It's not just women who bleed.

In discussing menstruation, we've realized that women are not the only ones who bleed. Menstruation is a reality for most transmen, at one point or another. I found an interesting blog entry by a FTM trans person about his experience as a menstruating male. His blog is entitled Coffee and Gender, here is the article:

Menstruating in the Men's Room

This week I am experiencing yet another aspect of transitioning that may confound a binary mind. I am menstruating in the men’s room. If it was up to me I would never menstruate - I think more than a few women who menstruate would agree with me on that one - but on occasion it happens. While there is no disruption in my perceived gender identity while menstruating I know that the presence of bloody pads in the men’s room garbage boggles more than a few minds. Indeed each time I have to change my pad at work or in a public restroom I am confused.

Where the hell is the discrete little box on the inside of the stall?

Every time I change my pad I forget that I will have to leave the stall still holding it. True, I could fight for transgender visibility and proudly march out of the men’s bathroom with my red flag* held high, but instead I always get incredibly embarrassed and wrap my old pad in as many layers of toilet paper as I can. A few months ago I bumped into a co-worker on the way to dispose of my pad. By the quick aversion of his eyes and his awkward smile I think he knew what I held in my hand, luckily he is incredibly trans-friendly and managed to get us both out of the bathroom in a graceful way.

Despite that incident I still am nervous about changing pads in the company of other men. Add menstruating in the men’s room to the long list of things men supposedly don’t do. Judging by the recent controversy over pregnant transmen the list of male-approved activities is incredibly short. All of this makes me glad my sense of male identity is in no way tied to ideas of patriarchal masculinity or else I’d be in real trouble.

*Twice I got in trouble at college for using Judy Chicago’s image on posters. The first time I was appalled at the way people reacted to a monthly activity for over half the planet, the second time I did it because I knew it made the administration upset.

Posted by Mik Danger at 11:56 AM