Next Generation Feminist Heroes
Nadya Okamoto
Young women like Nadya Okamoto truly have, in the words of Harriet Tubman, “the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world.”
At sixteen years old, Nadya Okamoto founded what would later become this nation’s largest and fastest growing non-profit organizations in women’s health— PERIOD, The Menstrual Movement.
Okamoto was a junior at Catlin Gabel High School and had previously experienced homelessness and housing instability with her family for several months when she founded PERIOD.
“During this time, on my commute to school on the public bus, I had many conversations with homeless women in much worse living situations than I was in,” said Okamoto.“I was inspired to learn more about menstrual inequity and period poverty after collecting an anthology of stories of their using toilet paper, socks, brown paper grocery bags, cardboard, and more, to take care of something so natural.”
Her curiosity led her to her internet research where she discovered that menstruation is a barrier that girls around the world have to face— a barrier that results in being the number one reason why girls miss school in developing countries. She learned about the effects for menstruating individuals in the U.S who are disadvantaged and the systemic barriers preventing them from taking care of their menstrual health properly.
From internet research to overcoming the bigger barriers, Okamoto’s advocacy for ending period poverty made history on October 19, 2019 when National Period Day became inaugurated. Okamoto traveled with her period warriors through 4 countries and 50 states. Together they achieved 60 rallies.
“All united by the same #menstrualmovement manifesto—demanding an end to period poverty and stigma,” said Okamoto.
Okamoto further explained that through their National Period Day journey, they were trending on Twitter, engaged the largest amount of individuals in the history of period activism and even had five presidential candidates publicly endorse #nationalperiodday.
National Period Day and PERIOD’s progress on taking down the tampon tax was a game changer. Okamoto said this is when her movement started gaining more momentum.
On January 10, 2019, InStyle Magazine named Okamoto in their piece, “The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who are Changing the World”.
She explained that it was a true honor to be included amongst some of her greatest role models including: Michelle Obama, Rachel Maddow, Ariana Grande, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Simone Biles, Angela Davis, Jacinda Arden, Viola Davis, Hannah Gadsby, Dr. Leanna Wen, and more.
“Sometimes organizing can feel very discouraging—I mean, activism is literally fighting the status quo, so pushback and rejection is a part of the job. Sometimes I wonder if anything I’m doing is actually making a difference, or if I’m just shouting into some void,” said Okamoto. “So, these moments of recognition/celebration mean so much to me—they humble me, remind me that I’m here representing our @periodmovement.”
Okamoto further explains how grateful she is for her PERIOD team and all of the chapters and donors and national organizers activism.
Anna Hebner
Other young young women like Anna Hebner, Junior and founder of The Feminine Hygiene Project for Emmanuel College’s campus, have joined the fight against period poverty.
Hebner too was inspired by her own experiences—“I went into one of the bathrooms in the administration building, I put a quarter in and nothing came out,” said Hebner.
Infuriated, Hebner was inspired to take action. She felt that it was unfair that students such as herself were giving their money to machines that“don’t work half the time because they are old and outdated,” said Hebner.
Additionally, students don’t often carry spare change on their person to feed the dispenser.
“No one’s sitting in class planning to get their period and not everyone has the money to sustain every reproductive cycle,” said Hebner. “If we are going to have products in these machines that are not being used because the machines are either not working or no one has a quarter, why not just get rid of the machines and give people the products?”
Hebner saw this project facilitated on Emerson College and Boston University’s campuses and knew that she wanted to make it happen on Emmanuel’s campus. Though there were many hoops to jump through, fighting against the stigma of the conversation and financial funding, Hebner found a way.
All bathrooms on Emmanuel’s campus now have free essential period products so no menstruating individual ever has to worry about the financial stress of trying to maintain their menstrual health on Emmanuel’s campus.
Luxury Items? Or Medical Necessity?
It should go without saying that menstrual health is a medical necessity to every menstruating individual and therefore period products should be considered “essential goods.” Unfortunately, that is not the reality our nation lives by.
Of the 50 states in our nation, 35 still regulate the Tampon Tax. That’s 70 percent of our nation that legally forces menstruating individuals to pay added value on medically necessary items to maintain their menstrual health. These 35 states still consider period products to be “luxury items” as opposed to “essential items” geared towards men such as Rogaine and Viagra.
Okamoto explains that menstrual hygiene is a right not a luxury. She advocates that Congress pass federal legislation for menstrual equity, for all enabling states to provide students with free period products in schools and require Medicaid to insure period products.
“We need to repeal the tampon tax because it places a financial burden on menstruators, preventing them from basic menstrual hygiene,” said Okamoto.
Lauren Davis, Nurse Practitioner and Director of Health Services for Emmanuel College, agrees with Okamoto.
“I agree with activists who argue that the ‘tampon tax’ is sex-based discrimination,” said Davis.
According to The Pink Tax, the continuous markup increase on products marketed towards women demonstrates more than the tax on period products. It demonstrates the tax on being a woman.
According to the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs December 2015 study, “From Cradle to Crane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer”, results showed that women’s products were twice as likely to be priced higher than mens products— 42 percent more to be exact.
Davis explains that there are a number of medical problems that could arise if menstrual health is not managed properly. According to Davis, if tampons are used for longer than the recommended time of 8 hours this could possibly lead to toxic shock syndrome.
For menstruating individuals who are unable to buy enough to follow that rule, overusing products is one of the few unsanitary measures that is forced upon them. For other menstruating individuals who are unable to buy products at all, they use whatever substitutes they can find.
“Using unhygienic substitutes for tampons/pads can alter the flora of the vagina increasing risk of STIs, yeast, bacterial vaginosis and pregnancy complications,” said Davis.
For young girls, missing school is the option they feel they are forced to take because they don’t have access to the proper products or pain management for their periods. Therefore absenteeism for young girls in schools across the United States, and especially in developing countries, is dangerously high.
According to Maureen Dobrowsky, Nurse Practitioner for Emmanuel College, another deficit is that women often sacrifice regular exercise due to lack of access to period products. She explains that regular exercise is essential not only for an individual’s overall health, but it is part of the treatment for medical issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
“Unfortunately, many women feel like they can’t exercise as they would want to while menstruating if they don’t have access to tampons or cups” said Dobrowsky.
In addition to all of the physical medical deficits to proper menstrual care, mental health for menstruating individuals also suffers.
“…some women aren’t able to fully participate in many activities, such as working, school, swimming, hikes, or vacations, or in their relationships, particularly if they don’t have access to something like a tampon or menstrual cup,” said Dobrowsky.
According to Dobrowsky, there are a number of reasons the medical community has not come up with a better solution to combat period poverty. Reasons including but not limited to cost of supplies, stigma and lack of formal and or/ family education on the topic.
“I think women’s health is often overlooked overall,” said Dobrowsky.
Dobrowsky believes that aiding the end to period poverty should include providing clear, fact-based, non-shaming education that starts at an early age and free/lower-cost supplies whenever able in school and medical settings.
“I think it is important that this is discussed with all genders (as well as parents if they are at the visit), so everyone is comfortable having these conversations and has a basic familiarity with menstruation,” said Dobrowsky.
Dobrowsky further explains that aiding period poverty should also include facilitating discussions around effective birth control options like OCP and IUD that can help decrease menstrual symptoms and the need for supplies and advocating to address the issues with the tampon tax.
Facilitating the Conversation
According to Backpack Bed for Homeless, over 500, 000 people suffer from homelessness. 70 percent of the people within that figure are men and 30 percent are women.
Although female menstruation is more common, men can also experience menstruation— men who are transgender, genderqueer individuals or others.
Therefore, menstruation is not something that only affects women, it is something that affects the entire homeless population.
“We are still working to break the period stigma and address period poverty. It’s not just a ‘women’s issue’; this is a human issue and it affects us all,” said Okamoto.
Period poverty is a human issue— an issue that affects us all. And the conversation is the biggest combative tool against the stigma that feeds this issue.
“People are taught that they are dirty and gross when the reality is that they are part of our natural body process. There are taboos and myths surrounding menstruation because of a lack of health education in many parts of the world,” said Okamoto.“In many developing countries, women face discrimination and oppression for the duration of their menstruation.”
Davis agrees with Okamoto in that she also believes the discomfort and unwillingness to talk about menstruation stems from embarrassment and shame— that it’s “dirty”.
“Cultures worldwide have developed harmful views on menstruation causing women to feel shameful which may contribute to why people feel uncomfortable talking about it,” said Davis.
According to Dobrowsky, because period poverty is largely considered a women’s health issue, and women’s health issues have historically been considered shameful and taboo, it’s become a way to marginalize women.
“I really think change will come if younger generations have a better understanding of the process, as well as access to/understanding of the ways they can control menstruation and the side effects/life effects,” said Dobrowsky.
To Dobrowsky facilitating the conversation and advocating for change means being a part of the solution.
“Coming at this from the perspective of a health care provider/mother/woman, it means being part of an open and honest conversation that starts early and continues,” said Dobrowsky.“It is striving for messages of equality, science, respect of the woman’s body and the amazing processes going on, and sharing the knowledge of how to use products/what is available to help women best meet their needs.”
To Okamoto, as a young woman and PERIOD warrior, it also means being a part of the solution— being a part of the change.
“I’m fighting with all of my PERIOD warriors to fight for systemic change towards menstrual equity. I want to change the way people think, talk, and learn about periods because periods are natural and should be treated as a necessity,” said Okamoto.
Making a Change
Feminist heroes like Okamoto are making the strides that are making big changes.
“I am inspired by the ability of one person to make a difference in the lives of others through individual outreach, as well as working towards systemic change,” said Dobrowsky. “Young people, illustrated by these projects, climate change, etc, can be the change and it’s beautiful and powerful to witness.”
Inspired by the students she oversees volunteering, Danielle Sara Rose, Project Manager for Community Service at Emmanuel College, strongly believes that young people really do have the desire, compassion and capability to make a difference in the world.
“The Menstrual Movement is inspiring because it is proof that change can happen, in this case, when a person sees a problem, has the passion to fix it, and utilizes the support of others who have that same passion,” said Sara Rose.
Dobrowsky agrees and believes that young women like Okamoto are especially brave. She is inspired by their consistent ability to move mountains.
“I believe it says women are brave, compassionate, innovative, and intelligent. They do not shy away from a challenge and are not comfortable with the status quo if it is not equitable,” said Dobrowsky. “College women have wonderful peer role models and I look forward to seeing the changes and advances that come from their advocacy.”
Humbled and honored for all of her achievements, Okamoto explained that for her, she takes pride in the moments where she sees that she really is making a difference.
“I take the most pride in my work with mobilizing others to feel empowered to make change in their community– so the chapter network with PERIOD is what I am most proud of,” said Okamoto.“I’m really looking forward to innovating new ways to create opportunities for our chapter members to continue this work in 2020!”
Young women like Okamoto truly are moving mountains, changing the world and becoming the next generation feminist heroes. As she works on her second book and continues to make hedgeway with her movement, she is inspiring others to do the same.
When asked what advice she would give to other young activists out there who also want to make a difference, Okamoto responded—
“You really have to go for it. If there is something you want to do, do it! It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you’re doing or you don’t have the resources. Find your people, find a mentor, and ask questions!” said Okamoto.