For all the period products and commercials out there, menstruation is at times still spoken of in hushed tones. In some parts of the world, it even remains socially unacceptable, with girls and women treated as outcasts when they’re menstruating.

READ: Nepali woman suffocates in ‘menstruation hut’

A UK company that delivers period gift packs, Pink Parcel, aims to make periods as normal as possible regardless of gender. One of those tapped to promote the message is a transgender man.

Kenny, who works as a model, shared his experience of having a period before and during his transition.

He described how he felt about getting his period in his youth: “I remember that my body didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t want my period and there was a lot of confusion within myself. It did make me realize that periods weren’t something I wanted to happen to me and it motivated and pushed me to further my transition.”

Like some girls, he was uncomfortable with the time of the month in his teens. “I’d be really aggressive and agitated I just couldn’t wait for them to stop,” he said.

He shared his experience on having his period while transitioning to become a man. “I believe the biggest misconception is that it will be over in a flash – it stays with you forever. Even though I no longer bleed, I still have the pain of periods from time to time.”

Since transitioning, Kenny has been happy in his skin, citing his torso as his favorite body part. “I went from being a skinny boy to a grown man with a six-pack and a beard,” he said. In the past he had been uncomfortable to look at himself in the mirror with a body he didn’t identify as his own.

“It took me years to get to this comfortable place within myself and now I’m going to show the world.”

Trans men have slowly gained visibility regarding menstruation over the years. In 2016, period underwear brand Thinx released a type of Boyshort, which was designed for menstruating trans males and featured a trans model in its New York subway campaign.

In 2017, transgender artist Cass Clemmer posted a powerful photo on Instagram to show that trans men bleed too. /ra

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