Some time in early 2013, I wrote a response to a post in the subreddit r/explainlikeIAmA, which asked for an explanation of periods that [cis] men could understand. As a man who has experienced heavy periods himself, I thought that my contribution might prove interesting.
I’d like to play this but the title puts me off of doing so. To play would be to consent to something being explained to me “as though I were a man.”
Which is, well, a highly upsetting prospect for me.
(If it helps, there’s nothing in the piece itself that suggests it’s being addressed to a man. It’s written in a second-person voice, but feels like a first-person narrative. ‘You are sitting on a barstool.’ The gender of the addressee is never alluded to apart from the fact that s/he’s menstruating. It would be a shame to skip this just because of the pun in the title.)
???
i think i’m okay with this game having an intended audience.
p.s. how do i change my avatar on this site IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
it’s a gravitar: https://en.gravatar.com/
or you can think about it like it’s written with cis men, trans women, or those without a uterus in mind; anyone else who may be incapable of biologically experiencing menstruation. it’s an interesting game. thank god for the pill.
HAH! This is excellent.
I have third-party independent verification that this depiction is accurate. I found it pretty shocking how bad (in the practical sense) periods were. BRB posting to facebook.
I understood (and appreciated) everything about the physical pain and the more psychological side of things, but don’t women tend to be a bit better prepared, towel- and tampon-wise, for their monthly period? That took me a bit by surprise, given that the first thing I thought the protagonist would do on the day following the “makeshift padding” incident would be to procure some basic necessities (unless money is a concern).
I’m totally guessing here, but from the protagonist’s point of view waddling awkwardly to the till in a shop to obviously buy menstruation stuff sounds like 100% the worst thing ever.