You are a college student (any gender) and you have just gotten an unexpected visit from the red fairy. Realizing you forgot to pack your "specialty items" before leaving your dorm room/campus apartment, you begin to regret walking to class empty handed. Luckily, there is a bathroom close by that has one of those quarter tampon and pad machines. But what a tragedy! You donated your last quarter for a Save the Animals charity bucket. You enter the bathroom, frustrated and gushing out red, and there in the bathroom is a basket overflowing with tampons and pads. Excited and relieved, you take several of each, freshen up, and head on to your class. Now, this scenario may seem like a fantasy, but this has just become a reality all throughout the Brown University academic campus.
Viet Nguyen, a senior at Brown University and president of the USC (Undergraduate Council of Students) took charge of the initiative to place free tampons and pads in the women's, men's, and gender-inclusive bathroom. This proposal provides two important goals throughout the campus. The first goal is to raise awareness of the expensive cost of feminine products and to make students and faculty members understand that tampons are as important as toilet paper and hand sanitizer. THEY ARE NOT AND SHOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED A LUXURY! According to the Huffington Post, a woman will spend over $18,171 to take care of her period (starting from her first menstrual cycle until she reaches menopause). That is more than the cost of a Disney Cruise and a first class plane ticket!
(And you were probably thinking I was just exaggerating)
The second and most significant part is to raise awareness that ALL GENDERS go through their menstrual cycle. Nguyen wants students to recognize that periods not only affect the female population, but those belonging to LGBTQ community, specifically the transgender and genderqueer community. His overall objective is to get students to start talking about the importance of treating tampons and pads as a necessity and to get the university involved in ultimately including free tampons around the entire academic campus.
While the project has been a major success, as the saying goes, "everybody is a critic". Several people have reached out to social media and condemned the project. Many insulted the institution by calling the project too liberal, while others were not willing to praise the bravery and effort that was dedicated to this elaborate project. Nguyen had known that no good deed is awarded a golden trophy, or goes unpunished. Ultimately, he is hoping to spread this free tampon and pad project throughout other colleges, and even public schools. As of last Wednesday, Brown University has become the first of it's kind to provide free tampons and pads for it's students. This is all thanks to the financial budget of the USC, and the strong voices of the Brown University community. Period.
So, what do you guys think? Do you believe tampons and pads belong in all gender bathrooms?
