This meme serves as an excellent companion to the Gloria Steinem article that Thylias emailed to us. In "If Men Could Menstruate," Steinem argues that no matter what, traits and qualities of the dominant group in society will be case in a positive light, and traits and qualities of the oppressed group in society will be viewed negatively. To illustrate this idea, she gives us a hypothetical scenario: what if men were the ones who had periods, and not women?
As it stands currently, of course, women have periods, and men do not. Today, women's periods are viewed as disgusting, shameful, and disabling. Women are said to be weaker and more emotionally troubled while on their periods. In short, periods in women are seen as negative, as indicated in this meme, which posits that, since the "speaker" or meme creator is male, he doesn't have periods, and is therefore lucky (the meme, by the way, is called "Success Kid," so positive things happen to the baby in it).
However, what if men had periods? Would the meme look like this?
Gloria Steinem seems to think the answer is yes, and I would have to agree.
(Here is a link to the article, if you haven't already read it: "If Men Could Menstruate," Gloria Steinem.)
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