Picture this: you’re in a public washroom and you just started your period, but here’s the kicker: you have no period products. t What do you do? You go out of the stall to the tampon dispenser to buy a weird cardboard 25-cent tampon, but it only gets worse from there! It’s empty, broken, or even non-existent. Now you’re stuck having to ask and pray someone has a period product or make some weird, horribly uncomfortable toilet paper-pad-hybrid .
The reality is, for most people who get periods (because gender and sex are not binary, and never have been) public period care is inaccessible, and buying it can be unreasonably expensive at times for people with financial issues. So why is it so hard to find period care when Aunt Flow comes and you’re in public? Period poverty. This is defined as inadequate access to period products and menstrual education, which leads to a social stigma that periods are gross or dirty. Period poverty is a huge issue because without education, young people with periods cannot easily learn about what is happening within their bodies. Inadequate education leads to inaccessibility to essential products, which forces people to create their own sanitary products (which can increase the chances of vaginal and urinary tract infections).
There is also the issue of the shame and stigma surrounding periods, which causes lots of people not to speak out about their periods and ask questions. Getting your period for the first time can be scary, but it’s an important natural physiological process that just means your body is functioning how it should. Due to all this stigma about periods being gross and a disgusting process that should not be spoken about, so many girls, women, and menstruating people around the world have an immense fear of talking about their periods. My personal favorite example of a company breaking the stigma is the August Co. This amazing company run by Nadya Okamoto is a gender neutral line of fully biodegradable pads and tampons. The gender-neutral packaging is great for those who don’t necessarily identify as women or don’t want overtly feminine looking products but still get their periods and are seen in public caring for their bodies. Okamoto also has a tiktok platform in which she talks about her own periods, what it’s like to get one, how to put in a tampon, and just generally educates anyone who may need it! We love a body positive woman.
Having easily accessible and more importantly, safe options for that time of the month means more people will talk about periods . I know how it feels, as a woman who goes out, goes to school, works, and just has a life: getting your period in public can be anxiety-inducing, even when it absolutely does not need to be. Women and menstruating individuals are not disgusting for having a natural bodily function, and do NOT let anyone tell you otherwise.
My personal opinion is this: we need public period care options, we need to know we have support if we get our periods when we’re in public settings, and we need to feel like our bodily functions and talking about them should not be taboo! Periods are normal, healthy, and allowed to be talked about. So go out there, ask questions, and don’t be afraid; you got this.