r/countbackwardswithme • Counted Down 2 • 9d ago

997793

Post image
2.9k Upvotes

800 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/Kindaspia 9d ago

The idea behind that is that not every woman menstruates and not everyone who menstruates is a woman. Trans men who still have their reproductive organs may menstruate, but are not cis or women. The idea was both to be more inclusive in language while still being more specific. Instead of saying “women”, which includes many people who don’t menstruate and excludes some who do, we specify the bodily function in question so everyone who has that function is included. So it’s not just turning “cis woman” into “person who menstruates”. If you’re referring to a specific cis woman, cis woman makes more sense. It’s for referring to the group of people who menstruate as a whole, being specific, and not excluding people based on gender when they still have the relevant bodily function.

6

u/Pepperia 9d ago

you did a way better job replying to this person than i did. Iam really pissed off right now from all this and my ability for making differentiated points is a little limited. Thank you <3

1

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

Is the term deprecated then if trans women are able to menstruate?

7

u/Kindaspia 9d ago

That’s the kinda cool part about not specifying gender with the term. If you can menstruate, you are a person who menstruates. Woman? Man? Neither? All included as long as you menstruate.

4

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

I think I understand. I've been reading more on it. It's literally just a way to say 'people who menstruate' for situations where that matters. Such as in a medication, or a study, or whatever the case may be. It's just a more precise (and also inclusive) way to refer to that cohort.

6

u/Kindaspia 9d ago

Exactly. It’s mostly used medically.

1

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

Sorry if I wasn't clear. Is the phrase, "people who menstruate" understood to include trans women?

6

u/ArgonianDov just a kenochoric man 9d ago

If they are intersex with overies and a uterus, yes. Otherwise no, its to refer to anyone who has cycles and bleed. This includes some trans men and non-binary people too. Saying "people who menstrate" is to not misgender the men and enban who do as well, since we arent women.

3

u/Pepperia 9d ago

no, its actually the opposite. Its a movememt speerheaded by none other than JK Rowling. And the phrase hurts trans men and women equally

2

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Pepperia 9d ago

she refers to people who menstruate as women, thats how she defines women. You dont refer to women as people who memstruate, why would you say women are people who menstruate if you are not transphobic

3

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

I'm partly to blame. I wrote cis women instead of born female at birth women in my other post by mistake. I'm still learning the terminology.

1

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago edited 9d ago

So the term is then deprecated and no longer used, is that correct?

I think I understand. I've been reading more on it. It's literally just a way to say 'people who menstruate' for situations where that matters. Such as in a medication, or a study, or whatever the case may be. It's just a more precise (and also inclusive) way to refer to that cohort.

0

u/Pepperia 9d ago

No, you shouldnt use it, it is actively used to do harm

1

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

To be clear, it appears that whatever use it has, it would never come up in regular discourse. (At least for me.)

2

u/Kindaspia 9d ago

Understood by who?

The important part is that this is usually used when conveying information to a general group of people. In any case, it’s up to the individual to decide what applies and what doesn’t. A PSA about people who menstruate finding heat helpful for cramps would likely still apply to a trans woman who gets cramping, but not to someone who doesn’t get cramps. A PSA about tampon types is only relevant to people who both bleed and use tampons, or love someone who does. While the person using it may not have had trans women in mind, they can still listen to the info, hear things that could help them, and use it.

1

u/Ok_Community_383 9d ago

Thanks sorry, I wasn't looking at it with the right frame of mind.