"Period Poverty": its taking the piss, isn't it?

[Candidpeel]

This is from an organisation called Rights Info (whose articles last year on the GRA were "don't believe the myths, relax it all fine...")

twitter.com/rights_info/status/1082313150286974978?s=19

Twee little video on "period poverty"...

I've come to the conclusion (perhaps unfairly) that any organisation that jumps on the 'period poverty' bandwagon is taking the piss. Its a way of ticking the "women's rights" box without actually dealing with womens rights.

I'm not convinced its a thing. I mean if you are too poor to afford a box of own brand tampons that's not a special kind of period poverty its absolute poverty. If girls are not being given enough cash at home to buy sanpro (or their parents aren't keeping stocks at home) that's neglect, and maybe wider emotional abuse.

And who the hell spends £18,000 on sanpro in their lifetime??

OK rant over.

Vegioante - food is also essential, and men biologically need more calories than women. Are you saying that because it is essential, everyone should receive food vouchers and that, because of biology, men receive higher value?

Even when items are essential, I think there are areas is spending which fall to the individual. Ensuring people have an income adequate for basic needs wouid be more empowering than making sanpro a state-supplied item

I agree with @vegilante - period products are a medical necessity. I can't wait to buy my monthly period products said no female ever. I worry about landfill too though and can't quite believe why the government don't issue the every age appropriate female with a mooncup rather than tampons or pads.

Really interested to read this as it’s something I can’t make my mind up on. I’m in Scotland and there’s a huge drive up here (not sure bout rest of U.K.) to the point that they’re free in universities “in partnership with the Scottish government”. I kind of feel there are more pressing issues. It is good they’re more freely available in schools even just in terms of the horror of having to panic buy fromnthe toilet vending machines. But you’re right, poor is poor. I do wonder if it’s a good thing though in so much as some men people don’t understand that sanpro is a necessity not a nice to have.

DC - I have noticed actual period pants (for want of a better word) in Tesco recently. They’re still disposable but if I were still menstruating I’d buy them as I used to have a terrible time with bleeding everywhere whne I was younger. There’s loads of cheaper options out there now though, like actual reusable period knickers which you can wash- these in conjunction with pads might help? Tena are extortionate and not designed for periods.

Thanks all --

I was not meaning to belittle the need for san-pro and that some people don't have £1 left at the end of the month, but it does seem to be adopted as a nice simple, cute, slightly edgey, little cause to say that an organisation is doing something for women's rights.

I found the source of the £18,000 figure....

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/03/women-spend-thousands-on-periods-tampon-tax_n_8082526.html

Its made up of
· Pads/tampons/panty-liners/menstrual cups - £13
· New underwear (due to spillages) -£8
· Pain relief - £4.50
· Chocolate/sweets/crisps - £8.50
· Other (magazines/toiletries/DVDs etc.) – £7

can't quite believe why the government don't issue the every age appropriate female with a mooncup rather than tampons or pads.

Public toilets aren’t really geared up for mooncups - I’ve seen so many posts on here over the years about how do you discreetly wash it etc etc. There’s also personal choice - not to be crass, but some women just don’t like putting their sanpro inside.

That said, we need to be more sustainable with these things - I’m really aware of the fact I use panty liners and the like and I need to look into an alternative.

Chocolate/sweets/crisps - £8.50

Oh come on. This really annoys me. There was a subscription box recently (pink parcel possibly?) which gave you “tailored” sanpro and patrionisingly included a “treat” because us women need chocolate when we bleed

I agree with OP, and i'm really pleased to hear someone say this. The concept has always sounded both forced and trivialising to me.

But i think that the real point is - it cunningly avoids talking about the serious ways that women are oppressed as women, like prostitution, objectification, women throughout the world being treated like property etc. Those things can't be talked about, as they are viewed as "empowering" or "a choice" by your modern liberal "feminist". So they talk about the fact that tampons cost a few quid, and it shows that they are feminists, apparently. And it means nothing.

If you can't afford tampons then your problem is not that you have a womb, your problem is that you are unacceptably poor. There are things that men have to buy that women don't - eg. more food, as they need more calories. Having to spend a few quid on sanitary products is really not the source of women's oppression.

Even when items are essential, I think there are areas is spending which fall to the individual. Ensuring people have an income adequate for basic needs wouid be more empowering than making sanpro a state-supplied item

Yes i tend to agree with this. If "period poverty" is really a symptom of poverty we should be more concerned with raising the incomes of the poorest, so that they can buy what they need rather than subsidising items for the those on middle and higher incomes.

I assumed my mistaken Tena buy would be just as good as, or even better than, pads but they really weren't.

I also assume that Tena must have something extra in them, which you're paying for, to deal with odour. Menstrual blood doesn't smell but urine does and would be noticeable.

forced and trivialising...yes exactly PleasingFungusBeetle

I think period poverty is very real and is an issue for women. Schools have reported girls not turning up at school because they have no sanitory products. And I suspect, the same as mothers not eating, that when there is a shortage of money in a family situation women and girls are supposed to give up their rights and dignity to the men and boys in the family.

The problem is that what was a good grass roots campaign, often as part of a food bank, has been hijacked.

But most of all never read RightsInfo - it is one of those facile social media entities where supposedly in touch young people show of to each other. The wrote up the hearing againsst Linda Bellos and Venice Allan and it was clear they had absolutely no idea what the issues were.

In fact this group is so not in touch that they have registered their web site as a dot org which implies they are a US based group, although in fact they are a UK group and should be a dot org dot uk.

This is why so little gets done because too many people think showing off on social media is the same as actually doing something. It isn't just about virtual reality but actually thinking virtual reality is real life.

I would have thought any women would empathise with a young girl struggling with having periods let alone being in a situation that her family is providing her with the products she needs.

See the results of this survey on the impact of period poverty on young girls

plan-uk.org/media-centre/plan-international-uks-research-on-period-poverty-and-stigma

What stumbledin said.

AllPowerful I was making my argument within the framework of already extant health care & health insurance programs in the West. Slightly expanding those programs to accommodate the medical, biological needs of 51% of the population seems more practical at this juncture than inventing new programs. The cost of providing or covering menstrual products would be small compared to the benefit doing so would bring to more than half the populace.

I'm against unfairly discriminating against anyone based on their immutable biology. I'm also against anyone going hungry, especially in the wealthy West.

Its like everything with misogyny - women's biology can be recognised only if it is being misrepresented and twisted to create a misleading picture. It is like a special art form that manages to make a mockery of something serious and real.

Spending money on top brands of sanitary products like Bodyform and Tena and chocolate (DVDs FFS?) (without having to go without something else important in your meagre budget) is only something you can do if you aren't truly poor.

Those costs are ridiculous and 90% of the time it is a choice to spend that much.

Tesco value mattresses pads (which inexplicably seem to be waterproof) really let you know you are at the bottom. I am hugely thankful I don't have to use them and toilet paper any more. Now I spend maybe £4.20 at the very most and have heavy periods and am fortunate to be able to choose to use more expensive eco brands. I do not take this for granted and could spend less.

Painkillers are more expensive than a few years ago. Ibuprofen averages 3p each, paracetamol similar. Cocodamol about 8p each. Maybe £1.80 per period if you have it really bad and take the max dose for 4 days. But many people on low incomes could also get free prescriptions and GPs should be prescribing pain relief for free to those women who are poor and have bad pain.

Black underwear means you just have to wash and wear again, not throw away.

so £6 month on more expensive brands and pain killers? Not anywhere near £18. But £6 is a lot when you are really hard up. That does need addressing.

I think with the internet girls have better access to information about products now which I am glad about but stlll think that it needs to be addressed and provided in school for girls who have less than ideal home lives. I would have benefited from that and would have grown up feeling differently about my body and periods I am sure.

Pads/tampons/panty-liners/menstrual cups - £13*
New underwear (due to spillages) -£8
Pain relief - £4.50
Chocolate/sweets/crisps - £8.50
Other (magazines/toiletries/DVDs etc.) £7

That is a terrible article as it is so easy to rubbish most, if not all, of those figures.

Tesco super maximum pads are £0.23 for a packet of 10. That isn't a typo. £0.23. They have other options at less than a £1 per packet of 10.

A 16 pack of Tesco paracetamol is £0.35.(other supermarkets are available)

Underwear is washable.

£8.50 per month on chocolate and crisps is just a random figure (and yes, chocolate is nice but you really don't have to spend £8.50 in the week you have a period. That's probably more chocolate and crisps than are healthy)

The magazines and DVD spend is just silly.

It's a gift to anyone wanting to deny this is an issue as you can get the figures substantially down with no effort. The issue is , if even after doing that women and girls still can't afford sanitary products, there is a problem.

I have always felt that the sexes were fairly balanced re: women have to buy period products vs. men have to buy razors/extra calories.

There are some amazingly cheap own brands out there for women on the dole (like me, but I'm on HRT). It's swings and roundabouts.

However,

if you have any abnormally heavy periods then yes, mentrual products should be free at the merest hint of a say-so from the GP practice nurse.

Free mentrual products should also be available in schools, as some girls just forget, and some parents also have difficulty remembering which child needs them when, or have a financial reluctance, or inability, to provide. And that's not okay if it affects a child's learning , sport or socialising.

It’s not a medical need. It’s a hygiene product love me soap, toothpaste or, loo roll. @vegilante

The £8.50 on crisps and sweets is patronising AF.

I agree with you OP in that, if one can not afford san pro, one is poor/being neglected by parents. But I do think that providing such products and schools etc can help to alleviate the poverty of children (who shouldn’t be blamed or punished for their parents’ financial short comings) in the same way as free school meals do.

I spend around £2 a month buying the most expensive named brands. I do accept that we are not all the same or have the same needs. However the article that talks about £41 a month on san pro is silly. Nobody in poverty that can't afford san pro is spending £8.50 on chocs etc.

If you are spending £13 a month please get your iron levels tested. Lots of women bleed heavier when they are anaemic.

Rather than handouts I'd like to see prescription free so that any underlying reason for heavy periods can be treated.

Absolutely what Vegilante said..

I have always felt that the sexes were fairly balanced re: women have to buy period products vs. men have to buy razors/extra calories.

Women also buy (more expensive) razors. And more calories doesn’t necessarily mean more food.

I saw this in a service station and couldn't decide if it was genius or bad taste

I think giving women menstrual cups is a much more sustainable idea than pads/tampons

· New underwear (due to spillages) -£8

I just chuck it in the washing machine. Doesn't everybody?

Western food poverty is generally about people suffering from micro malnutrition, not macro malnutrition. They rarely lack access to calories, but do lack access to foods high in essential vitamins, minerals etc.

Women in extreme poverty struggle to do laundry, because of the costs of fuel and water.
If you live in a high rise your water rates are higher, as it costs them more to pump the water to the top floors.
Launderettes charge around £5 a load, not including drying, and if you don't have heat in winter you can't dry your clothes.
Reusables that need washing are out of our reach, before you take into account the high cost of initial purchase.

As for Tesco's 23p pads they don't stick properly and are not very absorbant.

This is why so little gets done because too many people think showing off on social media is the same as actually doing something.
This. Also many people prefer to police others instead of changing a broken system; and consider that 'doing something'.

You don't need to put a pair of knickers the washing machine. If I got blood on knickers during my period I washed them by hand. I wouldn't have added them to the laundry basket or chucked them in the machine.