Period Poverty Awareness Week
This is period poverty week. “What is that,” you ask. So happy to tell you. So sorry I have to say that there are quite a few women and girls who do not have enough — now catch this they call this — “disposable” income to buy period products. And what do they do when they don’t have the money? They use things like socks, or tp, or writing paper. Or, they stay home. They don’t go to work. They don’t go to school. Not working means less disposable income for period products. It also means it’s harder to feel their families. See how that works. So, period poverty is also real poverty. It means their voices are not at the table where decisions are being made because for them, as the old euphemism says, it’s “that time of the month.”
And if you can’t go to school, you can’t learn your way out of poverty. You gather a reputation for not being reliable. You can’t participate in sports, because hey, there might be a big game right when you’re “on the rag.” And in some cases, that might be literal. Because? No period products.
This is important to me. I’m on the board of Shape of Justice which is a local-to-me project that supplies period products to not-for-profits, WIC programs, food pantries, and schools. We do incredible work. Check us out. Donate. Follow us on FB and see what we’re up to. We’re a rural organization which is why we’ve succeeded in this model.
Scott, the man I started this project with, named us Shape of Justice. Why? Because if you want women to succeed, sometimes the shape of justice is a tampon, or a pad, or a panti-liner. It doesn’t cost a lot to be a justice worker or an agent for change. It just takes attention.
You can make a big difference by following us at Shape of Justice in all our guises and by inviting your friends to do the same and to donate. Your donation may keep a mother at work putting food on her table. It may save a trans menstruator from incredible bullying. It may keep the next Nobel Physics winner in school being successful.
Did I ever tell you you’re my hero? You can so easily be that! But far more important than being my hero, you can be a hero to every person who menstruates and can’t afford products. You can say these words out loud and erase the stigma. I believe in this project. I believe in you.
Shape of Justice https://shapeofjustice.org
Donate: https://shapeofjustice.org/donate
FB: https://facebook.com/shapeofjustice
Peace, Ann