"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.

It's interesting to read a range of views on this, particularly women who have been in poverty. I can see that not being able to afford sanitary towels is an issue for some women and girls - who wants to use toilet paper, especially when you have a heavy flow?

I don't have any objection to people giving out free sanitary towels and tampons. I still object, though, to the term "period poverty": it's poverty, full stop. I am also enraged at the patronising idea that women need to buy chocolate, crisps and DVDs during their period.

With the question about buying new underwear vs washing it, I do realise that washing, either in a launderette, or in a home washing machine, can be costly. On the other hand, you can easily fit five pairs of knickers in with your regular wash, can't you? They don't take up a lot of space.

The only essentials on that list are the sanitary products and the painkillers. And generic paracetamol, as Marguerita has pointed out, is very cheap.

You aren't in water or fuel poverty, and live in a warm dry house.

Charities use terms such as 'period poverty' because a lot of people don't give a shit about poverty.

My mother’s generation were far more resourceful about this. They used folded rags - they couldn’t afford toilet paper, newspaper was used in the outside midden, and tampons weren’t commercially available until at least the 1930’s.
Blood is best washed in cold water to stop it coagulating in the heat and bonding permanently to the fabric, so there was no laundry cost for hot water or machines. The rags were pounded with a poss stick in a tub of cold water, dried in the sun on a line and reused. Cost zero.
I’m not advocating this, by the way- I think we should pay benefits high enough to cover basic living costs rather than humiliating women with handing out charity sanpro.
But until that day arrives, there is no need to use toilet paper, or get into debt for commercial sanpro if you’re in poverty. Just learn from your elders, who lived in genuine poverty unimaginable to modern youngsters.

Still not buying into the list, it isn’t realistic and trivialises what is a very different experience for many people. Periods are not a time when the world stops and we sit around scoffing chocs and reading magazines, wasn’t for me anyway.
Surely the bigger issue around periods and girls missing school is the normalising of period pain and that we need to learn to live with it. Endometriosis is under diagnosed and poorly managed, this is where we need to be focusing to help all girls not only those in poverty. PMT is mocked but it is real and confusing for those trying to manage severe symptoms, how about a schools programme supporting girls with managing PMT symptoms.

Bloodied knickers are best washed in cold water. A pair of knickers left to dry on a clothes horse or an off radiator will dry without the need for any heating.

I agree the list of necessary items is insulting and makes it easy to dismiss the issue entirely. I always thought the term ‘period poverty’ was to highlight one of the facets of poverty that people might not think about. You hear about food and fuel poverty etc, but to me pp just highlights that some people are so poor, this is an issue they experience.

Accepting it as a discrete issue allows you to tackle it specifically, ie hand out Sanpro to those in need. Of course it doesn’t stop them being bloody poor, it stops them leaking blood on themselves. Free school meals ensure they aren’t hungry, it doesn’t stop them being poor or cold at home.

Obviously a better option would be to ensure everyone had enough money to pay for necessities. The problem is that this is much more complex issue and leads to questions of prioritizing and budgeting (even a lot of ‘non-poor’ people have to do this). It is easier to look at some of the symptoms of being poor and address those than it is to address the root cause.

I don’t object to paying for Sanpro personally. We need food and water etc to survive, but nobody is handing those out for free. There are far more expensive things I object to having to pay for (like glasses). I do, however, object to it being subject to VAT.

When I started my periods (about 12/13) I was living in a very abusive household. My mother would scream at me if I had used "her" sanitary products. I had to make sanitary pads last, which was disgusting and so unhygienic. I resorted to tissue paper where I could but then I would get moaned at for using lots of tissue. I was in a very abusive household and what I would have given to have access to products.

My dad (separated from my mother) would never discuss such "gross" things, so I couldn't even turn to him. I don't know how I managed to survive through periods but I know I missed school lots, probably smelt very bad and my periods were always so painful. Eventually I had help from friends parents so feel lucky in that sense. I know my experience was more due to neglect /abuse rather than poverty but it still feels relevant (sorry if its not)

So from my experience, the idea that these products become available VIA gp and schools etc would be brilliant. It would be a start!

Even if they don't become "free" products, why not become part of essential items for those on low incomes? Just the same as people relying on benefits to survive also have added help (free schools meals, dental care etc)

It should be a right that every woman/girl has access to sanitary products, whether free or low cost.

Back in the 1970s, Gloria Steinem observed, "if men could menstruate, all 'sanitary products' would be free - & men would brag about how much they bled & how long, & they'd also complain endlessly about how much it hurt." True then, true today

I remember reading this in the 80s with a bunch of women I was part of an informal consciousness-raising group with and us all doing "I bleed so much I have to use tampons this long" impersonations - with hands held eight inches to one foot apart.

alaria that sounds awful

What the fuck is that list about? Yeah, because when women are on their period they sit around eating chocolate and reading magazines and that is like, totally essential.

I have heavy flow and "double up" with pads and tampons for most of my period. It costs £3 a month. I don't buy the branded stuff, I buy whatever's on offer. I have never been too poor to buy sanitary towels and tampons specifically, but only because I could use a food bank for food and toilet rolls leaving me a few quid for sanitary items. Was I not in period poverty? I believe I was I just made a choice to get my food from elsewhere and prioritise sanitary wear. Just as there have been times I have had to prioritise nappies and formula milk over clothes etc.
Poverty is a combination of choices (eating or heating anyone?) and unfortunately sometimes that means women and girls don't get their vital sanitary items, as part of poverty and/or abuse.
I think if a teenage girl does not have sanitary items there are bigger things at play, her parents priorities etc. There is also a difference between being able to pay for something and being able to afford it. I don't think many people cannot pay for these items if they are in control of their own money, it's whether or not they can afford them. Nobody should have to choose between food bank food or food bank sanitary wear. Nobody should be using food banks at all.

When I was growing up we had a large plastic jug in the bathroom for soaking bloody knickers in.
Mum normalised it.

Sanpro has come down in cost considerably, there only used to be a couple of brands and no supermarket own brands.

But if you haven't got the bus fare to get to a big supermarket and only have access to the corner shop or an overpriced express supermarket then the costs are right back where they used to be.

@MargueritaPink

That list is shocking and makes a mockery of the whole issue

I don't eat chocolate or crisps
My underwear costs £3.50 to replace (thanks primark)
Pain relief is 35pence or on prescription for something stronger than ibuprofen/ paracetamol.
Sanitary wear coats nowhere near that (shop own brands, not value)
The magazines etc. Just trivialises the whole thing. That is an embarrassing list, honestly, and makes the whole thing seem ridiculous.

What it misses is that women aren't choosing between chocolate and magazines or sanitary wear they are choosing between bread and milk or sanitary wear. Nobody is expecting £20 ish quid to enjoy spending on magazines and snacks 🙄

Slightly off topic but if anyone is suffering from really heavy periods, you can get 20 maternity pads in Tesco (near the baby stuff) for £1.50. They have been a godsend for me and are much more absorbant than anything else I have tried.

Toilet roll probably costs more than basic sanpro anyway? It's hardly an economy.

I know some people do have a very heavy flow, but equally as many will have average or light flow and need hardly anything.

I get through a one pound fifty box of tampons every three months or so.

Just for those with heavier flow - I have found that my bamboo/microfiber washable pads are SO much more absorbing than disposable pads. I actually get 4 hours use our of the maxi ones on my worst days (used to have to double up tampon and pad and still change every 2 hours), and combined with washable period pants I can go 8 hours overnight without major leaks. Seriously life changing.
As a teen I remember being given money to buy pads, butwe lived a 45 minutes walk from the nearest shop, so it was hard to get hold of pads. For some reason my parents never bought me supplies with the weekly shop, and as my mother had had a full hysterectomy, I couldn't use hers.

Chocolate/sweets/crisps - £8.50 · Other (magazines/toiletries/DVDs etc.) – £7

FFS. This is a minimising distraction from the fact that menstruation brings medical needs. It's not a cutesy distraction to be managed by chocolate and chickflicks.

Just for those with heavier flow - I have found that my bamboo/microfiber washable pads are SO much more absorbing than disposable pads.

YY. A couple of folded facecloths or a towel cut up work well too.

Oh yes I've used a face cloth flannel a couple of times! Brilliant except when it wrinkles, and I had to keep checking it was still in place which is awkward.
I used hockey socks in desperation at school a couple of times.

Toilet roll probably costs more than basic sanpro anyway? It's hardly an economy

It's more easily appropriated from public facilities though.

Yep, didn’t want to say but that’s how it’s done when you can’t afford to use wodges of your own loo roll.

I don’t even spend £5 a month! What are people buying that costs so much

Maybe they have different periods to you - very heavy, or heavy and irregular. I've had some that last for weeks.

The emphasis on chocolate and magazines etc. is cringe. Making it sound exciting, like some sort of special event. I might start to think someone who has never had a period ie a man would come up with patronising shit like that.

Taking up some points already made I also feel that, due to social media, nowadays it’s all about what you say rather than what you do. We see this a lot-people want blood when someone says something a bit non-PC or loses their temper, for instance. That person could be overall a person who does good but all that good action is cancelled out by one unpopular comment-nope, they’re awful and need to get in the sea etc

It’s all about appearing to say the right thing (Labour women’s officer with period poverty reference written on hand) and I actually do wonder if some younger people now think that commenting on social media=activism.