Were Going to Solve Period Poverty
blood
shame stigma
natural periods
luxury those are the words i articulated
on the house floor
of the ohio state house as a 19 year old
college student
that day i arrived at the mission i was
going to convince
all of my ohio legislators in the room
to support legislation
aimed at repealing the pink tax or the
so-called tampon tax
in ohio under this policy
menstrual products were taxed as luxury
items
instead of as medical necessities i
remember that moment when i walked into
the room
the first thing i noticed was that i was
surrounded by a group of predominantly
older white men to be exact i was
testifying
in front of a committee of 20 members
composed of 17 men
and just three women the second
i mentioned the word period in my
testimony speech i started getting looks
from all across the room many of the men
refused to make eye contact with me and
looked down at their ipads
some of them started blushing or even
squirming in their seats
a few of them even rolled their eyes at
me from across the room
and i just remember standing there and
pinching myself because
i could not believe what i was seeing
but i left that room with an even bigger
question
why is it that our elected officials who
are responsible
for making legislation that affects
people who menstruate
can’t even look me in the eyes and
repeat the word
period after me the tampon tax is not an
issue that’s unique to ohio alone
at the time 35 other states also had a
tampon tax
in tennessee male lawmakers even
remarked that if tampons were made tax
exempt for just three days
that women would go in a tampon buying
frenzy just stockpiling them and buying
way too many
but we don’t focus nearly enough on the
negative implications
behind bad policies like the tampon tax
this policy perpetuates the cycle of
period
poverty that’s when people who
menstruate lack access to or can’t
afford menstrual products on their
periods
and are often forced to resort to using
unhygienic methods
of maintaining their periods like you
should like using trash
or even toilet paper
this can predispose them to fatal
infections like toxic shock syndrome
but the larger picture is this is a
matter of human
dignity it should not
be an act of bravery to ask for a tampon
when you need one that’s when my student
group and i realized
that the issues of period poverty and
period stigma
go hand in hand and that if we
ever wanted to create long-lasting
systemic
policy change to address the issue of
period poverty
we needed to start by destigmatizing
this issue
and changing culture first something
that our generation
gen z happens to be experts at
but at the same time initially we
doubted the power of our own voices i
mean
who would ever take us seriously right
we were just a
group of student activists who were
passionate about this issue
but there was one thing that we didn’t
know for sure
that that at the time this issue
had little to no momentum so we had to
do something
so then for the next two years we made
it our mission
to garner widespread public support
around it
and fast forward a few months later i
had the honor
of co-leading numerous national
campaigns like
national period day through which tens
of thousands of youth activists
from all across the country rallied in
support of one
goal to nationally elevate the fight to
end
period poverty just four
days after the rally held outside of the
ohio state house
legislation finally passed the senate
to repeal the tampon tax this
policy was signed to law by our governor
and it went into effect during the
pandemic
little did i know at the time that we
would also go on
to speak at and organize numerous press
conferences
including one also the democratic
presidential debates
which landed on the radar of five
presidential candidates
who tweeted about and endorsed our
campaign making it the second trending
topic on twitter
on october 19th 2019.
for me these experiences solidified
something that i
already knew that it is up to our
generation
to solve the crisis of period poverty
and here’s the good news you are already
part of the menstrual movement even if
you don’t know it yet
and i am here to debunk four widely held
misconceptions
about what it means to be a period
rights activist
to show you why you are already the
menstrual movement
misconception number one
menstrual justice is an isolated issue
that’s false menstrual justice
is connected to the larger fight for
racial justice
gender justice economic justice health
healthcare justice and the list
goes on let me give a quick example
black and brown communities are some of
the most heavily impacted by the issue
of period
poverty so by addressing the issue of
period poverty
we are also addressing systemic racial
injustices
that exist in our society and if our
generation knows
anything to be true it’s that we have
inherited a world of injustice
a world of fear and a world of poverty
which has prompted
us to come up with permanent solutions
to these issues
and that brings me to misconception
number two
in order to be an activist you need to
organize massive rallies and
demonstrations and
speak up protests and i’m here to tell
you
that’s false because you are already
an activist while those are all
effective means of activism i think
people often underestimate
the simple everyday acts of activism
and the power behind that
it can be as simple as bringing it to
your school’s attention
that the issue of period poverty is
something that they need to address for
the students and teachers that go to
your school
it can even be as simple as having a
conversation
with a friend a co-worker a family
member or even a legislator
about periods because that helps
destigmatize this issue and it has a
ripple effect
that brings me to misconception number
three
period poverty is an issue that only
occurs in third world countries
but not here in the united states and
i’m here to tell you
that is also false because this issue is
happening
here at home
a national study revealed that more than
84
of students in the united states have
reported either missing class
or knowing another student who’s missed
class due to lack of access to period
products on
their period another study found that
nearly 46
of low-income women in st louis were
forced to choose between
access to period products on their
period and
providing a meal at the table for their
families
a natural need should not be a barrier
to anyone’s education
and nobody should have to make them
possible decision between
two absolute necessities
and that brings me to misconception
number four
in order to have your voice heard you
need to be a lawyer
a lobbyist or have a phd in menstruation
studies
that’s also false because your story
matters in fact some of the bravest
activists i know are a group of girl
scouts from ohio who also testified to
repeal the tampon tax
they did so by sharing their first
period stories
and tackling the period stigma head on i
mean
what could be more courageous and more
brave
and more vulnerable than something like
that right
and that’s why i believe it is up to us
and that our generation
will solve the crisis of period poverty
during our lifetimes
30 states still have a tampon tax but
this
issue is about more than just the tampon
tax
it’s about destigmatizing periods
because that moment when i testified
in front of my legislators they looked
at me as if i had the audacity
to talk about periods
and you know what yes i did
i had the audacity to look them straight
in the eyes and ask
why is it that most men’s exclusively
used items in ohio
like viagra rogaine suspensories
penile pumps they’re all exempt from the
sales tax
whereas menstrual products which are
used far more widely and consistently by
nearly half
our population are taxed as luxury
items thousands of young people
have the audacity to rally and pressure
their lawmakers
to prioritize the issue of period
poverty
and our generation has the audacity to
dream of a world
where every person has the ability to
reach their full
humanity regardless of a natural need
because you are already part of the
menstrual movement
now it’s about being brave enough to go
out there and talk about periods
because that’s how we’re going to
destigmatize this issue and that’s
how we’re going to change culture and
change discriminatory policies
and end period poverty because don’t
forget
you are the menstrual movement period
you