A pantomime of womanhood: Women’s pain is not a novelty to be impersonated

https://thecritic.co.uk/a-pantomime-of-womanhood/

by sourpuss • 4 years ago

3 11 4 years ago

thecritic.co.uk

a_shovel5• 4 years ago

As much as the author wants to pretend otherwise, many trans women do experience symptoms of PMS. They get cramps, bloating, mood swings, etc. on a periodic cycle, though sometimes it's longer than a month. Multiple women have reported it, many of whom had no idea or expectation that it was going to happen. It looks like it's just a thing that happens when your body has a lot of estrogen in it.

The author, instead of going "Wow, the human body is incredible" and moving on, proclaims all of them are lying on the basis that they do not have a uterus (which is a non-sequitur). Then she spends the rest of the article alternating between bringing up unrelated topics and insulting trans people.

What a sad and incurious person.

bathtime5• 4 years ago

The muscle cramps women get in premenstrual syndrome are caused by contractions of the uterine muscle, triggered by prostaglandins. These contractions help release the endometrium (uterine lining) from the uterus, which produces the menstrual blood and tissue that exits via the cervix and vagina.

Transwomen are male. Anyone who is male does not have a uterus, by definition. Therefore, no male can get contractions of the uterine muscle, because it doesn't exist in males. No uterine muscle, no uterine cramps.

Whatever these males who are dosing estrogen are experiencing, it is not premenstrual syndrome. This is a female-only experience, one that males will never endure.

a_shovel5• 4 years ago

You're the second person who's created an account here just to argue with me. I'm honored.

I'm not gonna pretend to know what's going on here regarding the cramps. It doesn't look like there are any studies about this phenomenon yet. But assuming every one of these women is lying and calling their pain a "pantomime" is unwarranted.

A transgender woman taking HRT is hormonally female, and many of the symptoms of PMS are believed to be hormonally driven and don't directly involve the uterus. If hormonally female people are experiencing symptoms of PMS, a condition known to be linked to female hormones, I don't think it's a leap at all to suspect that they may be experiencing PMS.

smoldesu• 4 years ago

All signs point towards 'sourpuss' being a dedicated troll account. Looking through their submission history it's quite plain how they've peppered their submissions with deliberately inflammatory content, and then never commented on a single one. Not saying that these green accounts are their sockpuppets necessarily, but their account is certainly a lightning-rod for lulz.

Whatever the case may be, submissions like this boil down to drama and personal conjecture rather than intellectual gratification. I'll keep flagging them until their submission quality improves.

A pantomime of womanhood: Women’s pain is not a novelty to be impersonated

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