'Periods': Wrong Meaning, Wrong Body

Vitriol Valerate, Issue No. 1

preface

i’d like to preface this, our first issue of “Vitriol Valerate”, by saying that i believe the word ‘transsexual’ is an okay word for people to be using, so long as they use it accurately, as it is a term coined for describing those who are medically transitioning, and as it is inclusive to non-binary/agender folk who are also transitioning, which would also include me, and some friends close and dear to me.

i believe not that the word ‘transsexual’ is a slur,

however, i should warn all readers that i will often use the word ‘tranny’, which is a slur, when describing, hatred, prejudice, and bigotry toward trans folk, which i shall describe very often.

i believe that descriptions authored by trans folk about tranny-hating for educational purposes would be the the context in which the word is most effective in defining transphobia, and the context in which it would do the most good, moreso than any other word, say i, as an understanding of transphobia cannot be complete unless we parse it from the meaning as beheld by those who hate trannies.

plus, we’ve already reclaimed it, it’s ours to use as we deem fit.

if you are not transgender/transsexual, stay in your lane.

---

begin issue

here’s a nugget of tranny-hating and woman hating spewed even by trans folk and cisgender female allies that should be very basic for us to acknowledge, about periods.

some cis allies and trans folk justify that “trans women are women” (which i’m not disputing) with the faux pas that trans women ‘can have periods’.

(which i am disputing.)

---

first of all, that’s patently false, “periods” refers to menstruation, a function of female sex organs.

what these folks are truly speaking of would be signs of PMS.

and though many mtf transsexuals do experience that, our experience of it is not that well-documented.

(on top of that, in our cases, i think it may need a name that’s more fitting.)

---

now, the reason it’s transphobic is the same reason why it’s misogynistic:

that definition excludes us, but on top of that it also excludes cisgender women who can’t have periods, including but not limited to women shown to have complete androgen insensitivity syndrome.

---

if periods are what affirms someone’s womanhood, then that criterion excludes us by definition, and affirming one’s womanhood would be impossible for us and quite a few cis women.

plus, contrariwise, it also abdicates trans men from manhood, as many of them have had periods.

---

it’s setting up a standard for mtf transsexuals that we can’t meet, from which some cis women would have to be given exemptions to still count as women, that trans men would have to be given exemptions to count as men.

---

so even at the conclusion of this fake notion, that ‘trans women can have periods’, starting with periods as the requisite of being a woman, we must find it not only untrue, but logically inconsistent

---

addendum

i’ve been seeing some really awful kinds of trans folk, let’s call them transshits, writing posts online about their “period cramps”. ( x )

my first thought about that was that in all my time since i started transitioning, i never had any cramps, nor had i ever heard any other trans folk talking about it until today.

sure, at times i get breast tenderness, headaches, spells of unbridled crying, even some mild nausea occasionally, but never any word about cramps, so that post sounded really suspect, so i look for a detailed explanation about it. and what i found was something bullet-proof.

the pain itself in period cramps are not directly attributable to hormones, but rather the physical contraction of the uterus during the menstrual cycle. no uterus, no uterine contraction. no uterine contraction, no cramps.

it was definitely a lie.

transshits spreading such misinformation is woman-hating, shaming women who don’t get periods, but it also stems from prejudice toward trannies, leading to confusion and mistreatment toward both categories, by making a both superstitious-and-sexual fetish of periods.

why on earth should i have to have cramps, or have periods, for someone to feel okay with seeing me as a woman?

keep your woman-hating, and your internalized tranny-hating out of our community.

it is an unwanted liability