I Think There Are Some Weird People In This World
So a school in Brighton is now telling children as young as 8 that "Boys can have periods too" to get rid of stigma around menstrual cycles.....
sorry...what
sorry...what
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Mamapolo2016 · F
I did some reading about this and it was quite a neat bit of magical direction reasoning that led up to this. The kind of reasoning that has always existed but is becoming more and more popular.
The assertion that 'boys can have periods too' is based on the experience of transgenders. If a transgender female who is transitioning to male has not had female organs removed and has not completed hormone replacement therapy, they can indeed still have periods until those changes take place. They may feel like and live like a boy but physically they have not yet stopped being female and hence have periods. This normally stops about a month after all phases of transition are completed.
I leave it to minds wiser than mine whether they are boys or girls at that point. Since as far as I can discover, the youngest transgender to complete the transformation is a 16 yr old German, it does not appear this information has a lot of application to 8 yr olds.
The assertion that 'boys can have periods too' is based on the experience of transgenders. If a transgender female who is transitioning to male has not had female organs removed and has not completed hormone replacement therapy, they can indeed still have periods until those changes take place. They may feel like and live like a boy but physically they have not yet stopped being female and hence have periods. This normally stops about a month after all phases of transition are completed.
I leave it to minds wiser than mine whether they are boys or girls at that point. Since as far as I can discover, the youngest transgender to complete the transformation is a 16 yr old German, it does not appear this information has a lot of application to 8 yr olds.
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If we want to split hairs on my choice to go with the word "trans" to describe a person who's gender doesn't exactly match the one that they were assigned at birth (in an attempt to make my reply a little easier to understand), then we will also have to accept and agree that, as as people have become more accepting of people who's gender doesn't match the one that they were assigned at birth the word "trans" has been applied to most everyone who's gender identity doesn't match their biological one - whether that be because they are the opposite gender or even have no gender at all.
If you want to teach about all groups, then you'll be spending the rest of time trying to teach this one group of 8 year olds about all the possibilities that are out there. At least in educating that boys can and will have periods, too, we are trying to create a more accepting world for those who may go their whole lives in a body that doesn't conform to traditional gender forms.
I agree that the overall percentage of people making the transition will be a tiny percentage of those who don't actually fit into the traditional gender options - but that doesn't and shouldn't mean that these people are somehow "confused". They have the right to live in whichever way they feel most comfortable just like the rest of society does. There are reasons why transitioning might not be an option for some men and women and that should not mean that these people are somehow less transgender in the same way as a heterosexual wouldn't be seen as a lesser man or woman because they chose to not marry or have children.
If you want to teach about all groups, then you'll be spending the rest of time trying to teach this one group of 8 year olds about all the possibilities that are out there. At least in educating that boys can and will have periods, too, we are trying to create a more accepting world for those who may go their whole lives in a body that doesn't conform to traditional gender forms.
I agree that the overall percentage of people making the transition will be a tiny percentage of those who don't actually fit into the traditional gender options - but that doesn't and shouldn't mean that these people are somehow "confused". They have the right to live in whichever way they feel most comfortable just like the rest of society does. There are reasons why transitioning might not be an option for some men and women and that should not mean that these people are somehow less transgender in the same way as a heterosexual wouldn't be seen as a lesser man or woman because they chose to not marry or have children.
suzie1960 · 61-69, F
@HootyTheNightOwl
If we want to split hairs on my choice to go with the word "trans" to describe a person who's gender doesn't exactly match the one that they were assigned at birth
I see "trans" as meaning one whose gender (masculine/feminine) doesn't match their sex (male/female). It's not perfect because, as the definition of the genders varies with culture, trans in one culture might be cis in another.@suzie1960 And that is exactly the point that I was trying to argue.
At one time, the term "Trans" used to refer to transitioning men and women, but as society became more aware of people who's biological sex doesn't fit in with their gender identity, it has been more commonly applied to those people and non binary people, too.
The difference becomes more apparent in the media as well, with people who haven't yet begun the transitioning process being referred to as "Transgender" - though they may be in their time of dressing as their chosen gender, they haven't yet begun to take the drugs to start the change and have the anatomy of their assigned gender.
At one time, the term "Trans" used to refer to transitioning men and women, but as society became more aware of people who's biological sex doesn't fit in with their gender identity, it has been more commonly applied to those people and non binary people, too.
The difference becomes more apparent in the media as well, with people who haven't yet begun the transitioning process being referred to as "Transgender" - though they may be in their time of dressing as their chosen gender, they haven't yet begun to take the drugs to start the change and have the anatomy of their assigned gender.
Mamapolo2016 · F
Bebop · 31-35, M
@HootyTheNightOwl Yeah, they have enough to think about already.
JemmaaLouiisee · F
thisismy148 · T
It's not necessarily a period, but men do have hormonal cycles (which is where a period in women comes from) and boys can sometimes get moody because of it
Bebop · 31-35, M
@thisismy148 Yeah there are hormonal changes, but bleeding in particular in this case. It's about trans boys apparently but they're not putting it that way to kids.
I've only bleed there once.