Tearing through my backpack in a frenzied panic, I fumble through loose pencils and pieces of paper, keeping an eye for a small lilac package. After finally getting my hands on the prize, I rush to the bathroom.
It is that time of the month.
My dilemma isn’t uncommon; to nobody’s surprise, 50% of the world’s population menstruates. Yet as natural as menstruation cycles are, the topic elicits nervous shuffling and silence when brought up in discussion.
But menstrual inequity is a conversation worth having—products aren’t as accessible as most might think. Low-income groups battle the tampon tax and poor quality materials in order to get through their regularly scheduled cycles. In other parts of the world, menstrual products are mostly, if not completely, inaccessible due to lack of manufacturing or high expenses.
Fellow The Shield editor and PERIOD. club board member Cat Kemp recommended the Netflix short film Period, End of Sentence—a documentary showcasing the efforts of women in a rural Indian village as they proudly manufacture and distribute their own pads. Oftentimes, the pervasive shame regarding menstruation and lack of products in general forces health issues, school absences, and eventual dropout of the girls in their village. Thus, the women chose the brand name “FLY” for their menstrual products company, because they want women “to arise.” The film illustrates the day-to-day inconveniences and issues that arise from navigating a patriarchal society as a woman—attempting to live and achieve in a society that simply does not want you to. As the film so beautifully points out, “a period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.”
Even more, Anna Dalqvist’s It’s Only Blood: Shattering the Taboo of Menstruation dives into the cultural curtails of heavily stigmatizing something as naturally normal as menstruation. The book follows a study conducted in countries around the world of different cultures and overall standards of living—Sweden, India, Uganda, Bangladesh, the US, and a few others. The subjects revolve around poverty, shame, inability to have a life while menstruating, taboos, and pain. The crux of this book is how poor young girls deal with menstruating when they have no access to clean running water and toilets—sanitary products are almost completely out of the question. There is a section that deals with how menstrual pain is dismissed by almost everyone, including doctors. Taking birth control simply to help with period cramps and problems is only recently a Western phenomenon, and it’s ridiculous to think that women are subject to something so completely preventable. Organizations like PERIOD. and The Pad Project have made large steps in fighting menstrual inequity for women at both a national and international scale. Both programs partner with local organizations and grassroots NGOs to fund the placement of pad machines, implement washable pad programs, and run menstrual hygiene management workshops in communities at home and abroad. Something as easily solvable as period problems should not stop a menstruator from achieving higher education, career advancement, or their day-to-day activities.