❤️🩹 my take on a PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) flag 🧠
clipart .png credit
i had been waiting from months to a year to see someone design a flag for PMDD since i'm not very confident in my own ability, so i decided to go ahead and bite the bullet with an attempt. this is currently planned to just be a draft and may be subject to change with new updated versions in the future.
TW FOR MEDICAL TRAUMA/ABUSE: although this topic is not very widely discussed, or at least doesn't seem to be commonly present, online among the disabled community, my personal experiences with PMDD have made acknowledging its existence as well as its consequences quite necessary to me. as of the time of writing this, i am 19 years old, and when i was 15 exactly this time of year (as well as the first similar incident a couple months prior), i had an intense hyper-emotional episode the week before my period that was so bad i ended up getting institutionalized at a psych ward against my will and have never been the same since. for years now, i've been on a birth control pill that suppresses my cyclical hormones and prevents my period from occurring most of the time.
before getting into the stripes' meanings, there are two factors to explain behind my thought process:
dark teal is considered to be the awareness color for this disorder, although i went with a light aqua color because i think it looks better with the pink, and it's in the same family so i believe it still works.
pink is meant not to represent femininity necessarily since uterus-owners can come in many different gender expressions, but rather fit with the vibe of internal organs, especially since pink is closely related to red which is how warm blood appears (and is a key element of uterine cycles).
as for the stripe meanings, here is my proposal for each single word:
awareness ─ suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a very real thing that happens to müllerian individuals everywhere. according to the cleaveland clinic, which i am an active visiting patient of, about 10% of people with our reproductive body types who are at least of minimum pubescent age may be affected by it. although it does not tend to be a risk toward physical health, it is often a deadly threat to our mental state and well-being, which can lead to suicidal ideation.
strength ─ i consider this to be an invisible disability, with most of the symptoms taking place within our internal worlds and fighting a constant battle with negative thoughts + emotions. in addition to this, physical symptoms also arise and can cause severe discomfort before menstruation even begins. all of this happens within the confines of our own homes, and we tend to suffer through it alone. people who do not have PMDD probably fail to realize how strong we have to be in order to get through this difficult time repeatedly & endlessly, despite their well-intended efforts.
diversity ─ this is intended to have multiple meanings, and to include anything i may not have come up with so far. for one thing, there are plenty of different experiences to be had with this disorder, such as varying levels of cramping + sickness or depression + anxiety. on another note, not only do our bodies each work differently (some may also have endometriosis and/or PCOS, which are also intersex conditions, as a double-whammy), but many of us do not conform to societal ideas of gender despite all having these parts in common. there are infinite possibilities to mix & match with presentation & identity, which is not limited by biology.
flesh ─ although many factors are involved in this process, including hormones, PMDD centers around the uterus, which is an internal organ. the flesh represents the physical aspects of this experience, and how we must take great care of our bodies in order to ease how we feel.
pain ─ there is so much physical + mental pain that builds around this disorder, which deserves to be recognized, sympathized with, and treated. the deep pink (to me) somewhat resembles what ibuprofen & benadryl pills look like; painkillers & antihistamines respectively (i'm not sure if anyone else needs the latter, but my skin's condition gets really reactive when i go through my cycle).
anyone is free to reblog/use accordingly, although you may have to be mindful of permission/credit with the uterus imagery from the source!
tagging for reach (it may not fit your gimmick exactly, so feel free to ignore if you're uninterested, or reblog somewhere else!): @idwl @satyrradio @spaghettimakesflags @obnebulant-mogai @caeliangel @intervex @arco-pluris @beyond-mogai-pride-flags @radiomogai @themogaidragon @neopronouns @mad-pride @disabilitypride
pmdd anon here and thanks for the input! i would like to embrace the community by labelling myself as intersex, but at the same time i would hate to not be welcomed or considered valid as "actually" intersex, as well as the fact that i don't know if it would be considered overstepping just because you're okay with all these variations being linked together based on overlap/experience alone. i may just say questioning instead, but like i mentioned before, any sort of other clarification seems impossible to find, or i just haven't found it yet despite searching.
so i guess my next question would be, what should i call myself? an ally? a broader term for intersex than y'all already have? something in between? reproductively disabled? something else? i'm very lost so help is appreciated 💛
reproductively disabled seems like the most accurate to me. but sex nonconforming may work, too, as i imagine part of why you're drawn to the intersex label is having a different experience of something related to sex. i suppose from there you could also say you're reproductively nonconforming. and there's also the term extersex, for people who don't know if they're dyadic or intersex. i think the term sex queer also exists but im not sure. could make it exist anyway XD
Nopotasexual/Nopo-Asexual/Nopo-Ace: a micro-label on the asexual spectrum defined as someone who has many allosexual qualities and feelings but a physical or mental incapability to perform sexual activities despite a desire to.
This may present itself in many forms. A nopotasexual person may have a strong desire to have a sexual relationship, have sexual fantasies and interest, have drive and arousal, and some may even have intercourse at one time or another, but they may not be able to experience any pleasure, feel physically repulsed or in pain, or feel that they simply cannot have sex even if they want to. Although this is more specific to incapability, these cons can make a nopotasexual person feel they will not have sex even if they someday can. A nopotasexual person can experience any form of romantic attraction entirely separate from their asexuality and also identify with other asexual labels.
Some examples may include:
A person with vaginismus or a similar dyspareunia who wants to pursue a sexual relationship but is too physically pained to do so.
A person with a mental condition that makes them feel scared of or repulsed by sex though at other times they desire it.
A person who tries to have intercourse or self acts but finds it does not physically please them or bring them any satisfaction.
A person who simply has a perceived incapability to have sex but is still sex-favorable.
This term can be very similar to terms like caedsexual, neuroasexual, and wolandsexual, and people who identify as those may also identify as nopotasexual. The difference, however, is that someone who is nopotasexual may not have a diagnosable or definable reason for their asexuality. They may have, for instance, trauma that hampered their ability to have sex but not know of this trauma. They may have a sex disorder but not a chronic illness. Some may not have a reason at all for not experiencing pleasure.
This term was coined on March 19th, 2021 by FANDOM user R0swell and the flags finished on March 24th, 2021 by the same user.
hey i have a really dumb question. would pmdd (pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder) be considered intersex? i don't think so tbh as a perisex (now questioning?) person due to the lack of mention for androgens or other hormones, though i also know that's not the only way for intersex variations to exist, but i genuinely cannot find any sort of answer anywhere leaning one way or the other. i don't care but i just want to know and this is frustrating!
it's not a bad question! i have mixed feelings; i don't really consider it intersex. since i define intersexness as someone who (by natural circumstance) has differences in sex chromosomes, sex hormones, or physical sex traits, leading them not to fit into the sex binary.
so i'd consider PMDD as a reproductive condition, not a sex variation. however, all people with reproductive differences are united in our fight against oppression - intersexism, sexism, and ableism often occur alongside each other. also, many intersex people have reproductive disabilities.
although, some intersex people do consider conditions like PMDD as intersex. but even if we don't, we often still welcome people with shared struggles into our spaces. so yeah, there's no real clear answer. i guess it would come down to what makes you feel empowered, and the community you're in.
i have a question that i hope is not too vague to be answered.... if you have a trait that could be considered both within normal variation but also an intersex trait, and that is typically because in the intersex case it is because of an underlying medical reason and inner mechanism, would it not be possible for the case of it that does not have an underlying medical reason to be an intersex trait, mainly when you've had the weird reactions for it that's common from perisex people towards atypical sex traits and have been treated like you're bizarre for it (from medical professionals.....)? even if it technically is "within normal variation" with no medical component to it
(adding that i actually do not know which case it is for me yet and i already know i'm intersex for other reasons but this is just coming off like i have another intersex trait no matter which it is but its confusing since i have no clue if i have the actual medical reason behind it or if maybe just some of the medical professionals i've seen are just inexperienced)
**disclaimer: i am one intersex person. this is my view and other intersex people/communities may view this differently.**
this ask is a little confusing, and i can't really directly say yes or no without knowing what trait(s) you're talking about but... there are intersex people whose physical sex traits fit within the bounds of what's considered "normal," but still have an intersex variation. that intersex variation still impacts how their body functions - it's just to that, as far as appearance goes, it's to a much more subtle degree compared to someone who is visibly intersex (like me). but in someone without an intersex variation, traits within-bounds aren't intersex.. except for when they are. it's not a cut and dry line in the slightest.
i guess an example is me vs. my sister. i don't know if my sister also inherited the intersex variation, but odds are she did. and even though she passes as dyadic, she'd still be intersex. she's still struggled to fit within women's beauty norms, still experiences abnormal periods, will likely have fertility problems, still got (relatively) early puberty and maxed out at 4'11.. she's also hypermobile too (we may have CAH X Syndrome). although, of course, those are all things dyadic women can experience - it's just that if it's caused by an intersex variation, it adds an extra layer to the experience.
what marks intersex people is the fact our bodies (in appearance or function) don't conform to the sex binary and we have some kind of congenital factor that results in said sex variation (and often also reproductive disability). i know this is a medicalized view to some, but for me, it's more about embracing that intersexness is divergent on the axis of sex and ability - we're often not only oppressed for breaking the binary, but because our bodies do not function like dyadic, abled people's do. we face both queerphobia and ableism, due to a root cause (intersex variation/condition). we (as a group) don't have to disconnect ourselves from the "medical" side of our experiences to deserve rights (like, bodily autonomy and not being eugenics'd out of existence).
so yeah. maybe it's intersex, maybe it's not, but no matter what, your experiences are still important. intersex people aren't the only ones who struggle in regards to the binary (or the resulting discrimination and oppression that follows). i hope that, if you want it, you can figure out if you have an intersex variation. although, i will say that not every intersex variation has a diagnostic condition to back it... and sometimes intersex variation is as simple as the trait itself (like, clitoromegaly w/o a clear cause) which can make things even more confusing.
i’m kinda tempted to try designing a PMDD flag since i’ve been hoping to see one for months to a year now, though i’m not convinced i’ll do a great job at it 🤔 would anyone else be interested?
