If Men Could Menstruate - A Satire by Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem published this short, satirical essay in the October 1978 issue of Ms. Magazine.

In the piece, Steinem imagined a world where men were the menstruators and women were not. If only men got periods, she reasoned, menstruation would be celebrated -- a source of pride instead of shame. Men menstruating would become a sign of male superiority. That's how patriarchy works.

"The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies" (Springer 2020, open access) is one of many books that have reprinted Steinem's biting essay since she first wrote it.

The characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless—and logic has nothing to do with it. What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not? The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event.

SOURCE: The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies • AUTHOR: Gloria Steinem • LAST UPDATED: September 3, 2026