Male
Menstruation
Throughout history, men have created
a hierarchical societal structure that benefits males, and have given a plethora
of philosophical, religious, and political justifications for their elevated
position. As we have discussed in this course, this power and privilege is
passed on to those who successfully exhibit manhood and masculinity. In “If Men
Could Menstruate,” Gloria Steinem uses the example of menstruation to explores how those in positions of power
articulate the justifications their power and how opposing sides in the
gender debate attempt to redefine the boundaries of the argument.
http://www.mylittleredbook.net/imcm_orig.pdf
The piece in question here does a good job of detailing how people in power will always resort to what justifies their positions of power--but I take issue with the basic premise, as it easily ostracizes trans men through biological essentialism. To imply that only women are capable of menstruation, Steinem's piece plays into an idea that menstruation must be a defining aspect of femininity, an idea the patriarchy welcomes as it allows them to more clearly define the group they wish to oppress. Additionally, considering menstruation as a qualifier for womanhood eliminates the solidarity of women who do not menstruate (which there are several reasons for). The piece would be better suited to a different rhetorical style, rather than using biological essentialism as a basis of its premise. We don't want to play into the patriarchy's hand--we want to disrupt and build as much as we can, and to do so we must welcome trans sisters and comrades who don't fit into the mold quite as the patriarchy wants.
ReplyDeleteThis article features some further discussion on menstruation as a qualifier of womanhood:
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2011/09/26/if-men-could-menstruate/