5 Reasons Why Periods Are a Feminist Issue

• Periods interfere with girls and womens’ access to education.

For individuals that menstruate, their access to education can be impacted if their cycles stop them from going to school due to lack of access to menstrual products, shame, physical pain or emotional turmoil, and lack of accessible hygiene facilities. It is important for schools to start providing more products and comfortable facilities and change their attitudes about periods to make sure that students feel taken care of while they are menstruating. Education is a feminist issue, and right now, periods are proving to be an obstacle for many individuals that have menstrual cycles attending school.

• Menstrual health is under researched, leaving little information on the menstrual cycle and other health conditions.

Currently, there is not a lot of research on the menstrual cycle, especially in diagnosing individuals with endometriosis or premenstrual dysphoric disorder and seeing how menstrual cycles connect to other health conditions. There needs to be more research, improved availability of medical support, and more conversations around the health implications of menstruation to address this pressing issue and find the necessary information to help individuals dealing with various complications relating to their period.

• Periods can negatively impact the environment.

Tons of menstrual waste products fill oceans, sewers, and landscapes every year, which signals to environmental concerns. In order to help alleviate waste buildup, it is useful to increase access, availability, and awareness of more sustainable menstrual products. 

• Periods intersect with different identities.

The question of who has a period is significant to not neglect, while our gender norms assign menstrual cycles to all female-identifiable individuals, that is not necessarily true. Girls, women, transgender, and non-binary folk may or may not have periods, therefore, it is important to be inclusive when discussing issues of periods and the experiences of different individuals’ identities as it relates to their thoughts on periods. Further, periods embrace an intersection of race, gender, class, culture, and religion, making it so that different people will experience their periods differently based on their social locations. It is not a one-size fits all approach when analyzing periods, rather it is crucial to have an open dialogue when looking at the impact of periods on certain individuals or groups of people.

• The personal is political.

Menstrual cycles are often considered a private, more personal matter in the lives of individuals that have periods. However, when it comes to purchasing menstrual products, the personal becomes political through the implications of taxes on menstrual products. Menstrual products are taxed as luxury items instead of the necessity that they are. It is critical for political work to contest laws that are discriminatory against individuals that have periods and are rooted in a limited conception of the female body in order to promote change in the pink tax and tampon tax. 

For more information on periods and Period Week with the Women’s Center, please click here. 

CFFP, Editorial. “The Case for Menstruation: The Path Towards Equality, Sustainability, and Social Change.” CFFP, CFFP, 10 Mar. 2020, centreforfeministforeignpolicy.org/journal/2020/3/9/the-case-for-menstruation-the-path-towards-equality-sustainability-and-social-change. 

“Why Your Period Is A Feminist Issue.” The Cup Effect, 10 July 2019, www.thecupeffect.org/2019/07/10/why-your-period-is-a-feminist-issue/.