Growing up, everyone got their first period, which was considered a huge deal. One could say you were entering womanhood. At the age of twelve, in seventh grade, I got my first period. At home, my mother taught me how to use menstrual products and not to panic. I was prepared for my first period.
As a twenty-year-old woman, I look back on how little education I received about period care and puberty. My grade school never taught me how to use a pad or a tampon.
But what about students who don’t know how to use menstrual products at the time of their period? Or, what if they don’t have any menstrual products on hand? The issue with the lack of free period care is how it is increasing the stigmatization of periods.
Teachers who supply free period care do limit barriers but also create more anxiety. To obtain menstrual products, students need to ask first; as someone who has done this before, it causes a feeling of humiliation and induces fear just to ask. The thoughts of judgment did cost my mind when I was asking my grade seven teacher for a pad.
Walking to get period care is a struggle, and trust me, I’ve done it before. Walking across campus to get free tampons and pads at the womxn’s centre is stressful. A free dispensary in the bathroom allows quick access and no accidents.
Allowing free menstrual products in schools limits the effects of period poverty. When I’m on my period, tampons cost 15-18$ for a box of 24. As a full-time student, this can be costly. Students who cannot afford period care create barriers dividing women into distinct groups.
The Womxn’s Centre
The Womxn’s Centre on campus is a gender-inclusive organization offering free menstrual products for those who need them! The room is in the Student Centre (CAW), room 208. For any UWindsor student who needs it, their Instagram is @womxnctr