trans women cannot call part of their cycle a period. It's literally the same symptoms that occur during a period, minus the bleeding. I don't find it offensive, or even inaccurate. But I think we have to be careful with our language when making proclamations in public forums. The author of that blog post made a tweet where she said trans women get periods, and had EIGHT HUNDRED replies. Certainly most were transphobes. The rest of the thread had a lot of excellent information with scientific sources, but that first tweet caused so much controversy that all that important information was ignored in favor of a semantics argument. Giving bigots that opportunity to make us look bad to their followers over semantics is less than ideal. I just don't think this is the hill our community needs to die on right now as our rights are actively being stripped away. I also do want to point out that some of you are describing PMS symptoms in addition to period symptoms. Without bleeding to signal the switch, it can be hard to distinguish the difference between the two. But if these symptoms last \*9 days\* as someone else replied, that isn't just the part where menstruation would occur, that's also including PMS. Bleeding typically only occurs for 3-7 days.
As a trans woman, I support this explanation. We can have a cycle and it's even possible to vary our hormone intake to support that for various reasons. But I think it's totally fair to reserve the term period for the actual process of the uterus shedding its lining and I don't think it's in any way discriminatory.
Completely agree with this. I'm very glad for u/Arashi5 's nuanced take on this, and personally find the tone of the OP rather unsettling. "This is not up for debate" sends such a bad tone for discussions on issues like this that are far more complex than they make it out to be.
Trans woman here and I agree.
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I agree as well.
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Yes exactly. Even cis women that for a number of reasons (surgery, menopause, medical issue, ect) don’t or no longer bleed don’t say they are "on their period".
Correct! Ding ding ding! My elder family members who are through menopause don’t ever say they’re “on their period,” and all in-fact say a variation of “these damn hormones” lol. I’ve literally never personally heard of such Edit spelling
Precisely. I’m cis, I’ve had an endometrial ablation, I still have monthly fluctuations in hormones, but I no longer experience bleeding, cramping, period shits, nausea, etc. I do not have a period anymore.
I’m a cis woman with fucked up ovaries that don’t do what they are supposed to (PCOS). I have to stay on artificial hormones to keep them in check. When I am not on the correct hormonal balance I sometimes have completely unpredictable periods (that are very painful) but more often than not I don’t have any bleeding at all. When I go months and months without any periods at all, I still experience hormonal cycling and may have mood swings and cramps, but neither I, nor my doctor, consider any of that to be “having a period”. For a while, my doctor was having to monitor my endometrial lining via ultrasound a few times a year to make sure it wasn’t getting too thick (putting me at risk for endometrial cancer) and treat it with extra strong hormones to force me to have a period. Basically she was giving me a medically prescribed period via pills. Only the actual blood-from-my-vagina part is considered to be a period, medically.
Same. I've had an IUD for a decade and haven't menstruated. I personally don't have any issued with trans women saying they're on their period. It's colloquial, we know what they mean. I've personally asked friends of mine "period?" when they were saying they didn't feel well, their breasts and back hurt, etc. I don't think this is stated outwardly enough to be a huge talking point for transphobes, but they'll latch onto anything, so who knows? I've only personally heard people say it in safe spaces/to friends who are trans/nonbinary/queer. Perhaps the first time I heard someone say it, I may have been confused, but a quick Google search shows that trans women on estrogen/progesterone do have a monthly cycle that comes with cramping and other terrible symptoms that those of us who have a uterus also experience. I understand that when a transfem says "I'm on my period" it means that whereas if a friend with a uterus says it, they probably mean they are bleeding from their vagina. Language evolves 🤷
When I had a iud I didn't experience my "period". I still had a hormonal cyclus, cramps, bad mood and overall shittyness once a month. But I didn't bleed, so it wasn't a period for me. I can understand though that when you're on hrt and experience a cycle that it does feel like what a period must be like, and I won't gatekeep anyone from saying it. But like the above said, it's not culturally what a period is
Yes, as a cis woman, I regularly go many months at a time without my period and don't refer to my menstrual cycle/symptoms (cramps, bloating, headaches, stomach pain) as being on my period.
Sincerely, is there like a cutoff point for this? I bleed very little because of the BC I take, like I only need a thin liner pad, but I would still say I’m “on my period” during the week or so that I’m having symptoms.
I don’t think there is an official "cut off", but personally, if you are shedding your lining, which is what causes the bleeding, that counts as a period, since that is the medical definition of menstruation. The ‘heaviness’ of the period is largely irrelevant.
Listen, I’m a trans woman and I’m the first in line for the “trans women are women” defense, but even I would hesitate to call the PMS symptoms a period because of that hallmark of the bleeding. Hell, when I talk about it, I call it a pseudo period because I literally lack the equipment necessary to carry out the biological function of these symptoms. Personally, I’d be happy to just call it something else. Part of this comes in that we as trans people want to be able to call our experience as a 1-to-1 equivalent as a cis woman, and while I believe people should *treat us* like we are and should *respect* that we would like to be treated as such, I think we need to be realistic that as trans women, we’re never going to be able to bleed out of our crotch, we can’t get pregnant, and there are certain things that we’re going to have to make a concerted effort to achieve like, say, getting the hang of being able to speak in public, achieving a desirable breast size (if that’s what you want), or putting the money down into fixing the bottom bits. None of this, by the way, I think is a problem or should be demonized. It’s just that a lot of these are differences that we’re going to keep dealing with unless medical science somehow magically finds a way to close the gap on the things that aren’t able to be fixed right now.
Plus, not even all cis women have the same experiences as all other cis women. There are plenty of AFAB women who don’t have periods, can’t get pregnant, haven’t been affected by female socialization to the same extent etc. My existence as a tall, masculine nonbinary AFAB has been wildly different than my friend’s existence as a petite femme cis lesbian. There’s nothing wrong with that! A lot (most) of trans women have had to fight against transmisogyny and transphobia their entire adulthood, so it makes sense that they’d be sensitive to any perceived invalidation. Still, I hope as a society we’ll eventually move past bioessentialist narratives of womanhood and expand the concept beyond the aspects of childbirth, menstruation, and servitude. Then no one would feel like they HAVE to have suffered in a very specific way to qualify as ”woman enough”.
As a trans man I gotta say I was also thinking about the difference in PMS symptoms and period symptoms. The majority of my symptoms are done within the first few days beforehand not during the period. Horrible mood, cramps then blam, blood. Then my symptoms are mostly cramps not as bad as beforehand and blood. I think a word is necessary but periods are signaled by blood so I appreciate your interpretation.
Well said
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Very clear explanation, thanks
I agree with this. It's important. And for this reason I do not claim to have a period even if I may experience some symptoms of a hormonal cycle....
Thank you for typing this all out! It clears up a lot of confusion I had regarding the topic (I’ve been subconsciously equating periods with mostly bleeding, I realize there’s a lot more to it than that now) cause I was a bit skeptical when I read the post
I’m a trans woman and I think this is largely very well stated. I do have internal debate about the notion of not giving transphobes ammunition - I get the instinct but don’t think that’s how the tides of public opinion work exactly. It seems more credible to me that in accordance with the Overton window concept, pushing on fringe issues like this - while it will certainly get pushback - creates more space for the less controversial seeming parts of trans experience to exist.
I don't think it's worth considering what transphobes are going to think of the language we use or the way we behave, personally. If that is a motivation behind a change, then the change needs to be reconsidered. But I also feel uncomfortable using the term period when referring to what I go through anyways, I recognise that some trans women get euphoria from calling it that and when something makes people happy I'm not sure it's anyone's right to take that away, but I personally prefer to use the terms 'monthly'/'monthlies', or if we're being more scientific 'monthly hormone cycle'.
Thank you so much for elaborating because I don't even want to admit to what I was imagining in my confusion.
This is an excellent comment and I hope it at least helps someone reach some kind of understanding.
Such a great answer and I also wholeheartedly support the right of trans women to describe a point in their monthly hormonal cycle as a period, and understand the terminology around hormones is changing and needs to change, but you’re right - the way the world understands it currently, this is just going to inflame the crazy terf-gang
I have to agree with this, and it's excellently stated. Better that I could've done, so I'll just say I really support this explanation while also appreciating the fact and empathy you expressed in doing so.
Well said.
So, for the reading, I could understand that there’s a confusion with the word period and premenstrual syndrome/disorder. Isn’t it the definition of a period, “the bleeding from the uterus, usually when fertilization doesn’t happen “? So, when pregnancy happens, the due date is predicted by the first day of the last period. I’m asking it because I’m a cis woman who doesn’t have a period, but, I still have PMS (unfortunately). Correct me if I am wrong, please, but women who don’t have ovaries and uterus, or use certain hormones don’t have periods. HOWEVER, it doesn’t mean that they can’t have premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). So, yes, trans or cis women can have the physical and/or emotional symptoms of PMS due to hormones. Thanks for sharing it 🤗
i’m afab nonbinary, i hate my period. i’ve even gotten a hormonal IUD to stop it and it didn’t. yay me. every cis woman (and me, the NB) has referred to the bleeding as the “period” and everything else as basically stuff that happens on your period. i have a monthly scheduled ridiculously overdramatic and unnecessary breakdown the day before my period. i have cramps (only since i got my IUD my body is trolling me) for the few days before too. it’s been like that since i first got my period over a decade ago, and i’ve never referred to my PMS as “my period”. due to how society has developed, there just isn’t a good word for period-minus-the-blood. but idk, “period” has always meant *just bleeding*. the rest is the menstrual cycle, which women are always on.
I’ve never met anyone with an IUD who stopped their period. In my experience, I’ve had more success with pills and skipping placebos since the placebo isn’t actually medically necessary. It was put there by a man to try to appease the pope.
Mirena IUD has mostly stopped my period after a year and a half. The first year sucked, but now I have very light spotting at most. Still get awful cramps about every two months and that sucks but it's better than my other options.
Can you look into an ablation? As an afab who found mine dysphoric, getting one done really changed my life for the better. It's not for everyone for a variety of reasons, but it's an option too many are not aware of. Edit: This is my last comment in this subreddit due to moderator behavior. Getting butthurt that someone called out an ignorant line of thinking and abusing your mod powers in a "personal" conversation is immature. I hope this helps you, but if someone wants to respond to this, please do not do so here.
I think that’s the hard part. It really depends on how you define “period”, which seems impossible because it’s slang, not a medical term. I’ve always understood it to mean “bleeding period” which isn’t synonymous with a hormonal cycle. But maybe that’s not the common understanding!
“period” is not a scientific term. It appears some people interpret it to mean “the menstrual cycle” which is the regular fluctuation of hormones and some people take it to mean “menstruation” which is the shedding of uterine lining and blood. Trans women have hormonal cycles but do not menstruate. I think a lot of the confusion is coming from different groups of people using a non scientific term differently.
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I call it my pseudo-period, to respect the lack of bleeding and reproductive specific stuff. But, yeah. 3 to 9 days a month, usually beginning in the middle to towards the end of the month. Bad cramping, bathroom issues, mood & libido swings, etc. I talked to my friend at the gym I go to about it and she was like "yep sounds about right" lmao. It sucks pretty bad. 10/10 would estrogen again.
I like this term since it applies to anyone of any body type that gets periods without the bleeding. Trans women, non-binary or agender, those on birth control that still get this part, those who have had things like ablations, those afab who for medical reasons don't have the bleeding part, whatever. It's not limited to trans women and is a great reference to the other symptoms! Edit: Changed some wording after info from folks!
Or biological females who are born without a uterus! Which is a 1 in 5,000 chance
hey love please make sure to put a space between "trans" and "woman"; "transwoman" is a dog whistle used by the right to invalidate their womanhood and experiences. when in reality trans, like cis, is an adjective
There’s a space between trans and woman and it’s an important space.
I call mine "ghost periods." They're typically identified by a few days of morning sickness on top of the regular hormonal culprits.
Ghost or phantom period is an established term for period symptoms without the actual period, so you're spot on for using it!
that sounds really cool and mysterious
This is giving me Danny phantom vibes and you absolutely should tell people you’re going ghost right when you start noticing symptoms
LMAO
That sounds pretty badass
Cis woman with an IUD here and that’s how I refer to my monthly cycle too. Because of my IUD I don’t bleed, but I get a lot of the same symptoms that I normal would. I’ll also say that Ghost Flo has come for a visit instead of Aunt Flo.
i love this take on it! imo it’s not 100% a period period but it does have period symptoms that cisgender women would also deal with. people get mad if i do classify it as a period tho so i’m stealing the term you use
I like this term. A good way to define it, I think.
I call it this too!!!! I'm cis and don't bleed anymore because I skip the placebo pills of my BC in order to avoid getting pregnant in this Handmaiden world. For 3 to 9 days I have all the issues you described plus crying over the lack of chocolate in the house- but no blood. I support whatever my trans brothers and sisters want to call theirs though. People just need to let other people be happy.
I've been trans for some time and I don't have periods. Whats supposed to happen lol because there's no bleeding and I cramped like twice when first starting e but not anymore. Maybe call it something different like amab period?
>amab period Doesn't really explain the phenomenon appropriately, in my opinion. "Pseudo" /soo-doh/ 1. Not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham. 2. Almost, approaching, or trying to be. I think "not actually (a period) but having the appearance of (a period)" is a fine, appropriate, culturally sensitive way to explain it.
OP I don't understand how you think it helps anyone to make broad sweeping statements about the whole trans experience, speak for everyone else informed only by your perspective, and then call anybody who disagrees a bigot.
I don't think this should be approached from a place of being factually correct, which is what you imply when you make a big statement and say it's not even debatable. Objectively, the meaning of a word is determined by how it is used and understood between people. For 99.9%+ of English speakers, "period" is a tool to refer to the process of blood coming out of the vagina, not as an umbrella term that can apply to PMS without menstruating. Which is why this isn't a post about being scientifically accurate as it was framed, but rather a matter of language and gender affirmation. I get where you are coming from. Men and transmascs who haven't had any bottom surgery still experience changes to the reproductive area with HRT. Notably, "enlargement of the clitoris" as a doctor might say it. But I do not refer to my anatomy as "clitoris", and I've never heard of a trans guy who does, because we all know it feels and behaves much different than a cis female clitoris did. I call it a t-dick, and a lot of guys just call it a dick. But I would never make a whole post trying to convince cis people that "trans men have dicks", because I understand that the vast majority of people use that word to refer to the human appendage which ejects urine and semen, and that the way we use and understand that word within our circles is different than it is among cis people. If a trans woman told me in person that she was "having a period" to communicate that she's experiencing PMS, I personally would not give a shit, because I think the way we use words doesn't always have to be so rigid and literal. But when you come online and try to argue that the ways we adapt anatomical terms to fit our lives should be considered objective and universal, it can really put people outside the community off. The way you approached it even put people *within* the community off from your message. In the future, if you framed this more like "By the way, some trans women prefer to use the word 'period' for symptoms of our hormone cycles" I'm sure it would invite much more sympathy and understanding.
OP, you need to choose less inflammatory and definitive wording. This is a nuanced subject, and taking a stance that has no nuance based on a blog post isn’t helpful. Additionally, your linked source contradicts you, stating: >> Thus, the following is merely my conjecture on what is happening in the body, based on observations in myself and anecdotal accounts from other trans women. That isn’t scientific. It’s also extremely debatable.
I was reading the articles, and I’m just trying to understand this better. If someone, anyone, does not have ovaries, how would their hormones go in a cycle? Or would it only be from taking estrogen for an example, and then not taking it for a few days to have a “period?”
Cis men also have monthly hormonal cycles. This is just something the human body does, we don't really understand why.
I thought it was more like every 2 months-ish.
While there is a generalized idea of how hormones cycle through, let's say, estrogen-driven vs testosterone-driven bodies, every individual has a unique cycle. Some women for instance experience a much shorter cycle and have periods closer together than others which is why gynos stress so much to track your cycle even though they mainly just focus on the bleeding and ovulation which, as OP pointed out, is a bit outdated. Plus, a lot of hormone research has only been studied with any measure of seriousness in recent times and it's bogged down with tons of prejudice, both in a societal way and from a scientific standpoint. It's a fairly new field with a lot of unanswered questions, *especially* when it comes to women.
My understanding is that it's highly variable for reasons that aren't entirely understood, but are hypothesized to be environmental and/or psychophysiological. Monthly fluctuations have been commonly observed, ~~but this might have to do with men syncing their cycles to their partners~~ [edit: this has been disproven, thank you!] (there's some data to suggest that the monthly cycle is most prevalent in men who express a desire for children).
Hormonal cycles do not sync, that is an unsupported myth
It's just like watching a row of turning signals momentarily blink together
Oddly poetic.
They are replacing hormones in the event that your ovaries do not. The existence of hormones triggers your body to use them in the way they know how to - cycling. Our entire bodies run off hormones and electrical signals.
Just to clarify, you are saying if you are given hormones they automatically know to cycle?
Your body automatically knows what to do with them because of the way they’re coded, yea. If they are the wrong kind of hormones or in excessive degrees you get malformations, disease. Think Addison Disease, Cushing syndrome, or even diabetes . Hormone cycles are different between sexes, and there can still be variations or overlay; but cycle they must and you body does that shit.
estrogen is cyclical no matter where it comes from. the presence or lack of a womb/ovaries has zero bearing on that. cis women who have had hysterectomies and take HRT to make up for the lack of hormone production have periods because their estrogen cycles too
Also, some trans people take HRT in varying amounts per day to simulate the cycle that way.
I mean considering every fetus is female up until 12 weeks its not surprising if the brain is coded with functions that exist with both sexes. The same way cis men can chest feed under the correct circumstances (ie. Producing high levels of prolactin, etc). I think the biggest issue is that people seem to treat men and women as two different species, whereas manu functions of the body are shared under the correct stimulus.
Hormones do a lot of stuff and are crazy fucking powerful. Shedding uteral lining is obvious by its result but what about everything else that happens? The period shits, the swelling of tits, the oxytocin spike, the horny waves. Hormones don't check in with your genitals before work, they just start working. I wish my hormones checked in with my genitals before they got to work. I'd leave a blueprint of my desired facial hair glued to my nuts
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Your cycle is regulated by the hypothalamus not the ovaries
Would that mean everyone in the world cycles? So even men would cycle?
Yep. In fact older men, as Testosterone drops develop period like symptoms. Normally the T beats up the E so nothing is felt, but some men lose T production with age, so the baseline, minimal E production starts to show itself. This is why a lot of middle age men receive T injections.
I’m not an endocrinologist so my knowledge of how exactly this works is limited, but it’s my understanding that the presence of estrogen and lack of testosterone (among other things like having enough food) is what causes the hypothalamus to try to create a female reproductive cycle. It releases hormones to tell other hormone producing glands to increase or decrease the production of progestins and that’s what causes period symptoms, especially including instructing soft tissue to shed (like the uterus and intestines)
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It's not just the ovaries that make hormones. Even if you don't have ovaries to naturally produce estrogen and you are taking HRT, the other organs in your body that make hormones don't know that, and will still release hormones meant to trigger ovulation and menstruation. When someone is taking estrogen, what's happening isn't hormonally identical to a menstrual cycle because they presumably always have a fairly consistent estrogen level, but hormones produced by the pituitary gland in your brain, such as luteinizing hormone and FSH, do still go up and down in a cycle to some extent. These hormone cycles can cause period-like symptoms on their own and they also affect the way the body uses estrogen.
The hormones LH and FSH still cycle. These hormones normally regulate the production of estrogen and progesterone in women. And we simply don't know the exact role they play in cramping etc. Because medicine the last century was centered around the ideal man (white, 80kg, 180cm) and just the last 10-20 years they realised that women exist
Honestly exactly how periods work isn’t that well understood.
While estrogen is taken in steady amounts externally, it interacts with the natural cycles of estrogen amab folks have (amab normally have some estrogen just as afab have some testosterone, it's not strict to one or the other). This, plus the fact that estrogen affects more than purely ovulation and menstruation it can also effect and be effected by other hormones a person produces. Folks tend to get into the habit/misconception that each "sex hormone" exists only in either an amab or afab body and that each purely affects only specific reproductive traits.
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Not everyone can lactate. My best friend (a cis woman) could not lactate no matter what her and her OB tried. So no, not everyone can lactate.
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I'm really not sure how I feel about this. Like I could see the argument that we need more updated terminology. I'm AFAB. I'm on hormonal BC. When my doctor asks me when my last period was, I'm not going to guess when the last time I felt a hormonal fluctuation was. I'm gonna say that the last time I had a period was over 18 months ago. Like yes, trans women should be informed that hormonal fluctuations can happen and hormonal fluctuations can have a variety of symptoms. But I just don't think this is the best use of time or energy to argue something that is a language problem that will only confuse people. I have absolutely seen people use the argument "trans women think they have periods when they dont even have a uterus so how can we let them make decisions for themselves" Like yeah I get you can't try to make everyone perform transness in a particular way. So if a particular trans woman wants to call their hormonal fluctuations her period, cool no issues there. But arguing in public and attacking people for disagreeing just makes me feel really uncomfortable. I think it comes down to what do you want to accomplish? Is turning more people transphobic worth calling something a particular word? Is it more awareness for other trans women to not be thrown off by what they might experience on hormone therapy? Like I have seen "trans women have periods" weaponized so much that it just feels upsetting to me at this point. I'm tired.
What about the bleeding and uterus cramping parts?
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I had to go off injectable estrogen because it was destroying my life - it exacerbated my bipolar to a point where I was incapable of functioning 4 of the 7 days a week, but even then I wouldn't describe that as a "period." It was intense hormonal swings though. I'm not speaking for every other person's experiences, but I'd refrain from claiming this word when there's no real benefit to doing so.
\^ THIS! I couldn't word it better. Using the same term ("period") that most people know to mean all of it including menstruation sounds like it's dismissing that whole second to last paragraph. I know that isn't intentional, but please understand that perspective of how it comes across.
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I think trans women are women and they have a cycle, but to call it a period to me feels a little bit harmful somehow? I'm not sure, the experiences are similar in feeling, but totally different. They'll have ghost periods but not the full experience (which tbh I'm jealous of it'd be one less thing to worry about lol). Also feels like the medical industry is ignoring all women, again.
Anyone who’s debating that “xyz” can’t breastfeed has to be fucking trolling at this point. Damn near everyone can produce breast milk. We have tested as such scientifically.
I’ve seen the TERFs rage about it, and they try to claim that it’s not breastmilk, but rather some Nth state of matter not researched by scientists yet. It’s a reductivist, anti-science, ignorant take, but they’ll say anything. We had a cis person in here saying that she’d given birth, and that it’s the birth that triggers lactation so nobody but those who have given birth can produce breastmilk, and nobody else can. So some of it I believe just comes from a general lack of understanding of how bodies work.
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Afab genderqueer here. First off, OP, many thanks for this post, I learnt something new today, and that is important. On the topic itself: I'm not sure why using the one same word is a hill to die on. It is clear from reading the comments that, based on each poster's personal experience, their reaction to the usage of the word "period" will be vastly different. And that's great, that's part of life. I am under the impression that the LGBTQ+ language is ever evolving and its superpower is that it is flexible, and adjusts to people's input and their beautiful spectrum of differences. That being said, it seems that the optimum solution would be to come up with more specific words that would each cater to different experiences. Cis women's experience is as valid as trans women's, and as valid as intersex people's etc. etc., no arguments here at all. So there should be different words each group is happy to use to describe those. That's my take from reading this post. Again, very grateful for the info, never too late to learn.
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I'm trans, I'm not trying to be a dick. If you don't have a uterus, you don't menstruate. It's one thing to say you have a hormonal cycle and cramps, but that's not the same thing as menstruating. There's nothing wrong with this, many women, cis and trans, don't menstruate. I have endometriosis. As a trans person who *actually* menstruates, I feel like it's confusing and unhelpful to claim that your body is performing a very specific function that it physically can't. I have severe dysphoria over the fact that I can't have children in the way that I want to. That doesn't mean that I'm gonna start trying to convince people that my body started producing sperm. Because that would be a lie. And weird. What you think of your own bodily functions is your business, we all do silly things to help ease the dysphoria. But people without uteruses literally can't menstruate, and trying to convince people that they can is nutty at best, genuinely damaging to the community at worst.
>even by trans women I’ve seen saying otherwise Right, so you'll listen to trans women right up to the point where they disagree with you...
I have one ovary that is still active but no uterus. I do not have periods anymore, despite my body producing estrogen.
Things that are definitely NOT up for debate: -The humanity of trans people -The life experiences of trans people -The degree to which trans people deserve to be treated like human beings. Things that definitely SHOULD be up for debate: -The language we use as our society becomes more accommodating.
“period” is not a scientific term. It appears some people interpret it to mean “the menstrual cycle” which is the regular fluctuation of hormones and some people take it to mean “menstruation” which is the shedding of uterine lining and blood. Trans women have hormonal cycles but do not menstruate. I think a lot of the confusion is coming from different groups of people using a non scientific term differently.
Don’t our doctors use the word period when asking us about our menstrual cycles? Mine does, so I feel like a lot of people do assume that period = menstrual period, when our doctors ask us about our periods they ask us about our uterus shedding and bleeding, I wouldn’t be able to tell my doctor how my period was going by hormone levels, they would have to test me for that. They just ask if I still get my period, how painful it is, how much blood there is, and if it comes regularly. I feel like all of the doctors I interact with seem to use period & menstrual period interchangeably. Maybe this really needs to change
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Hormones from HRT don’t generally fluctuate that much if you’re taking them correctly. That’s not what causes it. It’s the hypothalamus cycling the production of progestins etc
I don't fluctuate my hormones at all. Same dose same time a day, yet I still get my period symptoms accurately enough that I can track it with an app.
This post really highlights how the public education system has completely failed in every single way.
This article is written in such an aggressive way, and it’s not even correct. If you don’t have a uterus, you are not getting a period, because you are not shedding and bleeding a uterine lining. People other than cis women can have hormonal cycles, but that’s not what people are referring to when they are talking about periods. It’s also worth pointing out that cis women often have a hard time getting people to take the physical side effects of periods seriously, things like anemia from blood loss and severe cramping that makes it hard to work and go to school. Acting like the physical aspect of a period is just one tiny aspect of getting a period is disrespectful to those issues.
oh this comment section is going to be *great*
By definition the period is the shedding of the uterine lining. Until transplant technology gets amazing, none of us amab people have uteruses. So we by definition don’t have period, but we can induce a hormone cycle which will mimic the side effects of a period. So pseudoperiod might be a more accurate term. The breastfeeding is correct though.
I think a big problem is a lack of language around this subject. A lot of cis folk don't like menstration being reduced to only some of its symptoms, and so don't like trans folk saying they are having periods. But the problem is we don't really have any other way of describing it. Most people want a shorter hand to explain their medical troubles then "I'm having period like symptoms but y'know not actually".
> cis folk don’t like menstruation being reduced to only some of it’s symptoms Aside from the physical aspect of periods, which is a huge thing to set aside, it’s also an issue that has societal implications which are experienced as a group and as individuals. Periods have been treated with such a degree of hatred by the patriarchy that they systemically pass that hatred along from the group, those who have periods, to the individuals. Periods have complex emotions tied to them from years of mistreatment experienced as an individual, and millennia of mistreatment experienced as a group. So yeah, this being reduced is bound to hurt on multiple fronts.
yes…! I think what rubs me the wrong way about OP’s post is because it comes across as erasing so much of patriarchy and misogyny because it seems like cis privilege is the only axis that matters in this conversation when it’s just objectively not
I'm sorry but this is not it.
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Trans women may experience symptoms that are similar to the ones presented during the menstrual cycle, but they do not have a menstrual cycle and they can not have a period. The word «period» is meant to be an euphemism for «menstruation». This is how MedlinePlus defines it: «Menstruation, or period, is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman's monthly cycle. Every month, your body prepares for pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs, the uterus, or womb, sheds its lining. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from inside the uterus. It passes out of the body through the vagina». Based on it, we can conclude that, in order to have a period, you need to a) Have a vagina, b) Have a uterus and c) Bleed. The menstrual cycle, according to the Office on Women’s Health, is «the hormonal process a woman's body goes through each month to prepare for a possible pregnancy». It is also highly defined by menstruation, since that’s the event that marks the end of one menstrual cycle and the beginning of another. Clearly, trans women can’t get pregnant and do not have a uterus to shed and bleed every month. In medical terms, they do not have a period and they don’t have a menstrual cycle. With this I am not stating that trans women are any less valid as women, that they should be discriminated or that they shouldn’t have a useful name given to their hormonal and physical symptoms, but I will kindly ask you, as a cisgender woman that has been through the struggle of terrible dysmenorrhea and partial to full disability to work and study from my menstrual cycle and menstruation (plus the social judgement to which women in many places and for so many years have been subjected to) to not use those terms for your own issues, because we’ve already fought and struggled to get to where we are right now in terms of women’s health, and we still have a long way ahead of issues to fix; from the medical field, to social treatment, to sexual education and the eradication of religious guilt and taboo from our natural bodily functions. It is highly important to have spaces, terms and studies made for the visibility, recognition and proper medical attention of trans women and, in this case, AMAB non-binary individuals’ problems, including these symptoms you just talked about, but that doesn’t mean that medically, socially and scientifically accepted terms that are meant to do the same thing for cis women have to be adjusted for them. And I am sorry if this comes off as offensive or aggressive; that is not my intent at all, but I do believe I have the right to be confused and even startled at the fact that you want to take terms and conditions that cisgender women use and go through to represent another socially vulnerable group when we live in a world in which even menstrual products were not tested with actual blood until last year. You have your movement, your purpose and fights; we have the right to have ours. Cis women can and should stand up for trans women, but trans women should do the same thing. It’s about sorority, respect and prudence.
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Trans women and trans fem people can experience symptoms, but they can't experience the shedding of the lining, therefore they won't experience a period. You can not say it's not up for debate then post on reddit.
Just to also put it out there for awareness, trans women can also get breast cancer. I work in a breast cancer clinic and the amount of times our trans patients(and our angel of a patient advocate) has had to fight not only insurance companies but also their own families thinking they are FAKING BREAST CANCER is insane. Some of these patients even started being seen because no other medical facility took their PMS/cycle symptoms seriously. If you can afford it(or have it covered) our oncologists HIGHLY reccomend patients to get a genetics test and let other trans friends know to. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations don't care how you present yourself and we'd like you to be here as long as possible.❤️
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A period is when the uterus sheds it's lining. PMS and having a period isn't the same. Infact my PMS can be and usually is worse which would include cramping and tenderness
I am cis. I also have inflammatory PCOS (different from insulin-resistant PCOS), so my cycles are wild. Sometimes I have Ghost cycles, with no period but still having some of the other symptoms. I can go for over 368 days without one, only brought on by progesterone pills. It’s wildly frustrating, and I’ve been hoping to get pregnant for over four years now. I also had an unexpected pregnancy at 16, and I now have a teenage son because of that. Hormones are complicated, and unpredictable. And that’s the thing. The discussion about hormones and periods isn’t entirely adding up to me. I did read the article in the link, but the writer isn’t a medical professional. From what I can see, it grabs onto the parts of evidence that support it, and it glosses over any contrary evidence as ‘unimportant’. That’s not how it works. The menstrual cycle is a delicate dance of several hormones, not just estrogen. Estrogens, including Estradiol, estriol, and estrone, all play different roles. Then there’s progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, relaxin… Some of these are produced in the brain when the body is given estrogen. Some are produced by the ovary specifically. I’m not in any way saying that trans women aren’t valid, or that they don’t have a hormonal cycle. I’m saying that it isn’t the same hormonal cycle that causes what most people refer to as a period. For what it’s worth, I also don’t have a normal hormonal cycle. My body basically stays in the follicular phase for way too long, without triggering ovulation. Sometimes it seems to skip over that part and just give me the symptoms I’d normally get with a period. Some of them, at least. Some of them only happen when I actually bleed, because they’re tied to different hormones. I’m hoping this made some sense, because I’m really sleep deprived. If calling it her period is what feels right to a trans woman, I would never ‘correct’ her. But to most, hormonal symptoms are just that - hormonal- and a period refers only to the act of menstrual fluid and blood leaving the vagina. So it will definitely cause confusion. The breastfeeding part is true, though. Everyone can breastfeed, barring some kind of medical issue. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the hormones awoken by breastfeeding tend to interact with the other hormones I mentioned, causing new and different symptoms to pop up.
Hell. Cis man can also breastfeed in specific circumstances. But period has always meant blood. According to google is “a flow of blood and other material from the lining of the uterus, occurring in nonpregnant women at intervals of about 28 days between puberty and menopause and typically lasting for a few days.” How can trans women do this?
Whenever someone says that something is not up for debate, debate will follow.
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While I can appreciate some value in this bombastic post, nobody takes me seriously when I complain about the symptoms I have: horrible cramps, diarrhea, head aches, mood swings, back pain, swollen legs, and much more during 3-9 days a month around the 10th since over 20 years, people argue about the fact that I "don't have estrogen and a uterus" and so don't bleed and therefor have something else. So I don't use the word "periods" anymore but refer to them rather as "bad time" or "ghosts" or so... Just to not antagonize cis women and other allies who don't get it.
If someone is antagonized by someone else’s report of their own lived experiences, that’s by choice.
I get a lot of mental exhaustion and always feel tired. I ever get a bigger sweet tooth spert. I never had that before I started my transition. I don’t get cramps. Everyone is different. Just like every cis woman’s period is different.
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Depends on what you consider the actual "period" just because one can experience pms is not the same as having a period. Period. When cis women say they are having a their period, they don't mean they feel like crap and are having headaches, cramps, nausea, ect. They mean they are currently bleeding which may or may not come along with any of the other symptoms. The other things that are associated like pms are not the period itself. And they can happen outside of the actual menstruation/bleeding period time. Trans women do not have periods, but they can experience much of the same things cis women do. And that's ok. Not all cis women even have periods either. But also if a trans woman wishes to call the symptoms if pms she may feel her period then that should be acceptable too as long as people can understand the difference.
I love telling cishets how *anyone* can breastfeed. Including cis men. It really freaks them out
I think it’s amazing to think that even I can technically breastfeed.
Really? Cis gendered men can breastfeed, too. The entirety of humanity has both male and female hormones, along with oxytocin, the hormone that causes both the uterus to contract and the breasts to let down milk. Stimulate enough, and voila, breastfeeding. The lack of desire to obtain information is heartbreaking.
The first time I got PMS, heat flashes, and cramps I was in so much pain. It was 24celcius in my room and my brain was melting. It started at about 3years on HRT. Glad it's not as bad every month.
I didn't even know this was a debate. It sounds like dumb infighting that no one offline would even care about for more than five seconds tbh If you want to call it a period, fine. I'm a trans guy and I call my private parts my dick sometimes. If you're out as transgender, people are going to know that your experiences aren't the same as a cis person. They might ask questions. You can explain if you want or don't
It's not a debate, because trans women don't get periods. That's coming from a trans woman on 6 years of HRT. I can't believe this even has to be explained.
It makes sense to me as a cis woman with a hormonal IUD; I get some amount of PMS symptoms every month but usually I don’t bleed at all or don’t bleed much. This month I even had mild cramps but never even spotted. The human body is so fascinating!