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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

who menstruates?

103 replies

OriginalPunchbowl · 12/06/2026 20:24

Seen in a wokeworkplace toilet in Scotland (I have NCd for this) The label on the tampon basket says:
Who menstruates?
girls menstruate as well as women
intersex people, who have both male and female reproductive organs
non-binary people with female reproductive organs
some transgender men

The second one doesn't feel correct to me: I'm aware that "intersex" is no longer used, but even in ovotesticular dsd, is it right to say "both male and female reproductive organs"? can anyone advise please, then I can pass it on to the wokesters management?

who menstruates?
OP posts:
AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 13/06/2026 15:39

FlirtsWithRhinos · 13/06/2026 15:27

This is getting like that thread about centaur babies!

There was a thread about centaur babies and I missed it? Did it cover fetal positioning in utero, because I used to wonder about that.

Although still not as much as I wonder about why a bull-headed human with bovine teeth would be a man-eating monster...

FirstdatesFred · 13/06/2026 16:39

This is so silly! Why is it needed? Surely the women people who menstruate will know about it so don’t need a sign

MyThreeWords · 13/06/2026 16:40

FlirtsWithRhinos · 13/06/2026 15:27

This is getting like that thread about centaur babies!

I'm imagining a blacksmith's forge with a sign saying

Who needs horseshoes?
Horses
Some interspecies beings (centaurs)
Transhumans assigned horse at birth
People who reject the horse/human binary but were assigned horse at birth

ArabellaScott · 13/06/2026 16:49

FirstdatesFred · 13/06/2026 16:39

This is so silly! Why is it needed? Surely the women people who menstruate will know about it so don’t need a sign

Maybe people bleeding from their genital area need help working out if they should be worried or not.

Tappings · 13/06/2026 16:51

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 13/06/2026 02:54

Intersex is a range. They can have full reproductive systems of both sexes with either both, ambiguous or a single external genitalia.

Did you really mean to say that people can have both full reproductive systems, and both female genitalia and male genitalia?

How do you suppose someone could have a clitoris and a penis at the same time? Did you maybe forget there's more to the female external genitals than the vagina?

I am not an expert here, but we are talking about congenital disorders affecting sexual development. Let's focus on those caused by polyploidy of the 23rd chromosomal pair. Polyploidy is the term for having an extra chromosome over the 46 standard ones, and it's not beneficial on any chromosomal pair. The majority of possible polyploidies in humans end in miscarriage, because the physical issues are incompatible with life. Some of the remaining ones that do not inevitably lead to miscarriage result in extremely sick babies with life-limiting conditions.

The most famous polyploidy in humans that is survivable is Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome, and the presence of that extra chromosome means people with Down Syndrome are more likely to be born with congenital heart defects, along with being higher risk for many other conditions. The impact of that extra chromosome is multi-systemic and has detrimental effects on ear, nose and throat, gut development and raises their risk of dementia.

An extra copy of a chromosome from that 23rd pair may still result in a viable embryo (as in a fetus that can survive to term without spontaneous miscarriage) where other trisomies don't, but you don't get bonus functioning organs out of being born with it. Don't romanticise it or sexualise this. It's like thinking an extra copy of any of the other pairs will result in the human baby being born with functioning wings.

Edited

I'm not sure why you are being so hostile

DramaAndBullshit · 13/06/2026 17:23

Fgfgfg · 12/06/2026 20:34

Take the completely unnecessary label off and replace it with one that says 'help yourself if you need anything'. I'm post menopausal and nothing in there is of any use or interest to me. Doesn't stop me being a woman though.

Yep, it’s being done to ‘prove a point’ and serves no other purpose than the TRAs agenda. To quote JKR; women, women and girls, numbers 3 & 4 on that list are the same as number 1, and number 2 is quite rare.

MrsOvertonsWindow · 13/06/2026 17:38

Tappings · 13/06/2026 16:51

I'm not sure why you are being so hostile

Edited

Hostile? I thought they were good questions and suggestions? Maybe you could answer some?

MagpiePi · 13/06/2026 17:44

I’d probably design and print out a little rosette that said ‘Winner of the transgender bullshit virtue signalling competition’ and stick it on the corner of the sign.

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 13/06/2026 17:48

Tappings · 13/06/2026 16:51

I'm not sure why you are being so hostile

Edited

I don't accept your characterisation of my post as "hostile", but if you like, we can discuss that after you've explained how one would be born with a penis and a clitoris.

I'd also like your input into the bladder question. Would a hermaphrodite have a bladder for each reproductive system, or are the systems going to share the bladder, so that two urethras exit the same bladder?

Deadringer · 13/06/2026 18:04

Is it there in case the 'hey girls' on the packaging offends someone? Such times we live in. People (ie females) who need them know they fucking need them. Is there a sign on the toilet door describing every sort of person who might need to use the toilet paper?

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 13/06/2026 18:10

What a ridiculous sign. Made even more ridiculous by the basket being full of products called ‘hey girls’. Why can’t they just put a sign that says ‘if you got caught short, help yourself’.

I’d just take the sign off and throw it in the bin.

Pallisers · 13/06/2026 18:13

Are they worried that someone who isn't menstruating will take a tampon and stick it somewhere unnecessary??

Amazing that women and girls have managed to figure out for so long when they needed a towel or a tampon without explicit written instructions from the tampon police.

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 13/06/2026 18:21

The good news is that this thread has reminded me to check the stock levels in the box I established in the toilet at work. Might need to put another pack of Poundland bodyform in there or something.

It's been operating as an honesty system with little oversight needed: if someone finds herself caught short and needing to grab a pad or tampon from the box, she simply replaces what she used later. It's been going great for the last year, no instructional notice needed. Weirdly, I haven't had to tell a single colleague which sex the pads and tampons are for...

POWNewcastleEastWallsend · 15/06/2026 02:05

nutmeg7 · 13/06/2026 08:16

But they don’t menstruate as they only have streak cells from each sex. They don’t have fully functioning testes, penis AND vagina, womb, and ovaries. They can’t impregnate themselves. They are infertile.

Ovotesticular DSD: only about 50% of the 500 ever known globally menstruated. So the box label is highly unlikely to be practically "inclusive" in any particular workplace.

Including "intersex" on the box label is either part of the deliberate propaganda that "intersex" people are just everywhere or just parroting the propaganda.

"Upon reaching puberty, breast development, feminization and menstruation may occur. Most affected individuals are infertile but ovulation or spermatogenesis is possible."
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/ovotesticular-disorder-of-sex-development/

"At puberty, 80% have gynecomastia, 50% menstruate"
Ghofrani M. Ovotesticular DSD. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/ovarynontumortruehermaph.html. Accessed June 14th, 2026

Not necessarily infertile. Not impossible but vanishingly rare. At least eleven known cases globally of pregnancy up to 2008, with all offspring being male.

Pregnancy in a true hermaphrodite with a remaining ovotestis
Fertility and Sterility, Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Sept 2008

"True hermaphroditism is defined as the presence of both male and female gonadal tissue in the same individual. Pregnancy in true hermaphrodites is rare. There are ten previously reported cases of pregnancy in true hermaphrodites with no reports on antenatal management. A 21-year-old primigravida Hispanic female presented at 9+ weeks gestation for prenatal care. At her birth, the patient had ambiguous genitalia. At six weeks of age, she underwent a left gonadectomy and right gonad biopsy with pathology revealing ovotestis. At age five, she underwent cliterodectomy with labial reconstruction. Menarche occurred at age 13 with regular menstrual cycles."

"Maternal chromosomal studies were performed, with a buccal smear and blood samples consistent with 46 XX pattern"

"CONCLUSIONS: We report a tenth case of pregnancy in a true hermaphrodite delivering a male fetus. Partial removal of testicular tissue may enhance fertility chances."
https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)03024-0/fulltext

Pregnancy in a hermaphrodite with a male-predominant mosaic karyotype
Fertility and Sterility, Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Nov 2008

"This is the 11th reported case of fertility in a true hermaphrodite and only the second report of a mosaic true hermaphrodite to demonstrate fertility. This is the only case of a pregnancy involving a male-predominant mosaic 96% 46XY and the only case to confirm the genetics of the offspring."
https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)00233-1/fulltext

Highly speculative article about extremely unlikely circumstances:

Self-fertilization in human: Having a male embryo without a father
M. Kemal Irmak, Medical Hypotheses, Nov 2010

Snippet:

Scenario for a woman to have a son without a father

She is a chimera of 46,XX/46,XY type resulting from the fusion of two zygotes of different sex types and she develops both ovarian and testicular tissues in her body. In another word, she develops from the fusion of dizygotic male and female twins and she had both reproductive cell types (oocytes and sperms) in her body. Since XX cells tend to gather on the left side while XY cells on the right, she develops an ovary on the left side with a patent oviduct and a testis on the right side located . . .
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987710001957

WOW! This was some rabbit hole! 😮🐰

If you thought that was wild . . . from the same author . . . and based on the above scenario . . .

Embryological basis of the virgin birth of Jesus
M. Kemal Irmak, Journal of Experimental and Integrative Medicine (JEIM), 2014

Abstract
Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus without a father. A scenario is presented here for this miraculous event. She is a chimera of 46,XX/46,XY type resulting from the fusion of two embryos of different sex types and both ovary and testis develop in Her body. It is well known that in chimera XX cells tend to gather on the left side while XY cells on the right; therefore, an ovary develops at the left side with an oviduct and a testis develops at the right side of the abdominal cavity with no duct. Both gonads are functional and produce oocyte and spermatozoa respectively after puberty. At the time of ovulation, estrogens leads to a negative pressure in the left oviduct and this vacuum effect helps oocyte and sperms to be picked-up into the tube, taking both types of gametes to the fertilization site in the left oviduct. Because of the higher temperature of the oocyte at the left ovary, fertilization occurs with a Y-bearing sperm to give rise to a XY male embryo which becomes miraculously Jesus.

Full paper:
https://www.ejmanager.com/mnstemps/4/4-1377863688.pdf

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/06/2026 09:06

MyThreeWords · 12/06/2026 21:16

There is so much weird messaging around periods these days. I was on a train the other day and the toilet had a sign in it saying that anyone needing a tampon could go to the buffet car and get a free one if they uttered a strange codeword phrase.

I can't remember what the phrase was, but it was along the lines of the "Angela" phrase that you can use to alert bar staff etc if you are in danger from a man. Something like "A cup of tea for Deidre please".

WTF? If they want to offer free tampons, why can't they just say "Go to the buffet car and ask for a free tampon"? Or ... why can't they just sell tampons for a reasonable price?

What are they trying to teach us by going back in time forty years to a world in which period products were a shameful secret?

And why are they giving free tampons anyway? It feels like they are trying to create this idea of menstruation as a campaigning issue to replace the old-fashioned idea of women (i.e. actual women) as a group for whom it may be appropriate to campaign.

It's like they have some memory of the idea that women are a distinct biological group with distinct needs, but since that is a "transphobic" idea, they just settle for focusing on menstruation as a kind of proxy for the demographic formerly known as women

I think you’ve nailed it.

ErrolTheDragon · 15/06/2026 10:42

How daft. My guess is some idiot complained about the ‘hey girls’ branding (yeah, that’s also daft as the majority needing these products are women rather than girls but I doubt that would have been the issue).

Theres no need to add anything to the box other than an invitation to take what you need (I’ve recently been to areas in Scotland where that’s what they had). Referring only to menstruation is a bit non inclusive anyway - a post partum woman discharging lochia might need a pad too. Obviously in the real world women can figure this out for themselves without comment or complaint but it might be fun to yank the chain of the po-faced people.

raisinglittlepeople12 · 15/06/2026 10:45

I swear a lot of transphobic people just look for reasons to moan, but then get cross if minorities ask for basic respect. Just ignore it. It doesn’t affect you in the slightest.

ArabellaScott · 15/06/2026 10:52

I swear a lot of genderists just look for reasons to moan, but then get cross if women ask for basic respect. Just ignore the thread. It doesn't affect you in the slightest.

Jk987 · 15/06/2026 11:15

Is there also a sign above the toilet roll that says ‘who shits?’

What is the point of it?

stickygotstuck · 15/06/2026 11:44

Jk987 · 15/06/2026 11:15

Is there also a sign above the toilet roll that says ‘who shits?’

What is the point of it?

😂

DialSquare · 15/06/2026 11:47

Jk987 · 15/06/2026 11:15

Is there also a sign above the toilet roll that says ‘who shits?’

What is the point of it?

OP, please make signs for the toilet rolls!

quantumbutterfly · 15/06/2026 13:10

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 13/06/2026 17:48

I don't accept your characterisation of my post as "hostile", but if you like, we can discuss that after you've explained how one would be born with a penis and a clitoris.

I'd also like your input into the bladder question. Would a hermaphrodite have a bladder for each reproductive system, or are the systems going to share the bladder, so that two urethras exit the same bladder?

Surrogate bladder? Get someone else to pee for you (if we're ignoring biological reality - why not?)

Never have to worry about trampolining with your kids again.

quantumbutterfly · 15/06/2026 13:26

Jk987 · 15/06/2026 11:15

Is there also a sign above the toilet roll that says ‘who shits?’

What is the point of it?

To which the reply is, 'any arsehole'.
This genderwoo nonsense is all a bit 'try hard'. If you need a pad or tampon then take one, if you're peri you may need the boxful😶.

GingerdeadMan · 15/06/2026 13:33

user1471453601 · 12/06/2026 20:53

So if you don't menstruate you aren't a woman or a girl? I'm pretty sure you don't mean that.

You're mixing up your necessary and sufficient conditions.

Its not necessary to menstruate to be a girl/ woman (and the statement above doesn't say that it is). But it is sufficient.

GingerdeadMan · 15/06/2026 13:40

raisinglittlepeople12 · 15/06/2026 10:45

I swear a lot of transphobic people just look for reasons to moan, but then get cross if minorities ask for basic respect. Just ignore it. It doesn’t affect you in the slightest.

If you don't understand, why not educate yourself, as the saying goes, by reading one of the bazillion threads on here detailing precisely how this does affect women?

Its a bit misogynistic to just tell women to shut up about things that affect them because you have decided they shouldn't mind.