fferent if menstruation was a part of being a man rather than a woman. It is very possible, as the article points out that, "menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event." The author may be correct in assuming that the menstrual cycle would be treated differently, from the amount of medical research done to the social status created by having your period, if it affected the currently more respected, powerful gender. It is easy to imagine menstruation becoming something to brag about, and a huge advertising industry. "If Men Could Menstruate" creates an imaginary situation where men bragged about being, "a three-pad man," and wore "Paula Newman Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-Dope Pads, John Wayne Maxi Pads, and Joe Namath Jock Shields-'For Those Light Bachelor Days.'" It creates a question of whether there would be more research done about cramps. The author imagines that, "men would convince women that sex was more pleasurable at 'that time of the month.'" The article may slightly exaggerate what things would be like if men experienced the menstrual cycle, but it definitely makes a very valid point about the lack of logic, and reason behind the inequality of genders. The article takes the menstrual cycle, a now commonly seen as negative aspect of being a woman, and turns it around to be a part of being a man, and therefor a positive thing. By doing this the author shows one example of how the justifications for men being more powerful are not based on anything logical, but rather just accepted, because they always have been.The author concludes by very effectively showing that much of what society currently believes is not based on logical thinking, but rather stereotypes that have been passed down from generation to generation. "If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to...
