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Aubrey May

Gardner

Illiterate Walruses

11 Feb. 2020

Providing What Girls Deserve

Dear Brighton High Administration,

Have you ever gone to the bathroom and there isn’t toilet paper? The worst! All girls

have experienced something like that—but now, switch out toilet paper for feminine care. For

my school improvement project I would propose that at least one feminine care dispenser be

installed in one of the bathrooms here at Brighton High. Periods are already an inconvenience,

but especially when they start randomly and you are in class. This is important because some

people can’t afford feminine care. A 2019 report on period poverty said, “The study conducted

by Harris Insights & Analytics of 1,000 teens ages 13 to 19 found 20%—one in five—of teenage

girls surveyed can’t afford to purchase menstrual hygiene products” (Rosa). Some can afford the

products but aren’t prepared. An organization called, “Free the Tampons,” did a study of 18-54

year olds that had started their periods in public and how they dealt with it. (See Figure 1).
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(Fig. 1) Kramer, Nancy. “End Restroom Inequality, Free The Tampons.” FREE THE

TAMPONS, 2016, ​www.freethetampons.org

If a dispenser was installed it would relieve the stress on all the girls at BHS and would result in

less absences due to menstruation.

Period stigma—when girls feel uncomfortable talking about menstruation because

they’re scared they’ll be judged, considering some think periods are unclean, shameful, and

correlate a girl’s cycle with negative things—is a big problem (Barmon). In an interview with a

current Brighton High student, I asked, “Do you hide your feminine care products when you are

taking them to the bathroom? Where?” Her response was, “Yes, I put it in my pants or a coat

jacket” (Hopkin). When I asked a BHS counselor, “Do you think Brighton needs to place tampon

dispensers in the women’s bathrooms, and explain your position?” She responded, “Yes, just so

we can take care of our needs, especially when unexpected. And there will be less stress along

with it” (Shaw).

A dispenser isn’t cheap, on Amazon the Evogen Dispenser is being sold for $280.58 but

it has a mechanism to discourage multiple free vends which will save money in the long run.

According to Aunt Flow which discusses the “Dispenser Dilemma,” it says, “FACT: Offering

freely-accessible menstrual products ​increases school attendance​” (Coder). Once the dispenser is

installed it needs to be maintained and talked about so girls know it is available but also if

feminine care is talked about it can normalize it and start to de-stigmatize menstruation.

This could be a great improvement for Brighton and would show support towards the

female students. Brighton High is a great school and this could make it even better. Thank you so

much for your time, I really appreciate it.

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Sources

- Barmon, Mako, director. PERIOD Talk: What Is Period Stigma? YouTube, 12 Aug.

2019, youtu.be/d4lAelDKXNA.

- Coder, Claire. “The Dispenser Dilemma.” ​The Dispenser Dilemma​ – Aunt Flow, Aunt

Flow, 27 Mar. 2019, ​www.goauntflow.com/blogs/periodical/the-dispenser-dilemma​.

- Kramer, Nancy. “End Restroom Inequality, Free The Tampons.” FREE THE

TAMPONS, 2016, ​www.freethetampons.org/

- May, Aubrey. Interview with Christina Shaw. 9 Feb. 2020

- May, Aubrey. Interview with Tessa Hopkin. 9 Feb. 2020.

- Rosa, Shawna De La. “Report Finds 'Period Poverty' a Top Reason Girls Miss School.”

Education Dive, 21 Oct. 2019. Cited PDF, State of the Period The widespread impact of

period poverty on US students.

www.educationdive.com/news/report-finds-period-poverty-a-top-reason-girls-miss-schoo

l/565424/​.