BY Dominik Drabent [HE/HIM] | Graduate Student at Minnesota State University, Mankato
Period equity. What does that entail? How can it be realized in our Minnesota communities? These questions and many more had to be answered when we, a group of seven graduate students in the Gender & Women’s Studies and Sociology Master’s programs at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU), explored the possibility to make period equity our main project for our Collective Action course we took this past spring semester.
“Why does period equity even matter?” many might wonder, especially those who do not menstruate. According to the data in Jennifer Weiss-Wolf’s book Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, approximately 51 percent of the public-school students in the United States come from low-income families, with many living below the poverty line. This means students and their families must choose between buying food, paying bills, and buying other necessities like menstrual products. Menstruation can already hinder students’ academic performance (e.g., menstrual pain and/or period stigma), and even more students miss school because they do not have menstrual products. Considering the far-reaching effects menstruation can have on students' attendance in school, this issue should have been one of priority for lawmakers in office. In addition to the lack of free menstrual products in American schools, these products are also considered “luxury items.” Thus, they get taxed. Consequently, it is not surprising that many low-income workers cannot afford period products, which are essential for staying healthy and reducing health-related risks— such as toxic shock syndrome—due to inadequate access to hygenic menstrual products. Hence, knowing that more than half of all students in public schools come from low-income families, period equity in public schools is a necessity.
Knowing this, we quickly settled on period equity as our top priority. Due to time constraints, we focused on period equity in Mankato public schools. We reached out to community members and engaged with various stakeholders to evaluate the current state of period equity in our community. Not only did we face structural barriers during our research, but we had to make many changes to our project, which is very typical for collective actions. As a result, we ended up with a shift towards supporting legislative efforts surrounding period equity in Minnesota. The local chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) had started an initiative to push for period equity in all Minnesota public and charter schools for grades 4-12. With the bills HF4300/SF4113 under review by the various committees and being heard by the House of Representatives and the Senate in Minnesota, we held letter-writing events, where local community members and high school students were able to write their legislators and ask them for their support of the bills. Due to the generosity of NCJW, we were able to supply some free menstrual products to high school students, and thanks to the Women's Center at MNSU and the local YWCA, we had access to spaces for hosting our in-person events. A huge thanks also goes to the MSU Reporter for having an article about our group’s efforts on their title page.
What was overwhelmingly great to see was the consensus with people we interacted with that period equity is crucial and that our legislators should support period equity legislation. Currently, the period equity bill is included in an education omnibus bill in the House and a stand-alone bill in the Senate. There is not much time left for those bills to pass. Therefore, we all must do something. Reach out to your legislators and let them know that you want them to support these bills. Period equity in Minnesota schools would be one great step, but of course, as a college student-led organization, period equity should also be true for college students. Menstrual products are no luxury items. Thus, it is our call to action for you to demand period equity for all people, including college students. Join the period equity movement and continue the work that many have done before us. Students United believes in the health of current and future college students and joins us in the period equity efforts.
I want to thank my other group members, Alma Lopez, Zahra Fariha, Maya Wenzel, MeMe Cronin, Rhonda Italiano, and TL Jordan, for their hard work and dedication to our project efforts. You were an amazing group and advocating for our local students was a wonderful experience thanks to you. Our course might be over, but the fight for period equity is not. It is our continued task to fight for it and we ask you to join us!