"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.

I agree that the stuff about chocolates and DVDs is awful.

But it is true that lack of access to toilets and sanpro prevents girls going to school in some countries and that women in the west only really started to participate in sport/politics/work on equal terms with men in the 70's/80's after the development of more efficient sanpro.

I really wouldn't minimise the effect of periods on women. Your life is limited if you are relying on wodges of toilet paper.

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

That is entirely on topic and really useful information. Someone who has had a child might know that but I bet most childless women and girls short of cash wouldn't think of that. Actually I didn't think of that when I had really heavy periods.

Posters saying that it’s ok, pants are easy to wash and dry are spectacularly missing the point.

At one point in my teens, I had one pair of jeans. One. And one school skirt. No other bottoms. And 4 pairs of pants. That’s it. We had no washing machine, so had a trip to the launderette each weekend where we could afford 2 loads of washing and drying. For a family of 5.

When I had my period, due to lack of adequate sanpro, I could easily go through 3 pairs of pants in a day. Yes, it’s quick and easy to wash them out in the sink (and I had to do this each week anyway, as I didn’t have enough clothes to last until the next wash), but no so easy to dry overnight in an unheated place that is so damp it is literally rotting, with water regularly runnning down the walls. There was many a time I had to put on cold, wet underwear the following morning, which then made using the requisite wodge of toilet paper all that much trickier...

This wasn’t occasionally, it was every month. For years.

There was no convenient supermarket nearby, just expensive corner shops, so no easy and cheap way to get more sanpro. And, tbh, there really wasn’t often even a spare 50p. We all regularly went without meals. There was no profligate spending by my mum, no neglect or abuse, just absolutely no money.

I have no doubt there are families in the same situation now. It is horrible, and if sanpro can be made available to those who are in a similar situation, and awareness raised of just how miserable it can be having this monthly ordeal, then I’m all for it.

Yes, of course the ideal situation is that people are actually given enough money to manage every day life with. But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. If articles and advertising about period poverty make people think a little, and drop the odd item into food bank collections along with the beans and pasta, all well and good. This is one area where very little outlay can immeasurably improve someone’s life.

Merrymouse where did you get that gem from- which pads empowered women in the 70s/80s ? Did they have wings so they could fly?
Supplementing pads with other materials is an inconvenience not life limiting. Dysmenorrhea,vomiting, horrendous mood swings and exhaustion are life limiting and all part of the ‘period experience’ that is often overlooked.

I envision the planning session thusly:

"Women want equal pay? They actually want pay equal to a man?

"Yes, sir."

"Men have families to support. What do women need money for?"

"Well, they're bleeders, sir."

"Give 'em free stuff to stop the bleeding."

finis

10 years of menorrhagia on my part. Had to change a heavy flow tampon every 2 or 3 hours on the first couple of days, and sometimes wear a pad as well. Threw out lots of clothing that stain remover, lemon juice, cold water or sun didn't work on.

I know how much this costs.

Don't tax sanpro. Make it affordable. Make it accessible and shame free for lower income.

DON'T pretend it's the real issue. Being a woman costs more from dry cleaning to hair to clothing.

I know they aren't the answer to everything, particularly for younger girls. But I would love for a charity to give a mooncup to every woman and girl in the UK. They shoudl feature in freshers' packs as much as Anadin and condoms, and be covered in The Period Talk that happens in schools

I agree that the ‘alternative’ forms of sanpro should feature in period talks, freshers packs etc.

I have had to research different types as my eldest dd went through puberty - she is learning disabled and struggled with personal hygiene. She now uses Thinx pants, which are an absolute godsend for her, and mean she can be practically independent again in the bathroom, even when she has her period - another small step towards a more dignified life.

I donate to The Red Box Project.

Www.redboxproject.org

I grew up in poverty. My mum refused to believe me when I started my period at 8. Even my blood stained pants weren't enough to convince her. I was on my own.

I used to stuff a sock with toilet roll to make a pad and then use another sock to tie it round my pants. At school we had to wear skirts and I didn't have any tights for school, only socks. Now, can you imaging an 8 yr old trying to play, do cartwheels, get changed for PE (in the classroom in front of boys) and fully participate with confidence?

Yes I got by. But not unscathed. I have chronic low self esteem. Feeling worthless because literally no one cared for me or about me. If one person had helped me, it could have made a massive difference for me.

Does this meet a threshold for neglect? I wouldn't have thought so.

Does this meet a threshold for neglect? I wouldn't have thought so

Yes, it absolutely does

which pads empowered women in the 70's and 80's

The ones that didn't involve wearing a belt. The ones that worked without leaking.

Not being able to use a tampon would have been life limiting for me - No swimming, having to change padding every hour or so. I have always had to use both internal and external products and I have never thought of myself as somebody who has particularly heavy periods.

If you are arguing that tampons harm the environment, fine. The moon cup was invented in 2001.

And if you think 'life limiting' is too dramatic, I'm not comparing having a period to having a serious disability. However the accumulation of all the little things that women are expected to cope with as normal - periods, pregnancy, menopause - are a barrier to participating on equal terms with men if they aren't taken into account when e.g. working out what toilet facilities are needed in a building.

I think having free Sanpro in schools and colleges is a really good idea (one of the better ones by SNP) but better still would be free menstrual cups /washable pads / period pants as they definitely save a lot of money in relatively short space of time

This thread has descended into appalling transphobic bigotry, what with mocking the list of requirements by pointing out the period items that are inclusive to transwomen, like chocolates and magazines.

The ones that didn't involve wearing a belt. The ones that worked without leaking

I had The Talk in the mid 1980s, and every girl in our year was given a pack of sanitary towels to take home. I opened them in my bedroom and sobbed at the thought of using these mattresses. Fortunately by the time I needed them 5 years later, they had become thinner and far more wearable and discreet especially under the dreaded gym knickers

Don't tax sanpro. Make it affordable

There is no option re tax but possibly that will change after March. Most supermarkets following Tesco's lead are absorbing the VAT.

Sanitary protection is cheap. Probably far cheaper in real terms than it has ever been. Tesco and other supermarkets are selling their own products at 23- 50p. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the same as I was paying in the mid-70s.

Reminds me of this

edition.cnn.com/2018/10/03/health/uk-period-poverty-asequals-intl/index.html

Author is a TRA, middle class, husband (now a transwoman) went to Bradfield, Class War activist.

It's not real, it's just middle class wallies playing at being poor.

@theswaggyotter. I totally agree with you. Would be a shorter term expense as well as benefiting the environment.👍

edition.cnn.com/2018/10/03/health/uk-period-poverty-asequals-intl/index.html

I found that almost as annoying as the chocolate article. Firstly, the involvement of Daisy (not famous for anything except being famous and I've been out of the press lately so a bit of public SJW hand wringing won't harm me ) Lowe.

I don't find the person quoted very credible. You can make dinner for four people for £1
Aside from that being doubtful and sanitary products being a lot less than £1 if she was resourceful enough to make dinner for 4 for a £1, she might have been resourceful enough to make pads out of outgrown children's clothes, old clothes.

she kept the problem a secret out of shame and an ingrained belief that periods are taboo. She now campaigns to make sure women don't experience the same challenges

"I think there's a part of every menstruator on this planet who is still a 12-year-old who's just spotted blood on their crotch and is so desperately ashamed of that."

I've said this before but if there is a taboo about periods then it isn't helped by a self-
declared feminist coming out with validating rubbish like this. (Assuming that is what she said, which I'm sceptical about)

Just to get back to the politics of this (although realise many will know this) one of the problems is the tax imposed on sanitary products. Thanks by the way to the EU ... And using we Brexit the tax can be lifted. Not sure if any party has promised to do this.

In the meantime, following protests, the tax from sales goes to the Tampon Tax Fund. It doesn't seem that many local groups, eg supporting women living in poverty get any of the money, but in the last round of funding Rape Crisis got over £1 million - for a digital project not helplines...

www.gov.uk/government/news/women-and-girls-set-to-benefit-from-15-million-tampon-tax-fund

This might be the Brexit benefit I've been searching for....!

I'm surprised you needed to search - that Tampon Tax can be abolished immediately on Brexit has been posted about many times on MN.

IIRC the MN thread about where proceeds of the tampon tax died a rapid death because of posters saying that as the tax shouldn't exist, there should be no co-operation with the consultation about where it should be spent.

The spending decisions were made based on the views of those who did respond, and I think it's one of those cases where if you didn't take part, you don't get to criticise the outcome.

Up until November i had extremely heavy periods due to a fibroid, which i've had removed, along with my endometrium.

I don't recognise these figures - i used a mixture of Bodyform nighttime pads which i got from Savers for about 89p, Kotex nightime maxi pads for about £1 and sainsbury's own for about 60p. Lidl's maxi incontinence pads are about £1.

The spending decisions were made based on the views of those who did respond, and I think it's one of those cases where if you didn't take part, you don't get to criticise the outcome

I was aware of the tampon tax; vaguely aware if I joined up the dots that it was an EU thing therefore could be abolished post-Brexit; unaware of the myriad posts about this on MN; and completely unaware of the consultation on how to spend the tax money. I'm not in the UK, so do miss some of these things - but I don't think that this means I can never comment on it