{"id":3310,"date":"2019-11-30T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T11:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/warum-schreiben-wir-menstruierende-menschen\/"},"modified":"2023-02-03T10:51:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T09:51:53","slug":"why-are-we-using-the-term-menstruating-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/en\/why-are-we-using-the-term-menstruating-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are we using the term ‘menstruating people’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

*Note: terms related to gender identities are explained in the info box.*<\/em><\/p>

Why gender-inclusive language is so important when talking about menstruation<\/h3>

Especially marketing messages and products are strongly designed to supposed gender-specific characteristics, as is the case with menstrual products as well. Menstruation is still far too often associated only with girls and women. Now you may still think, yes, that\u2019s how it is! But not all women menstruate and not all who identify themselves as women menstruate.  Say what? Even trans-, non-binary or gender-neutral people can bleed monthly. The presentation of menstruation as an experience shared exclusively by women is therefore not completely right. Cis-sexist assumptions about periods and bodies can exclude and discriminate against certain individuals. Therefore, we use the term \u2018menstruating people\u2019 or \u2018menstruators\u2019 and try not to speak of women or girls. This is our attempt to start including all people who have menstrual experiences linguistically. Because language matters.<\/p>

So, should we now write \u2018menstruating people\u2019 rather than women?<\/h3>

The term \u2018menstruating people\u2019 is in no way intended to replace the term \u2018women\u2019. Women are women, a group of people who define themselves as women. Menstruating people are an even larger group of people, as there are people who menstruate but do not define themselves as women. However, in the group of menstruating people, women make up the largest percentage in terms of numbers. Since we are, among other things, a menstrual education platform, we usually talk about menstruating people and mean women + other groups with menstrual experiences.<\/strong><\/p>

Another example<\/h3>

All these terms we are talking about here are not substitutes for the word \u2018woman\u2019. They are additional ways of grouping people with similar characteristics together in order to describe them properly and not exclude anyone.
To make it even clearer here is another example: travelers. We can say travelers or traveling people to all people who travel. However, in this group of people there are traveling men and women, but also people who do not identify as men or women, such as non-binary or transgender people.<\/p>

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Not all women menstruate<\/h3>

Another important aspect in this context is that not all cis-women menstruate. This can have different reasons, such as menopause, stress or hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus). Some cis-women may have never had their menstruation due to health conditions. However, the lack of menstruation does not make them less of a woman than those who bleed monthly. It is important for statements that define menstruation as a pure source of femininity to pay attention to what the effects of such claims can have on people. Because with these messages the experiences of individual people can be made invisible and the normality of the binary gender system will be further supported.<\/p>

INFO-BOX: What gender identities are out there? And what do the terms mean?<\/h3>\n\n

Language can be complicated and definitions can be contoversial. There are still no expressions or terms with which all people feel 100 percent comfortable. However, one thing is certain: people who do not feel that they are women or men essentially question the idea that gender = genitals. For a better comprehensibility of the text, here is our attempt to give a brief overview of the various concepts around sex and gender identities:<\/p>\n\n