Period Progress Comes From More than Just Products
In the past decade, activists have sought to make menstrual products more affordable and available. Gaining easier access to these products to manage menstruation is now recognized as a human rights issue, and is commonly debated around the world.
This shift in people’s mindsets is welcomed, and long overdue. However, we must understand that while providing products and making them more accessible can certainly help, we aren’t addressing the root of the problem: the societal and cultural stigma against menstruation.
Menstruators are taught to see their periods as “problems” to be solved with products like pads and tampons. Although having access to these products does allow for safer and more sanitary means of handling our periods, it’s important for us to recognize that the greater need is for people to understand that periods aren’t something shameful and best kept hidden. When menstruation is normalized and understood, the rest comes more naturally. There won’t be a need to debate whether or not governments should be doing more to provide products, because the mindset is already there.
Our goal must be to promote innovative, inclusive and culturally sensitive community-based education about the menstrual cycle to menstruators and non-menstruators alike. While Period continues to aim towards increasing accessibility of menstrual products to those in need, most importantly, we aim towards moving minds and challenging the social stigma directed at periods.
For the menstrual movement to truly expand and succeed, we must do more than provide products, and continue to fight against social and cultural prejudice.
