#Nonbinary menstrual

[bluu3berry]

It's the time of the month/ref, AND GUESS WHAT. I GO TO SCHOOL *TOMORROW* MY FRIST DAY BACK.

but noooOooo,,, ofc I can't have a nice day at school ALWAYS problems

Don't repost, reblogs encouraged

[reasonsforhope]

"Spain’s Catalonia region rolled out a pioneering women’s health initiative [at the beginning of March, 2024] that offers reusable menstruation products for free.

About 2.5 million women, girls, transgender and nonbinary people who menstruate can receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies in northeast Spain free of charge.

The Catalan government said that the initiative, which is called “My period, my rules,” was meant to “guarantee the right to menstrual equity.” The regional government cited statistics that said 23% of women polled by Catalonia’s public opinion office said they had reused hygiene products designed for a single use for economic reasons.

Tània Verge, Catalonia’s regional minister for equality and feminism, called the program a “global first.”

Scotland’s government passed a law in 2020 to ensure period products are available for free to anyone who needs them. But in comparison with the Catalan program, in Scotland the products are for single use and are distributed through schools, colleges and universities, not pharmacies.

“We are fighting menstrual poverty, which affects one in four women in Catalonia, but is also about gender justice. We are fighting the stereotypes and taboos about menstruation,” Verge told The Associated Press. “And (...) it is about climate justice. We need to reduce the tons of waste generated by single-use menstrual products.”

The distribution of reusable products is also aimed at reducing waste. The regional government said that Catalonia produces about 9,000 tons of waste from single-use menstrual hygiene products.

The reusable products are acquired by the public health care system, which covers the entire population, and distributed by Catalonia’s 3,000-plus private pharmacies. The program cost the regional government 8.5 million euros ($9.2 million).

“I am completely in favor of this initiative,” 29-year-old graphic designer Laura Vilarasa said. “It will give women a product that is absolutely necessary to have for zero cost.”

Spain’s national government passed a law last year granting women with debilitating menstrual pain the right to paid medical leave."

-via AP News, March 5, 2024

[oatmilk-vampire]

Me waiting a little too long to empty and replace my menstrual cup

[burningsolarsystem]

I hate periods. Fucking hate them. But sometimes it feels like I don't have the right to complain. So, I guess imma give some love to those whose symptoms might not get attention.

Obviously, sympathy to those who get debilitating cramps. I'm lucky mine are average.

Shout out to those who have mental disorders who symptoms get worse with their periods. My depression and anxiety always seem to spike when I'm on mine.

Shout out to those with chronic illness who get flare ups and worse symptoms when on their period.

Shout out to those who are like me who get upset stomachs and digestion problems when on their period. I know for me, it feels like having a stomach bug on a good day. I've had times where I've questioned if I ate something bad because my stomach is rolling like it did that one bout of food poisoning I got. (It was minor food poisoning, don't worry)

Shoutout to those who get strong cravings, but I also want to shout out to those who lose their appetite or desire to eat when on their periods. Sometimes, I feel like I'd rather die than eat anything.

Shout out to those who experience hot flashes. I don't get them often, but they suck when I do.

Shout out to anyone who gets a period. There are so many symptoms we don't talk about that make things suck.

Your issues are valid. Even if they aren't the ones mainly talked about. Even if they aren't "severe enough." Even if you can function fine but are still experiencing discomfort. You are valid and your discomfort or pain is valid. You can complain even if you aren't one of the people who get extreme cramps. It's okay. You are valid.

All the love and sympathy to you.

Feel free to reblog with any other symptoms you experience that people don't seem to talk about.

(And sorry if this seems too much like a vent. I am, probably obviously, on my period and suffering.)

[our-trans-youth-experience]

I bought pads for a charity thing today and a real person scanned them and I was ok!! I think it was mainly because I also bought a bunch of toothbrushes and canned food and stuff like that that I was ok because they probably guessed it wasn’t for me, but I’m kinda proud of myself to have not freaked out about even being near a pad in public (I’m ftm and they give me A LOT of dysphoria but I’m getting better at managing it!!!)

-🪶(he/it)

Hey dude that's great! Buying period products can be hard to do as a trans person, but it should be normalised because guys/masculine-presenting people can have periods too. <3

[clockwork-whoreange]

I am not thriving and have already reached out to applicable healthcare professionals but I am just wondering if this is a common experience

please reblog if you feel so inclined so I can reach a wider audience and a fairly socially isolated trans person (me) can reach their community!

[frameacloud]

Coelingh Bennink, H. J. T., Schultz, I. J., Schmidt, M., Jordan, V. C., Briggs, P., Egberts, J. F. M., Gemzell-Danielsson, K., Kiesel, L., Kluivers, K., Krijgh, J., Simoncini, T., Stanczyk, F. Z., & Langer, R. D. (2023). "Progesterone from ovulatory menstrual cycles is an important cause of breast cancer." Breast cancer research : BCR, 25(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-023-01661-0

According to this overview, the hormone that causes breast cancer is progesterone from menstrual cycles, not estrogen or testosterone. The risk of developing breast cancer is about the same whether someone has normal menstrual periods or takes birth control to suppress their periods. The risk may be slightly higher in the latter case. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) doesn't cause a higher risk. Transgender women who take estrogen develop breasts that are the same as those of cisgender women, but with a much lower risk of breast cancer than cisgender women, and higher than that of cisgender men. Transgender men do not increase their risk of breast cancer by taking testosterone, and top surgery reduces their risk.

[cilil]

One of the coolest things you can do if you have a uterus and menstruate is sync your cycle up with the moon. Raise your arms to the sky and summon the forces of death and darkness as the blood moon rises and you get ready for a sacrifice to the blood gods.

Also don't worry, blood sacrifices are not a gendered thing so the energy you channel is as womanly, manly, non-binary, agender etc as you wish.

Rise with me, brothers, sisters and siblings. Blood for the blood gods.

If uterus gotta do what uterus gotta do, we might as well have fun with it.

[apricotbuncakes]

Y'know, period underwear gets a bad rep for being 'gross' but it's really not, unless you aren't washing it properly.

It lasts for several hours before needing to be changed, which depending on how heavy your flow is may be your entire work/school day, you don't have to see the blood because the collection fabric is black, it reduces waste (ecofriendly) and is overall a lot comfier.

They're usefulness doesn't end with menstruation though. Some people who get really wet down there may also find it useful off their periods because it can absorb that wetness and keeps you dryer as a result, making them more sensory friendly as well.

And it gets EVEN BETTER, because all of those benefits I listed can be beneficial mentally for trans people who may get dysphoria about their periods or how wet their anatomy is as it is a reminder of what genitalia they have. And it's super comfortable even under boxers. Like, aside from summer time where it can get really hot, wearing boxers over regular or period panties may help reduce dysphoria for ya.

Period underwear is an overall win in most cases, and I'm tired of people saying they're actually really gross.

I'm saying all of this as an autistic trans masc person who had a moderate-to-heavy flow, who gets overstimulated and uncomfortable with how wet I am, and who got dysphoria because of my periods. And although testosterone has stopped me from menstruating, I still use period underwear for the other benefits.

TLDR; Period underwear is sanitary, comfortable, ecofriendly, and trans friendly.

[shutupthepunx111]

Messaging on Menstrual Hygiene Products

Hey all! Checking the temperature – I know that, when I get hygiene products, they all have messages on the wrappers like "#likeagirl" or "strong and powerful woman here" (you get the idea). As a trans man, it's pretty obvious why I would be uncomfortable, but I'm curious about other people's opinions on this (I realize there are more genders than represented below, but for efficiency and visible results, I have listed three).

Feel free to elaborate in the tags and reblog to spread! If you clicked that you enjoy seeing these, please let me know why in the notes

[titus-androgynous-87]

Honestly, I have to say the absolute best part of being a middle-aged 100-footer butch dyke is telling men who piss me off that they can suck all 5 of my dicks

And telling them they can choose the size and color

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

Period product alternatives that you can buy at the grocery for trans men and trans mascs. (I mean I guess all enbies can use it but they are products marketed towards men so that may cause just as much dysphoria as the feminine products)

Are they specifically designed for periods? No. But they may work good enough if you can't order online for whatever reason.

-fae

[holyangelstudentuniverse]

Are there any Teen Wolf memes that are super specific to things like, I don't know, how it feels to be Nonbinary/Genderfluid and have really bad cramps because your body has betrayed you?,...

[yourlocal-therian]

CRAMMMMPSSS

[frameacloud]

Grindlay, K., Obedin-Maliver, J., Ragosta, S., Hastings, J., Lunn, M. R., Flentje, A., Capriotti, M. R., Dastur, Z., Lubensky, M. E., & Moseson, H. (2024). Interest in over-the-counter progestin-only pills among transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals in the United States. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, S0002-9378(24)00076-0. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2024.02.006

This study found that transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people who were assigned female or intersex at birth are interested in having access to over-the-counter progestin-only birth control pills. These pills are also useful for suppressing the menstrual cycle. More transmasculine people who haven't taken testosterone want them, and prefer it over forms of birth control that also use estrogen.

[your-local-timespace-explorer]

fellow uterus-havers. fellow monthly-bleeding-havers. do yourselves a favor. buy a menstrual cup. thank me later. holy shit. I got the Honey Pot and I’ve just had this thing for a day and like, where tf have you been all my life. I’d imagine it’s probably easier to put in and remove if you’re not a virgin but it fits like a tampon so idk one of the best parts is that the risk of TSS with a cup is so much drastically lower than a tampon it’s practically nonexistent (bc the good ones are made of medical-grade silicon), so you can wear it overnight common advice is to leave the thing in for a max of 12hrs but that’s less bc of TSS risk and more bc that’s the usual maximum capacity before it starts overflowing and it functions on suction seal, not absorbency, so once it’s in there, you’re good to go (I always have tampons leak on me well before they’re full) and also bc it’s silicon and just holds the blood instead of absorbing it, there’s no risk of taking it out too early and feeling like you’ve just ripped out your entire guts through your vag and it has a shelf-life of like 10yrs if you take care of it properly—I will literally no longer have a cycle to contain before I need to replace it there is a bit of a learning curve to put it in correctly (I recommend doubling up with a pad until you get the hang of it), and taking it out is a bit of an ordeal in my (in)experience, and you’re gonna want to have a sink within reach to rinse the thing off before putting it back in, but really, c’mon

no more sleeping-on-your-cycle anxiety

no more scrambling for pads/tampons bc you forgot to buy them (and choking on the price tags bc uterus tax is some bullshit)

no more stinky

no more rushing to the bathroom in the middle of your shift/class/sporting event/whatever else you’re doing bc you’re pretty sure your product of choice is leaking

no more constantly having to manage the damn thing over the course of your day

(for us cisn'ts) no more 'going to the bathroom is even more of a nightmare when your blood moon is up than it is normally'

literally set-it-and-forget-it type blood moon hygiene, I am obsessed