When I was 15, I remember there being a few times when I told my mom there were no more pads. She didn’t really say anything but that’s when she and I had to use toilet paper as a substitute.
I thought growing up that it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. But I remember this because that was one of the few times I really didn’t want to go to school.
I never chalked it up to my mom not being able to afford it, but I never thought my daughters should have to go through that. I have my restroom stocked with pads and tampons as well as small “go bags” that they keep in their backpacks, so my daughters never have to feel the same — aside from their teenage have not’s.
I’ve yet to think about it in a broader spectrum.
With that being said there have been a dozen times or more that I’ve heard about some states trying to get rid of taxes when it comes to feminine hygiene products. This is a great idea!
But I’ve been completely ignorant to the movement happening not only in our back yard but also across the United States, which is the fight against “period poverty.”
Period poverty is when a person cannot afford to buy pads or tampons, which I would consider to be a basic need like toothbrushes and soap.
Over at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the Islander Feminists in conjunction with a nonprofit organization PERIOD from the Corpus Christi chapter have united forces to petition for the university to provide menstrual hygiene products to students.
The groups maintain that students who already have a tight budget might often run into a situation where they cannot afford to buy the products needed for their period and miss class because of this. By eliminating the extra cost to students, it would cost the university an estimated $6,000 a semester depending on which restrooms they stock and how many times they would need to be restocked.
The university not only plans to provide menstrual products but they will be environmental friendly in the fall.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is democracy at its finest and provides students with the confidence that if they team up together they will be heard.
