She said:
"Oh! It means you're becoming a woman".
Hello underachievers!
I just want to let you guys know that this video is sponsored by Natracare,
and they're great!
But we'll be talking more about them later on in the video.
So I don't know how obvious it is,
but I have been avoiding the topic of periods for years.
Forever!
And I'm sure you could figure out why I've avoided talking about it.
There are a bunch of reasons.
Most revolve around the fact that experiencing a period makes me uncomfortable,
therefore, talking about it also makes me uncomfortable.
But clearly I'm sat here about to talk about it,
so I am going to talk about it.
To be completely honest,
I just thought I should talk about it,
because, you know, the trans masc community...
We don't really tend to talk about like these kind of topics.
We don't really talk about periods.
We don't really talk about contraception...
Because, obviously, it makes the majority of us very uncomfortable!
But, of course, it's very important to understand
what your body is doing, you know?
How it works.
I don't know why I'm speaking as if I'm going to explain to you what periods are.
But, you know, there's very specific information about periods
that a lot of trans people don't know,
and a lot of trans men should know.
So I just thought I should talk about it,
because maybe then,
I would help some people out.
So I get a lot of questions about this topic, as you can imagine.
People ask me if trans guys get their periods.
People still ask me if I have my period!
And then there's a bunch of stuff like this,
which I do enjoy...
But to put it completely bluntly,
I would rather just make this video
where I talk about everything,
than have people comment under my music videos asking me if i still have my period.
It's really weird.
Which, by the way...
Yeah! I did recently just release a new song.
It's called 'Stupid'.
It's everywhere! Go stream it on Spotify,
and please! Go watch the music video.
It is the most...
The goodest thing I have ever created!
Obviously, it wasn't just me,
Luke was involved,
Evan was involved,
Bliss was involved,
Phoenix was involved.
There are lots of people involved.
But I really think you'll enjoy.
It's my favorite song I've released so far.
So, you know...
So, who gets their periods?
Do trans men get periods?
Do non-binary people assign female at birth get periods?
So yes!
Obviously, it's not just women that get periods.
Otherwise I would not be sat here talking about periods.
And yes, I can acknowledge that the majority of people on this planet that experience periods
do identify as women.
So we all should know by now that, you know.
not every trans person will follow the same path
when it comes to medically transitioning, you know?
Some people feel the need to start testosterone or estrogen.
When you're a trans person that starts testosterone,
it will affect your cycle.
It will affect your period.
Trans men who are not on testosterone will most likely have their periods,
we know this,
this is... Easy.
This is easy.
But what's not so straightforward is what happens to your period when you start testosterone.
So when you start testosterone,
you get all the obvious changes:
Your voice drops, you know?
You get hairy,
and you start smelling real bad, like cis guys do.
But then there's other changes that not all people on testosterone will get,
for example:
A lot of people that are at my stage on testosterone,
you know, almost 3 years,
they will have a full grown beard.
I do not have that!
And here's information that you really want:
For some people, their periods will stop!
Now, emphasis on 'some',
because not all people that go on testosterone will have their periods stop completely.
The majority of the time when a person starts testosterone,
there will be changes to the person's cycle,
whether that be their cycle gets lighter and like further apart,
but for some people it just completely stops,
and then, for some people it stops and then comes back a few months later,
and stops and then comes back later on.
It really depends entirely on the person,
the makeup of their body and their hormone levels.
For some people, they can have the ideal testosterone levels,
like the perfect level of testosterone in their bodies
and for some reason they still get their periods,
whereas some people will get a single droplet of extra testosterone in their body
and their period will never return.
A fun thing that a lot of people don't actually know about going on testosterone
is that if your testosterone levels are too high,
it will convert back into estrogen,
which is the opposite of what we want!
And, obviously, this presence of estrogen can make it very likely
that you will have a period.
So having too much testosterone,
as well as having, you know, not enough,
you know, not the ideal levels that you want.
Both of those things can make you have a period,
which is very cool and fun, you know?
When most trans mascs don't actually want that.
We don't want that.
Another fun fact while we're here is that, you know,
testosterone is not contraceptive.
Your periods can completely stop
and you can be on testosterone,
but you can still get pregnant.
So I don't know why...
I don't know why a lot of people are just like:
"Oh, I'm on testosterone.
I can't get pregnant".
Not true at all!
I have seen too many examples of trans guys just being like:
"Oh my God! I'm pregnant.
I thought I couldn't be..."
And that is terrifying!
Just, please...
So now that we've talked about how testosterone can affect your cycle,
let's talk about what it feels like to be a trans guy and have a period.
So, isn't it really weird to be a guy who has a period?
Yes! Very weird!
Very uncomfortable, I wouldn't recommend it.
But, to be honest, I tend not to think about it too much.
If I can avoid thinking about it, I generally tend to do that.
But let's talk about now!
So I started my period when I was 12,
which I feel like a lot of people started their period at 12,
but, for some reason, I feel like we know the reason
I was convinced that I would never actually start having a period,
I knew what periods were,
but I convinced myself that I would never have it.
I also did a similar thing with growing boobs.
I thought that I could like, manifest, male puberty.
I don't know how I thought I'd do it,
but I was pretty confident that I would just grow up as a dude.
That didn't happen and... Yeah!
When I was 12 and started my period,
it was not fun.
I just sat in the bathroom crying for about an hour and then...
I actually wrote a note to my mum saying "I have blood in my pee".
"There's blood when I pee".
I knew that's not what was happening,
I just didn't want to say I started on my period,
because the idea of doing that made me uncomfortable.
I wonder why!
So my mom came into the room and she was like, worried,
as you would be if your kid's like:
"Yeah, there's blood coming out of my pee".
She then quickly realized that I wasn't bleeding pee,
and she was like, you know...
You know what she said?
She said:
"Oh, it means you're becoming a woman".
Which is not what I wanted to hear!
Obviously, how... She wouldn't know that!
I'm not mad about it now,
but like, at the time, I was like:
"Why would you say this?"
Not a fun occurrence.
And I didn't come out as trans until I was 17, you know?
I started presenting more like, masculine,
I started looking like a dude when I was 15!
And before then, I don't think I ever went shopping for tampons ever!
I would just ask my mum for some.
I'd ask her to get me some.
Either that or I would nick my mom's tampons from the bathroom.
I just steal them.
I think I was, honestly, just really embarrassed to go to the shops and buy period products.
Just something about the idea of going into a shop
and going into the feminine hygiene aisle and being like:
"Oh, yes! This is where I belong.
I will get my period products".
That did not... I didn't want to do that,
so I just didn't.
Just didn't vibe with it, to be honest.
In terms of shopping for period products as a guy,
it is really [ ] weird!
I have never done it.
I still don't think, and I have no memory of ever going into the
"feminine hygiene section" and getting tampons.
I don't ever remember picking up tampons in a shop.
While we're on the topic,
I think the term "feminine hygiene" is a bit weird.
I don't really think there's anything feminine about having a period.
I understand why it's called that,
I'm not stupid, OK?
I understand why.
They really could have just called it the "period aisle".
We could have just done that!
I just feel like if, anybody saw me in there,
they'd like:
One, be waited out that they saw a guy sifting through tampons.
Two, they might realize why I was there and clock me as trans,
which like I don't want.
And three, maybe they would think that I am buying tampons for my incredibly attractive girlfriend,
that I don't have...
Oh my God, I don't know why I said that.
I would really just end up ordering tampons online,
which is like, not ideal,
and also pointlessly bad for the environment,
but you know who is very environmentally conscious and also very trans friendly?
No, we are not talking about Greta Thunberg!
We are talking about Natracare, the sponsors of this video!
"Noah, who is Natracare?"
So, Natracare is an organic,
biodegradable,
compostable,
vegan,
and plastic-free period brand.
I have some products of theirs here to show you.
They're actually very adorable.
So Natracare are very inclusive of gender diverse minorities in
their conversations surrounding periods.
You can actually read more about that in their design that's coming out next week.
If you click the link in my description,
you can sign up to get it first.
Natracare are actually very, very, passionate about tackling the stigma surrounding periods,
specifically in the language that we use when talking about them.
Particularly with the term "feminine hygiene".
In their petition for supermarkets to change their labeling of period products,
they explain how the term "feminine hygiene"
not only furthers the stigma around periods being "dirty",
but it also reinforces the idea that only women or "feminine people" have periods,
which is, of course, untrue.
But anyways! Check out the links in my description for Natracare Zine and their petition,
and if you feel so inclined to sign it, I recommend you do that.
I recommend you at least read it!
So, I did ask you guys if you had any questions about periods,
and I thought I'd answer a few of them.
I think the light turned off.
So a lot of people ask if I still get my period.
This specific person asked:
To answer that question:
I do occasionally still get periods.
It bothers me very much.
I do not enjoy it.
I don't really think anybody really enjoys having periods.
I barely have like, any dysphoria left.
I only really have dysphoria surrounding like, you know, my bits,
and also the majority of my dysphoria does come from periods when I do get them.
It's an inconvenience.
My hormones go all over the place.
I used to get really, really, really, painful periods.
Like really bad periods.
So bad that I would like, throw up every time,
I'd have diarrhea every time,
and I would pass out because of the pain.
It was really bad.
I could not get out of bed.
Like, genuinely, it was the worst.
Until I started a medication called Mefenamic acid.
I started taking that.
It did make the pain better, but not entirely great.
Someone said:
So, obviously, it completely depends on the person.
In terms of my period, testosterone did make the periods lighter.
It did make them further apart.
It's not as painful because I feel like it's not as like "full of a period",
if you get what I mean.
That's clearly like not scientific or anything.
The pain aspect is still there because I had very severe pain.
So the pain that I do get occasionally is like, bad, but not like as bad as it used to be.
Cramps... Not as bad as they used to be.
Clots... Really...
Really not as bad as it used to be!
Somebody asked:
And... Oh my God, this question.
There are a ton of reasons why people don't want to go on the pill.
There are so many side effects and,
also, the usual pill that people talk about is the estrogen pill,
and I don't want more estrogen in my body.
So, that's why I'm not on like, the "usual pill".
I did go on the Depo Provera shot,
which is a progesterone injection once every 12 weeks and...
That made me bleed for months, weeks at a time.
It made the pain really bad,
it made me gain weight,
it made me really emotional,
it really destroyed my mental health for a while.
My camera died, so I'm sorry if everything looks different.
But, yeah! As I was saying, starting contraception is not like a decision to take lightly,
there's lots of things to consider.
Contraception sucks for a lot of people and I don't really like how a lot of men,
in particular, will just be like:
"Oh, just go on the pill.
Just start contraception".
As if it doesn't come with tons of side effects.
And the last question is:
I don't know.
Oh! OK, sorry.
I just had a thing.
I used to wrap them up in toilet paper.
Very much toilet paper.
Put it in your pocket and then, when you find a bin, just chuck it.
As long as it doesn't look like,
you're carrying a bloody rag or whatever you're using,
as long as it doesn't look like it is what it is,
though it should be no issues, really.
Just stick it in your pocket.
Chuck it in the bin.
If you have like an empty packet of crisps, put it inside there.
Like you can wrap it and stuff, and people won't know what it is.
So yeah! That's the end of the video.
I hope you learned about periods or at least, maybe, some stuff about testosterone.
Please do go check out my new song 'Stupid'
and watch the music video if you haven't already.
But, yeah! That's the end of the video.
Have a good day, or don't.
See you later losers!
Goodbye.
Punch.