{"id":3590,"date":"2021-04-09T18:51:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/menstruation-als-trans-mann-periodenprodukte-branding\/"},"modified":"2022-11-03T06:34:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T06:34:24","slug":"including-the-men-in-menstruation-trans-periods-branding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/en\/including-the-men-in-menstruation-trans-periods-branding\/","title":{"rendered":"Including the Men in Menstruation: Trans Periods &\u00a0Branding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Historically, menstruation has been understood as a biological function of the female body, affecting women and only women. But over the last several years, as periods have flowed<\/em> more and more into public discussion, this has begun to shift. Increasingly, activists, journalists and brands are speaking out about the fact that it\u2019s not only women who menstruate. Trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming people also experience periods. Menstruation is not solely experienced by people who identify as women<\/a>, but has to include trans periods as well.<\/p>

In 1990, feminist scholar Judith Butler published her groundbreaking book Gender Trouble.<\/a> Butler theorizes that gender is a social construct, a performance that gets countlessly repeated and reimagined in different ways. According to Butler, the way gender is performed depends largely on discourse, culture, history, time and place. Everything we do plays into how we perform our gender. From the way we dress, how we move and describe ourselves, down to the products we buy. <\/p>

Trans periods: Menstruation as a trans man<\/h3>

Taking testosterone during the gender transition from woman-man doesn\u2019t necessarily stop the menstrual cycle. As Cass Bliss, aka The Period Prince, discusses<\/a> in Seventeen Magazine, \u201cthe dysphoria is real\u201d when menstruating while trans, causing distress and confusion surrounding the body and gender. They say, \u201cafter having been told constantly that periods are about womanhood \u2013 by friends, the media, and advertisements \u2013 I was crushed when I started bleeding. I felt like I had no choice but to live my life pretending to be someone I was not.\u201d In the interview for \u201cMenstruation around the world\u201d SJ shares about his experience with menstruation as a trans man<\/a>. <\/p>

Scientific research has shown<\/a> that menstruation provokes deeply negative sentiments for trans and non-binary folks. Gendered bathrooms and being seen as a menstruator are a main source of stress and anxiety. Generally, period products tend to have lots of pink or traditionally \u201cgirly\u201d designs. In addition to that, they can be found in the \u201cfeminine hygiene section\u201d at the store. This only makes matters worse for trans menstruators. <\/p>

\u201cFor far too long, the only period product imagery used in marketing was pink, flowery and showed bright-eyed young girls \u2018frolicking.\u2019 Nowadays, many show a variety of shapes, sizes and races. However, rarely do they show those who may not fit the traditional \u2018social norm\u2019 of \u2018feminine,’\u201d says Cathy Chapman, president of Lune North America,<\/a> via Bustle<\/a>. <\/p>

Jen Bell published the piece talking about periods beyond gender<\/a> for the fertility and period tracking app Clue. In her article, she discusses the importance of the words we use to describe the menstrual experience. Language carries power, and therefore exchanging \u201cfeminine hygiene products\u201d with \u201cmenstrual care products\u201d and \u201cwomen\u201d with \u201cmenstruators\u201d or \u201cpeople with periods\u201d goes a long way to include those who do not identify as women in the discussion about menstruation<\/a>. <\/p>

Efforts to make periods more inclusive for trans menstruators <\/h4>

To that end, in an effort to be more accommodating to all genders who menstruate, the brand Always decided to remove the Venus symbol<\/a> from their period product packaging in October 2019. This was after receiving tweets such as this one from trans activist Melly Bloom: \u201cCould someone from Always tell me why it is imperative to have the female symbol on their sanitary products? There are non-binary and trans folks who still need to use your products too you know!\u201d per NBC News<\/a>. <\/p>

Over 15,500 people have signed a change.org petition<\/a> called #RenameDontShame. They are asking supermarkets in the U.S. and U.K. to use gender-inclusive language to market their period products. The petition, launched by Natracare, states that using the term \u201cfeminine hygiene\u201d assumes all people with periods are women and you need to menstruate to be feminine. This excludes both other genders who menstruate as well as trans women and cis women who don\u2019t have periods. <\/p>

While conducting research for my master\u2019s thesis on the changing culture surrounding menstruation, I interviewed women living in Berlin from different age groups and cultural backgrounds on their observations and perceptions of this shift. One of my participants was a mom with a transgender teenage son. She told me that he hates to shop for menstrual products because of all the \u201cgirly colors\u201d and signals that it\u2019s just for women \u2013 so much that he won\u2019t do it anymore. <\/p>

Gender neutral approach <\/h3>

For this reason, it\u2019s important to also<\/em> have brands and products available with a more gender-neutral approach to branding and packaging. Not only for trans menstruators, but for all people with periods who don\u2019t identify with the way femininity is traditionally depicted on period products. <\/p>

In this video, YouTuber Kel Lauren redesigns a Playtex Sport tampon package. They do this to question and challenge the overtly feminine style that period products tend to have, proposing a more playful, modern and neutral version. <\/p>

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