Tag: Tampons

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Maine Politician Argues Against Guaranteeing Tampons And Pads For Incarcerated Women


Earlier this month, legislators in Maine voted on a bill amendment that would guarantee incarcerated people access to menstrual products. It’s a good idea: While a federal law ensures that federal prisons offer free pads and tampons, that’s not the case at state and local facilities, where supplies are often limited and women are forced to either devise their own solutions or scrounge together funds to purchase the items at commissary.

However, four Republicans balked at the proposal and voted against it. Here’s how State Representative and Dixfield Police Chief Richard Pickett put it, according to a reporter who was on the scene: incarcerated women shouldn’t get more access to menstrual products because “the jail system and the correctional system was never meant to be a country club.”

Alex Acquisto, a statehouse reporter for The Bangor Daily News, quoted Pickett in a tweet. Per his account, Pickett argued that women already have all the menstrual products they need.

“Quite frankly, and I don’t mean this in any disrespect, the jail system and the correctional system was never meant to be a country club…. [T]hey have a right to have these and they have them. If that wasn’t the case, then I would be supporting the motion, but they do,” Pickett said, as cited in a tweet from Acquisto.

Unless the tampons and pads are gold-plated, we have no idea what would compel Pickett to reference a “country club” in the same context as comprehensive access to menstrual products. Tampons and pads are medical supplies, and women deserve to receive adequate care while they’re incarcerated, plain and simple. The harder these products are to access, the more common it will be for women in prisons to face serious health issues. This has been an ongoing fight, with one recent report uncovering instances in New York in which women resorted to trading sexual favors for pads.

According to the Press Herald, several jails in Maine already provide free menstrual products, but incarcerated women have to request them. The proposed legislation would make the pads and tampons more freely available, and there would be no limit on the number that women could have at one time.

Whitney Parrish, a director at the Maine Women’s Lobby, broke it down for critics, according to the Maine Beacon.

“You’re given a limited supply of menstrual products per month, often of low quality due to cost saving, and when you run out, you’re out…. You may have no money to go to commissary, and if you do, you may have to weigh that purchase against other necessities, like making phone calls to your children or attorney. You are forced to make the impossible decision of constructing your own menstrual products, using anything from clothing or notebook paper in place of a tampon,” she said.

Luckily, most saw it as Parrish does. A 6-4 vote allowed the bill amendment to advance, proving that most people understand that basic women’s health care isn’t a luxe perk. It’s a human right.



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Virginia Prisons Are Banning Female Visitors From Using Tampons


A new policy brought forward by the Virginia Department of Corrections, which says women cannot wear tampons if they are visiting an inmate, is raising eyebrows of many who believe it to be a violation of privacy and health rights.

Beginning next month, any woman visiting an inmate at one of the state’s prisons will be barred from wearing a tampon or a menstrual cup. Instead, they will be offered menstrual pads.

The department says that the rule is necessary in an attempt to cut down on contraband entering the prison. “If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything hidden inside a body cavity,” Department of Corrections spokesperson Lisa Kinney told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “There have been many instances in which visitors have attempted to smuggle drugs into our prisons by concealing those drugs in a body cavity, including the vagina.”

Female staff members and prisoners’ attorneys are exempt from the policy.

In a letter sent to visitors and inmates at the Nottoway Correctional Center last week, Warden David Call said the policy stems from concerns that feminine hygiene products could be “an ideal way to conceal contraband.”

Opponents of the policy fear that it will further complicate the visiting process for families of inmates. And just think about how a young woman would feel in this situation, having her privacy violated over a natural bodily function.

Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said in a statement that “a policy like this one that requires those who wish to visit people who are incarcerated to set aside their dignity and health is simply unacceptable.”

“We call upon Department of Corrections Director Harold Clarke to immediately clarify DOC policy for visitors at all state prisons and to direct wardens at the Nottoway Correctional Center and other facilities to reverse any policy or practice that limits the visitation rights of visitors who are menstruating without regard to which hygiene product they choose to use,” the statement continued.

“That’s such a violation,” Jana White, a co-founder of the Virginia Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth told the AP. “I can’t understand why we, the loved ones, have to go through this.”

Related Stories:

Inside a Radical Experiment to Transform the Lives of Incarcerated Women

Alice Johnson Is Free, But Is the Trump Administration Actually Committed to Criminal Justice Reform?



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Why I Don't Use Scented Tampons


Honestly, I’d forgotten about the existence of scented tampons until the other day, when I forgot to bring tampons to work, and a coworker generously gave me one of hers. And it was one of them. While I appreciated the favor, I was reminded that I truly don’t understand why or how these things still exist. Why would I need fragrance inside of my vaginal canal? And if someone’s vagina truly does smell badly, that’s usually a sign they need to shower or go to the ob-gyn—the solution is usually not to add some perfume to the mix. Plus, would anyone really prefer that their vag smell like a chemical-y imitation of a dewy meadow rather than…a vagina?

Look, if you’re a scented-tampon user, that’s your choice. (America. Freedom.) But we need to talk about why these exist in the first place.

Scented tampons came on the scene around 1945, which means women had been using tamponlike appliances for a long-ass time before some boardroom of men (yes, I’m just assuming it was men, but…you know I’m right) had the idea that women wanted their menstruating genitalia to smell like a bouquet of roses or whatever. And while that might seem strange (it’s not like anyone as of yet has invented a product that makes dicks smell like manly alpine wood) but relatively innocuous, when you look at these tampons through a more feminist lens, the implication is that periods should be hidden—even from yourself.

Which brings me to my next point of rage against scented tampons: No one is smelling your period. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and my hypothesis is if you’re the kind of person who opts for eau de “fresh laundry,” then you probably aren’t the kind of person who’s comfortable enough with your cycle to have period sex or let someone go down on you while you’re bleeding—meaning most likely, no one’s nose is getting close to your nether regions. And in my experience, it’s not like the scent of period blood is so strong that it’s wafting over to the neighboring stall when you use the restroom (for that matter, probably neither is the scent of the tampon). So really, the fragrance is only there for the users, to help them rest assured that no one—including themselves!—can smell what’s going on in there.

Ultimately, after digging into the history of these things, I walked away thinking that more than anything, they perpetuate the offensive cultural message that periods are shameful, dirty, or bad. And despite the boom of organic cotton tampons, scented tampons are still a thing, so people clearly are still buying into that message (literally). Not to mention that the additives in scented tampons are more than likely not great, health-wise.

If someone really wanted to invent a tampon that women actually needed, how about one laced with a drug that helps with cramps? Or one that can remind me when I have my period so I won’t keep forgetting to bring tampons to work? But I’m still not in the market for one that smells like a knock-off Dolce & Gabbanna Blue. How vaginas smell—every week of the month—is just fine.



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Hurricane Harvey Victims Need Tampons, Pads, and Diapers—Here's How You Can Help


PHOTO: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

It’s been a week since Hurricane Harvey first made landfall, and now tens of thousands of Texans are trying to cope with the colossal damage caused by the storm. Harvey—possibly the worst disaster Texas has ever seen—has left at least 46 people dead, forced around 42,000 into emergency shelters, and left over 60,000 without power.

It’s hard to imagine dealing with your period and other bodily functions on top of it all, but for countless women, it’s the reality. In the wake of the storm, securing tampons, pads, diapers, and other basics has been a major struggle for many women—especially those who are low-income or homeless. Most shelters don’t have such items stocked, and the supplies that were available are quickly dwindling.

“Periods don’t stop for hurricanes,” Dana Marlowe, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Support the Girls, told Circa. “Periods don’t stop for flooding.”

Millions of dollars have already poured into the Harvey relief efforts—and a growing list of celebrities pledging major donations—but there are plenty of opportunities for you to directly help women and families who are in desperate need of basic supplies. Here are a few organizations that need your help.

The Texas Diaper Bank is preparing for an expected 10,000 displaced families. You can donate to their website or check out their Amazon account for disaster relief essentials you can buy. If you are in the San Antonio area, the organization is also seeking out volunteers to help sort items for distribution.

#HappyPeriod collects pads, tampons, soap, wipes, and underwear for women who are low-income, homeless, or living in poverty. You can donate directly to their Houston chapter or purchase items from their Amazon wishlist to send directly to their Harvey relief operations.

The Homeless Period Project’s Houston affiliate has created an Amazon wish list and you can purchase pads and tampons for women and girls who have been affected by Harvey.

Support the Girls is sending bras, pads, and tampons to women and girls in Houston. A suggested donation of $22 is enough to cover a full kit containing all of these items. You can also send products to their Wylie, Texas, location.

Aquí Estamos RGV, a youth-led south Texas advocacy group for LGBTQ people of color, has partnered with the bilingual multimedia company NETA to collect donations for The Homeless Period Project of the Rio Grande Valley.

Simply the Basics is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that assembles hygiene kits—which include soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, and feminine hygiene products—for homeless and low-income communities. They are accepting donations for hygiene kits to send to victims of Harvey.

For more ways to contribute to the relief efforts, here’s how you can help victims of Harvey in Texas, no matter where you are.



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