Transgender Awareness and Period Inclusivity

Transgender Awareness week is celebrated between the 13^th and 19^th of November, culminating in the Transgender Day of Remembrance on the 20^th of November. It is always a great time to shed light on the topic of period inclusivity, but it is especially so now. Period inclusivity is defined as ‘the recognition that while periods are a biological process, gender isn’t fixed and assigned at birth’. One of the issues that the transgender community faces is exclusionary language and attitudes when it comes to menstrual hygiene, even if this is unintentional.

It is important that we are able to separate gender identity from the strictly biological process of menstruation. Whatever gender an individual identifies as has no bearing on menstruation. The fact is that it is not only women who menstruate and not all women do menstruate. Transgender males, non-binary people, and ciswomen may also menstruate. Transgender women and nonbinary people may not menstruate. The current terminology used to refer to menstruation, such as ‘feminine hygiene’ and ‘women’s issue’, are not adequate in encapsulating the reality. Using such terms when talking about periods has the effect of alienating people who also menstruate but are made invisible in the discussion. We see this issue not only in our everyday conversations but also in stores and in the marketing for menstrual hygiene products. Many brands continue to feminize menstruation in their advertising, and we also don’t usually see a transgender man in these ads.

To be more inclusive, we should stop being passive about these issues and move towards using more open and gender-neutral language such as ‘people who menstruate’ or ‘menstruators’ as opposed to ‘women who menstruate’ to prevent marginalising groups of people and excluding them from the conversation. They deserve visibility.

Stemming from all this, a significant problem faced by transgender people is the barrier in access to period products in public places. Pads and tampons are still mostly made available in only women’s washrooms, if they are made available at all. One way to support transgender menstruators is to provide menstrual hygiene products in all washrooms because everyone who needs period products should have access to them. Let’s continue the conversation and urge our educational institutions and workplaces to become more period inclusive spaces for everyone.

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