Not all women menstruate, and not all people who menstruate are women: New research on trans and nonbinary menstruation

Together with colleagues Rowena Kosher and Lauren C. Houghton from Columbia University, Inga Winkler has published a new open access article on "MANstruation: A cyberethnography of linguistic strategies of trans and nonbinary menstruators." While menstrual research and policy are gaining ground, the focus remains on the "default menstruator." Trans and nonbinary experiences of menstruation are subject to menstrual discourse that is deeply gendered evident in terms such as “feminine hygiene” and “women's health.” The article examines the linguistic strategies of trans and nonbinary menstruators through a cyberethnography on YouTube. Menstruators describe a range of menstrual experiences—dysphoria, tensions between femininity and masculinity, and transnormative pressures. Taken together, the videos not only uncover an overlooked community of menstruators who demonstrate unique linguistic engagement with menstruation, but they also reveal destigmatization and inclusion strategies that can inform critical menstruation activism and research as a whole. However messy in their embodiments, nuances, and intricacies, not all women menstruate and not all menstruators are women, and our language not only ought to reflect but embrace these pluralities.