In June 2018, New York Representative Sean Patrick Maloney received an email from the House Administration Committee stating that he was required to reimburse the House in the amount of $37.16 for buying disposable hygiene products on an office budget. He posted a video on his Twitter account explaining the ordeal in which he made an extremely valid point: if the office budget can provide supplies for the use and stability of those who are employed there and clientele (hand sanitizer, toilet paper, tissue boxes, etc.), why shouldn't sanitary napkins and tissues be added to the list as well?
Tampon dispensers! How could we forget those? Paying 25 cents for one tampon that has a cardboard applicator is amazing (note the sarcasm)! Digging through your belongings for a quarter while being extremely uncomfortable is uncalled for. On another note, rarely does anyone carry cash, much less change. With debit cards, Apple Pay, and Venmo, the need to hold onto cash and change has decreased.
Some may argue that women should have sanitary products on them at all times, but who carries sterile bandages or an extra change of clothes other than the "mom friend" or your grandmother? Big pocketbooks are not considered fashionable and are a pain to carry around honestly. How are women expected to carry their lipstick, wallet, and cell phone in a small clutch while also having to worry about disposable feminine hygiene products? Periods can come out of complete surprise even if you have some sort of period tracker as a result of elevated stress levels, traveling, perhaps taking different or new medicine and many more. Although we all have the Raven Baxter vision montage when we know we just got our periods, there's just no way to tell when the infamous Red Sea is coming or when it will strike.
Every girl has experienced, "Do you have a tampon or pad?" As females, we gladly come to the rescue if able. However, sometimes that isn't the case. The stash in your desk can empty quickly, especially after a heavy and intense period. Sometimes life happens and you just forget to grab disposable feminine hygiene products on the way into work. Females might have a personal preference for tampons over sanitary napkins or vice versa. A young girl might stroll through the office and have no idea in the world how to use a tampon so what can she can do? There also might be medical reasoning behind preferring one over the other, which no one should question.
The first time I had gotten my period I was with my dad at the office. Sixth grade me had absolutely no idea what to do and I didn't want to tell my dad, my mom was supposed to handle these things. I had ruined my favorite pair of underwear, a trend that would carry on along with my later periods. I finally had bled through my pants and was mortified as I walked around the rest of the day with my father's winter jacket wrapped around my waist and bunched up toilet paper as my sanitary napkin. No one on his floor was female. I was mortified of getting my period or bleeding through unexpectedly that I wore something around my waist well into middle school. That should not be a girl's first menstrual cycle experience.
I am ecstatic that a man with political power understands that women cannot control their periods. With men still believing that females can "just hold it in" or getting kicked in the testicles is worse than five to seven days of bleeding through your uterus: Representative Maloney is a breath of fresh air.
