The horrifying middle school classroom paranoia that your period has started fades away mostly in high school, and nearly completely at an institution like Smith. However, I think we need to do more than simply remove the stigma around periods. Smith College, which has posited itself as a progressive institution for gender and sexuality has to understand that accessibility remains a serious issue for menstrual hygiene.
House bathrooms and other public restrooms on campus are not equipped with pad or tampon dispensers. While these products are sold at the Smith College Bookstore in a spot central to campus, surely, taking menstruation seriously means doing more than just acknowledging that some students do it. If students are guaranteed access to toilet paper, hand soap and paper towels in any given restroom, why not menstrual products? All of these materials serve the purpose of maintaining hygiene, only one is more expensive than the rest. Students are not expected to trek halfway across campus for toilet paper and it stands to reason that they should not have to do so for pads or tampons. So, what can be done?
Rather than adopting a clandestine attitude towards menstruation to cater to cisgender men, Smith should pioneer by taking the strangely radical position of understanding a period for what it is; a cycle common to those with uteruses which requires hygienic care. Menstrual products, of at least fair quality (this means pads with a sticky side and tampons with various size options) should be made available, free of charge, in any bathroom on campus. Where students may do their business, they should also be able to easily manage their menstrual cycles. Similar to toilet paper, these products should be made available in large enough quantities that there is no pervasive worry that any bathroom might be completely out. This applies to individual toilets and rooms with multiple stalls.
Measures like this have already been taken at other schools that have less focus on gender equality. Since 2007, University of Minnesota has provided free tampons in all campus bathrooms. At University of Washington, a college wide program has made menstrual products free and accessible in nearly all campus restrooms. Clearly, institutions of higher education are capable of providing free menstrual products to students. Not doing so is a deliberate choice, and it sends a clear message to menstruating students about the lack of care for their wellbeing.
Attending a historically women’s college is not a safe haven from gendered societal problems, and Smith is not exempt from the widespread effects of period poverty by virtue alone. Supporting students of varying identities requires institutional action — and a fairly simple one. I only ask that Smith takes the hygienic needs of its student body seriously.
