New Menstrual Terminology in the Context of Judith Butler’s Gender Theory

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the new menstrual terminology in the context of certain principles of Judith Butler’s gender theory. Over the last few years, it has been emphasized, in public and academic discourse, that menstruation is not exclusively a feminine question, but it also affects people who do not feel or identify as cis women. It is about trans, intersexual, genderfluid, and non-binary people. Menstrual movements are formed to plead the linguistic reformulation of menstrual terminology and its gender neutrality. We will briefly expose the elements of Judith Butler’s gender theory that are relevant to this topic. We will focus on Butler’s thesis that sex and gender are socially, performatively constructed categories and that language is the main field of its origin and reformulation. We will study the origins and causes of this terminology, its consequences, and how the new menstrual concepts affect the redefinition of female and gender identities in general, considering the arguments of the trans movement and the arguments of radical feminism.

Keywords

• menstruation
• menstruator
• judith butler
• transgender
• genderqueer
• radical feminism