Open Source Period
By Bloody Marie | A spotlight on a Sprint for Internet Health project
The Open Source Period Project is currently a concept that aims to bring together open science and citizen science to codesign and carry out research into menstrual cups.
I interviewed Siouxsie Wiles to learn more about Open Source Period and how you can contribute to the work.
What is Open Source Period?
At the moment it’s a concept — that a community of people from all over the world and from all walks of life will come together to carry out an open collaborative research project to answer questions about menstrual cups. Questions like: Are they safe? What’s the best way to clean and reuse them? Do they help with period pains? I’m hoping the project will soon become more than just a concept!
Why did you start Open Source Period?
I started the project after being asked by journalists to comment on a lab study that suggested menstrual cups might be quite dangerous, and finding that very little research had actually been done on them.
How can we put periods and menstruation health on the political agenda?
What a great question! Periods are more than just a monthly ride of the crimson wave. They are an environmental, health, and equity issue, all wrapped up in a shiny stigma bow. Who honestly even knows if the amount they bleed, or the pain they experience, is ‘normal’? We definitely need to destigmatise menstruation, and we do that by talking about periods more, and more loudly.
What challenges have you faced working on this project?
The project is really just a big idea that needs turning into bite sized chunks so that we can make a start. And one of the main challenges has been where to start. I’ve been really concerned about wanting to do things properly rather than just rushing in and getting it all wrong.
What kind of skills do I need to contribute to your project?
We will need all sorts! We’re looking for thinkers, doers, introverts, extroverts, champions, cheerleaders, open science enthusiasts, and community builders.
How can others contribute your project?
Because this project is still at the concept stage, we don’t yet have a ‘place’ where people can come together to start contributing. If anyone thinks they can help with this, then it would be great if they could get in touch with me. Twitter works best, but email is fine too. Otherwise, people can express their interest by adding their names to the relevant lists described here. People can also make a donation.
How has the Open Leaders program helped you with your project?
It was an incredible privilege to be involved in the Open Leaders program. I met lots of fantastic people, as well as learning more about Mozilla and finding out about all the amazing resources they make available. The biggest thing I learned was the difference between being open by design and open by default. I felt almost vindicated for deciding not to race ahead with starting the project, but to be more deliberate so that when the project does start, it’ll do so on the right footing having been deliberately designed to be open and collaborative.
What meme or gif best represents your project?
Join us wherever you are during the month of May at Mozilla’s Sprint for Internet Health to work on many amazing open projects! Join a diverse network of scientists, educators, artists, engineers and others in person and online to hack and build projects for a health Internet.
This post by Bloody Marie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
