4 ms·

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 cyc

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.

bathtime 4y 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_shovel 4y 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.
  - bathtime 4y ago
    I'm not saying that these males are lying about experiencing pain around the abdominal area. That may well be true. But it can't be the uterine muscle cramps that women with premenstrual syndrome endure, because that, and every other condition of the uterus, does not happen to males, by definition. This is an appropriation of a female-only experience. They're not "hormonally female" either. The hormonal profile of a male taking high doses of a single exogenous hormone is nothing close to the same as that of the natural female experience: a cycle of multiple hormones, mediated by the female reproductive system.
    - a_shovel 4y ago
      I am not claiming that trans women are experiencing specifically uterine cramps, nor is anyone in the article claiming this. You are not addressing any relevant point by stating that they are not. It is possible that in some cases menstrual cramps may involve some muscles outside of the uterus. Trans women typically take multiple hormones, not just one. If their hormonal profile is close enough to "female" that they develop female secondary sex characteristics, as it is for trans women on HRT, then it is not implausible that they may experience certain hormonally-driven symptoms that are usually experienced by cis women, including the symptoms of PMS not directly involving the uterus.
      - bathtime 4y ago
        The menstrual in premenstrual syndrome is a reference to menstruation, an essential characteristic of the uterus. Males don't have a uterus, they don't get uterine contractions, they don't menstruate, so they can't have any sort of premenstrual condition. Whatever side effects transwomen are getting from their hormone medication is a male experience, not a female one. Just as women can't know what it feels like to be a male dosing estrogen, transwomen don't have insight into the natural female experience of the menstrual cycle. It makes no sense for them to misappropriate the terminology of female reproductive health.
        a_shovel 4y ago
smoldesu 4y 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.

bathtime 4y 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_shovel 4y 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.
- bathtime 4y ago
  I'm not saying that these males are lying about experiencing pain around the abdominal area. That may well be true. But it can't be the uterine muscle cramps that women with premenstrual syndrome endure, because that, and every other condition of the uterus, does not happen to males, by definition. This is an appropriation of a female-only experience. They're not "hormonally female" either. The hormonal profile of a male taking high doses of a single exogenous hormone is nothing close to the same as that of the natural female experience: a cycle of multiple hormones, mediated by the female reproductive system.
  - a_shovel 4y ago
    I am not claiming that trans women are experiencing specifically uterine cramps, nor is anyone in the article claiming this. You are not addressing any relevant point by stating that they are not. It is possible that in some cases menstrual cramps may involve some muscles outside of the uterus. Trans women typically take multiple hormones, not just one. If their hormonal profile is close enough to "female" that they develop female secondary sex characteristics, as it is for trans women on HRT, then it is not implausible that they may experience certain hormonally-driven symptoms that are usually experienced by cis women, including the symptoms of PMS not directly involving the uterus.
    - bathtime 4y ago
      The menstrual in premenstrual syndrome is a reference to menstruation, an essential characteristic of the uterus. Males don't have a uterus, they don't get uterine contractions, they don't menstruate, so they can't have any sort of premenstrual condition. Whatever side effects transwomen are getting from their hormone medication is a male experience, not a female one. Just as women can't know what it feels like to be a male dosing estrogen, transwomen don't have insight into the natural female experience of the menstrual cycle. It makes no sense for them to misappropriate the terminology of female reproductive health.
      - a_shovel 4y ago

smoldesu 4y 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.