Cisgender women and transgender men have one very sore topic in common: the awfulness that is menstruation. And in an attempt to call attention to institutional sexism, a Canadian OB/GYN decided to create a hashtag she thought would generate conversation.
But Dr. Jennifer Gutner‘s hashtag, #IfMenHadPeriods, has also called attention to other social ills: the erasure of trans men, the treatment of trans women as not women, and a backlash to the backlash by people who argue trans people just like to complain about everything.
Some of the tweets have been funny, many have been angry and most have been very pointed examples of how the twitterverse can turn anything into a controversy.
First, the funny:
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Omg I'm dead 😂😂 #IfMenHadPeriods pic.twitter.com/MxXvV6QtvG
— Liz Finnegan (@TheGingerarchy) September 6, 2016
#IfMenHadPeriods, tampons would be sold in the impulse-buy checkout aisle, right next to beef jerky. @DrJenGunter
— Sara Kubik, PhD (@SaraKubik) September 6, 2016
The attempt at funny:
#IfMenHadPeriods Trump's period would be, I'll tell you, it'd be yuge. just the best period. The best.And women would pay for the tampons.
— Ryan Williams-Jent (@RyanJent) September 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/GatesRobin/status/773547520161185792
And the ewwww, not funny (but potentially true).
#IfMenHadPeriods there would be so many puddles of blood on the streets of NYC pic.twitter.com/gZyA3Ev9K4
— Pretty Trite (@KelseyFilban) September 6, 2016
But it wasn’t long before the trans community and its allies caught wind of this hashtag.
#IfMenHadPeriods – they do.
— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) September 6, 2016
#IfMenHadPeriods news flash: some men DO have periods. this deadass hashtag influences trans erasure and cisnormativity. get outta here
— ezra lee (@nintuendo) September 7, 2016
I'm a genderfluid boy who has been menstruating for 7 years and recently got pregnant. Your #IfMenHadPeriods HT is transphobic and ignorant.
— K. Cantrell (hiatus) (@nanogeekette) September 6, 2016
Are we really trending #IfMenHadPeriods like trans men don't exist? Let's stop the gender essentialism and transphobia please #intwmn
— spooky (@msvanvleet) September 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Lefty31/status/773560116968730624
#IfMenHadPeriods stop. Men do have periods. Not every man is cis and it's disgusting for people to still be assuming that they are
— this is a vitamix family (@evanjaquez) September 6, 2016
#IfMenHadPeriods
While this highly cisnormative hashtag is trending, I want to remind everyone that trans men do exist + some have periods.— Feminism Vibes (@feminismvibes) September 6, 2016
And then came the inevitable backlash against the backlash.
#IfMenHadPeriods Trends On Twitter And Social Justice Crybabies Whine That It’s ‘Transphobic’ https://t.co/1MptREcwee
— Chicks On The Right (@chicksonright) September 7, 2016
#IfMenHadPeriods is about the absurdity of patriarchy. yes, many men have periods; good to point out, but don't dismiss the actual point.
— Alien Musk (@wealthy_person) September 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/wealthy_person/status/773593937730793473
And of course the right wing represented by Breitbart weighed-in, too.
While not addressing the transphobia issue, Dr. Gunter did tweet an explanation of what she had hoped to accomplish.
I was tweeting in response to mansplaining about menstruation and mood. https://t.co/FI8fqH5uru
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) September 6, 2016