What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?The answer is clear-menstruation would become an enviable, boastworthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious rituals and stag parties. Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts. Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields-"For Those Light Bachelor Days," and Robert "Baretta" Blake Maxi-Pads.)