If Men Could Menstruate

Below are some excerpts and quotes from "If Men Could Menstruate" by Gloria Steinem. Not only is it comical, but it's very interesting to consider things like this and how they would be treated if the script was flipped. Is menstruation stigmatized because it's an experience women go through; or are women, at times, stigmatized because they experience such things as menstruation?

Women are supposed to be clean, dainty, feminine. And let's be honest, nothing about getting your period falls into those categories! But, at the end of the day, it's normal and natural and, although private, should not be something to be ashamed of or stigmatized. 

In the beginning of her article she explains that whatever a "superior" group has will be used to justify its superiority, and whatever an "inferior" group has will be used to justify its plight. Biological and bodily functions are an excellent example of this. 

So...what if men could menstruate?...

"...Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, boastworthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day...Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free...Statistical surveys would show that men did better in sports and won more Olympic medals during their periods. Generals, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation ("men-struation") as proof that only men could serve God and country in combat, occupy high political office, be priests, ministers, God himself, or rabbis...Street guys would invent slang ("He's a three pad man") and "give fives" on the corner with some exchange like, "Man, you lookin' good!" "Yeah man, I'm on the rag!" TV shows would treat the subject openly. (Happy Days: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz", though he has missed two periods in a row)...Medical schools would limit women's entry ("they might faint at the sight of blood"). Of course, intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguments. Without that biological gift for measuring the cycles of the moon and planets, how could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space, mathematics- or the ability to measure anything at all?...Menopause would be celebrated as a positive event, the symbol that men has accumulated enough years of cyclical wisdom to need no more...The truth is that, if men could menstruate, the power justification would go on and on. If we let them."