Brown University will stock public bathrooms around campus with free pads and tampons, according to the Huffington Post. This initiative was brought into effect by the Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS), who believes that access to pads and tampons are not a luxury, but a necessity.
Why spend time and effort promoting a random girl product?
“These products are not luxuries, they are necessities, and should be treated as such,” said UCS students via press release.
Tampons and pads will be available in public bathrooms across campus, and yes- in men's bathrooms too. With all the changes that have been happening with gender neutral bathrooms, Brown University feels that need for sanitary napkins in all bathrooms, since gender, may not indicate wheater a person menstruates or not.
“We wanted people to recognize that this issue affects trans students as well, and that menstruation is experienced by more than just those who identify as women and that not all people who identify as women menstruate,” said Viet Nguyen, the president of UCS at Brown University.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive both regarding anonymous and non-anonymous feedback,” said Nguyen. “We were so happy that students from other schools began sharing the statuses as well, pushing their universities to adopt similar policies. We hope that it contributes to the much larger conversation about the stigmatization of menstruation."
The implementation of this initiative is right on time as New York and Illinois recently voted to lift taxes on tampons and pads. By lifting the tax, states can help everyday people take care of their sanitary needs during their 'time of the month'.
What I Think
Hearing about this initiative opened my eyes to an issue I hadn't thought about. I knew tampons and pads were expensive, but I never thought how their absence in men's bathrooms might affect someone in the transgendered community. I believe that this initiative is very insightful, as it is often hard for us to think of these things if we don't have open conversations about them. This is one of the many issues the country will have to deal with when we're addressing the topic of gender-neutral bathrooms across the country. At any rate, I would love to see the University of Delaware take up an initiative like this one. Periods and how to deal with them is something that needs to be discussed. As gender neutral bathrooms becoming more common in stores, restaurants, and other public places, we'll have to learn as a country how we can make them as comfortable as possible for everyone.
