Abstract

This thesis problematizes the assumption that menstruation is exclusively a woman's issue. Inspired by my own personal discomfort around menstruation, the question this research seeks to answer is “how do queer— more specifically, trans and non-binary—individuals in Montreal experience and talk about menstruation?” To address this question, I detail the menstrual experiences of three nonbinary individuals, one transgender man, and one transgender woman. I engage with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to interpret their accounts. The method was developed by Jonathan A. Smith, Paul Flowers, and Michael Larkin (2009) to understand life experiences and embodied phenomena through a rigorous engagement with participants’ narratives. The method has been adapted for anthropological use in the current thesis and has been used in conjunction with a digital ethnography of Instagram and TikTok to analyze how menstruation is discussed on social media platforms. The most significant theme that emerged from data analysis is that neoliberal policies and bio-power influence how transgender and nonbinary people experience menstruation. Some participants experience the effects firsthand when trying to access medical care, while others feel it more discretely in the ways that menstrual products are marketed. This theme is explored at length in the thesis’ third chapter but runs as an undercurrent throughout the rest of the chapters. This thesis contributes to research on trans and nonbinary experiences of menstruation and aims to promote an understanding of menstruation outside of womanhood. I conclude that menstruation is a gender-neutral bodily function and should be understood as such.