![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
This is a commentary on Steinem’s (Citation1978) essay “If Men Could Menstruate,” which is reprinted in this issue. The essay is placed in its historical and media contexts, noting the restrictions then functioning regarding advertising for menstrual products and how the topic of menstruation was avoided in society and culture. In the 40 years since the essay’s original publication some men have actually appropriated physical and emotional characteristics associated with menstruation for their own purposes, including creation of the notion of “male menopause.” The commentary situates Steinem’s essay within those developments and the ironic, unanticipated enactments of her satiric observations.