Remember Thinx, that team of well-meaning women who launched the period panties some time ago for those days when the red tide comes upon us suddenly? Well, the same brand has now launched a new set of similarly super absorbent panties for transgender men! Surprised there? Don’t be, because under that all-male exterior, many transgender men still retain that last vestige of femininity – their monthly menstruation cycle. And it’s a bigger problem for them to use pads and tampons, given their situation.
This week, Thinx sent out a mass email announcing their new product and responding to the many people who were disappointed in the brand for overlooking trans men who have periods.
They wrote, “Over the past few months, we have received many gentle reminders that women aren’t the only ones with periods. We often forget that in the case of a female to male transition, periods don’t stop coming every month.”
“For the trans community, the cycle isn’t just an inconvenience, as it is for so many of us, but rather a frequent, discomforting reminder of an ongoing battle. We are here to join the conversation and raise the voices of those affected. We are here to say that bleeding does not make you female, it makes you human.”
One fan of Thinx is Sawyer, a 30-year old transgender man from Brooklyn, who became a consultant after being discovered on his Instagram.
“I experienced with five-ish years of identifying a man but still having my period…and would wear multiple layers so I didn’t leak anywhere and no one knew I had my period,” he says in the film. “Even if I’m a transgender male, I still have it in my head that men aren’t supposed to have their period, because that’s what society has taught me. In the trans community no one is talking about men with periods because it’s a source of shame.”
The brand, says it’s founder, Miki Agarwal, ultimately wants to make a difference in the way people view the transgender community.
“[We want to] make people accept and understand trans men as menstruating people, by being open and honest about it and unafraid of people’s judgments,” she said. “We have to support the trans community as part of ours.”
Image via Thinx
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