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