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The Menstrual Monoblogs
Dec. 18th, 2023 10:31 amWelcome to the first issue of an irregular periodical! Menstrual equity seems to be quite the trend these days and while it no longer affects me personally, I do find it interesting. Should we be rejoicing and proclaiming "It's about bloody well time!"? Or are there some vaguely sinister aspects to it? This site may give you an idea of Canadian public policy on the matter:
https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/funding/menstrual-equity-fund.html
Federally regulated workplaces are now required to make menstruation-related products available free of charge to all workers who need them. Elsewhere in our communities, little free period banks (along the lines of little free libraries) are springing up so that those in need can access these essential supplies.
I think it was at least 30 years ago that I first read about the "pink tax", the idea that women tend to pay more than men for what are essentially the same or equivalent services: haircuts, dry-cleaning, clothing alterations and so on. We also cherish the notion that essential things should be tax-exempt. In recent years during COVID-prompted lockdowns, we saw rules about which businesses could stay open and which couldn't. Of course, the decisions about what was essential (and what was not) said a lot about our nation and culture!
When it comes to implementing menstrual equity, I think there are still quite a number of issues to be decided. Will there be quotas on how much of the stuff someone can take at a time, and how would that be determined? How can it be allocated in a way that preserves the customer's privacy and dignity? If it's placed in washrooms so people can help themselves, what safeguards will be in place to prevent vandalism while ensuring supplies are replenished as needed? In school washrooms in particular, I can definitely see bullying and vandalism as potential problems.
I'm old enough to remember the days of buying sanitary supplies in drugstores where you had to ask for what you needed at the pharmacy counter and they would wrap it in paper for you... except that it was blatantly obvious from the shape of the package just what you were buying! If you were lucky, the person at the counter might be a kindly-looking older woman. Anyway, I do remember that the first time I bought these things for myself, I made sure it was at a grocery store, where I could pick the cashier I went to and it was packaged anonymously in an ordinary brown grocery bag (anyone remember those?) along with whatever else you were buying. In those days, it was pretty much a choice between Kotex with a sanitary belt or Tampax with a disposable cardboard applicator.
Anyway, lots more I could write but I'll leave it at that for now. I'm curious as to what others think of these latest policies. Are they good or bad? Or somewhere in between?
https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/funding/menstrual-equity-fund.html
Federally regulated workplaces are now required to make menstruation-related products available free of charge to all workers who need them. Elsewhere in our communities, little free period banks (along the lines of little free libraries) are springing up so that those in need can access these essential supplies.
I think it was at least 30 years ago that I first read about the "pink tax", the idea that women tend to pay more than men for what are essentially the same or equivalent services: haircuts, dry-cleaning, clothing alterations and so on. We also cherish the notion that essential things should be tax-exempt. In recent years during COVID-prompted lockdowns, we saw rules about which businesses could stay open and which couldn't. Of course, the decisions about what was essential (and what was not) said a lot about our nation and culture!
When it comes to implementing menstrual equity, I think there are still quite a number of issues to be decided. Will there be quotas on how much of the stuff someone can take at a time, and how would that be determined? How can it be allocated in a way that preserves the customer's privacy and dignity? If it's placed in washrooms so people can help themselves, what safeguards will be in place to prevent vandalism while ensuring supplies are replenished as needed? In school washrooms in particular, I can definitely see bullying and vandalism as potential problems.
I'm old enough to remember the days of buying sanitary supplies in drugstores where you had to ask for what you needed at the pharmacy counter and they would wrap it in paper for you... except that it was blatantly obvious from the shape of the package just what you were buying! If you were lucky, the person at the counter might be a kindly-looking older woman. Anyway, I do remember that the first time I bought these things for myself, I made sure it was at a grocery store, where I could pick the cashier I went to and it was packaged anonymously in an ordinary brown grocery bag (anyone remember those?) along with whatever else you were buying. In those days, it was pretty much a choice between Kotex with a sanitary belt or Tampax with a disposable cardboard applicator.
Anyway, lots more I could write but I'll leave it at that for now. I'm curious as to what others think of these latest policies. Are they good or bad? Or somewhere in between?
