Not all women menstrate or all those who menstrate are women.

"People who menstruate. ' I am sure that there used to be a word for them. Someone helps me, ”he tweeted in a burlesque tone, on June 6, Harry Potter writer, J.K. Rowling, followed by a series of invented and intraduible terms similar to women. He referred to an opinion article published in the American Portal Devex, which raised the creation of a more equal world for the people who menstruate. The networks exploded in a rail defense to the rights of the LGTBI+collective. And, among the answers, the voices of some of the protagonists of the saga of her, such as Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) or Emma Watson (Hermione). The first assured that "transgender women are women and any statement contrary to this annuls their identity and dignity." The second, who is a UN ambassador, declared that "trans people are the ones who want to be and deserve to live without being constantly questioned." This was the starting gun of long days of reflection in social networks and other forums of activists, who led to an uncomfortable and little known truth: the rule is not the exclusive heritage of women.

Without a doubt, bleeding every 28 days has been a stigma for women throughout history.The taboos that fall on the rule have led us not to mention it because "disgusting", to hide intimate hygiene products under the sleeve of the shirt so that no one sees them, and even to things as absurd as thinking that because of their faultA mayonnaise could be cut.Meanwhile, no one had doubted for a moment that the period was somewhat intrinsic to this genre.However, in a diverse world and full of different identities such as the one we live, it is important to understand that not all women menstruate or all the people who do it are women.

Radiography of a complex phrase: trans, of non -binary gender, women with menopause ...

On women who do not menstruate, there is less confusion. We all know that there is no bleeding during childhood or from a certain age. “Throw the tampons, the sanitary towels, make a bonfire with them in the courtyard of your house. Nake. He danced the ritual dance of maturity, ”wrote Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli to celebrate her menopause. There are also females of menstrual age that do not do it due to health problems. And other transgender who did not deal with the rule every month. But and those who menstruate without being women? "There are people of non -binary gender [do not identify either as boys or girls] and some transgender men who have the rule," clarifies the president of the State Federation of Gay Lesbians, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTB), Sangil. And not to mention it, she says, "is to do as if they did not exist." Although there are no official data, Sangil explains, “the estimates of the gender identity disorder units estimate that in Europe one in 10,000 people identifies as trans. On non -binary there are no data. ”

“I am 27 years old and since I started taking hormones, I didn't menstru.That is done as if it were invisible or talk about it in a burlesque tone is something that hurts a lot.Especially when a person who has been a benchmark does and that through his books he has taught us that no one should live locked in a closet, ”says the trans activist and professor Aitor González.Having figures with which to identify in a positive way is necessary to normalize the matter, and would help many people not feel alone and misunderstood in this path.Aitor recognizes that having grown up seeing other men who had the rule would have helped him relieve the dysphoria that caused him to bleed every month.

I Don’t Know How To Fight This Nausea Anymore😭

— African girl, Adeola 🍃 Tue Jul 27 13:47:55 +0000 2021

Being a hidden reality, practically nothing in the world is made to host it. “If for a woman it is uncomfortable to change the buffer in the middle of the work, imagine when you are a man. And I do not talk about the moment you take the buffer and the tricks you have to do to hide it, but the uncles baths are not prepared for that. You don't even know where to throw the wrapping because there are usually no bins, ”continues Aitor. Going to buy a compress package is not a simple task either. “You are the object of the looks and thoughts of others. You have to throw courage and tell yourself ‘to think what they want’. It is not a pleasant situation and, as always, you have to do the effort, ”says the activist. From the United Nations Organization (UN) ensure that trans people suffer discrimination and stigmatization in a generalized way, two problems that increase the possibilities of suffering from mental disorders such as depression. In fact, according to a series of articles published in The Lancet in 2016, around 60% of the transgender population suffers it.

Advertising: an education tool that fails

In how many compress or buffer ads have we seen transgender men?Although the majority answer is "none", there are.In 2018, the British model Kenny Jones starred in the I’m On It campaign (in Spanish it would be something like “I have it”) of the British Product Company for the Pink Parcel rule.Another example is that of the brand of underwear for the Thinks rule, which - although most of the products they sell are for women - announced their garments in 2016 with the image of a man.In addition, it has as slogan "for people who menstruate."

Being able to count the examples with the fingers of one hand is not a cause for celebration.They need to multiply, because, according to the sexologist and psychologist María de Elena Amor, advertising is a key tool for normalization: “Sexual education is fundamental and not only the one that occurs in school.It is very important that is done through the media.What we see on TV, on movies, in series and ads is what forms the social imaginary of what a man is. ”For making a simile with the experience of the woman and her rule, for a long time the ads of compresses and tampons favored her in darkness by representing her with a few drops of a strange blue liquid.Nothing is further from reality, because for all those who live it, it is a thoughtless: pain, hormonal and mood changes, oscillations in weight, blood stains everywhere ...

Once this melon is opened, we should not look the other way, but inform ourselves, experts agree."You have to be interested in expanding to a look," says the psychologist.One way to do it, says Aitor, is "to approach associations of transgender people, meet them and listen to their stories to understand their realities."On the Internet there are also examples.One of them is the transgender activist known as the prince of the period, who speaks openly about his experience as a man who menstruate.

And a message from Aitor González for J.K.Rowling and those who think like her: “That a man has the rule or makes you less woman or makes him more wife.We do not want our rights to be above those of the rest, we want them. ”The UN refers: "converting menstruation into a stigma can undermine the enjoyment of the fundamental rights of both women and girls and men and non -binary people who menstruate."