Why this is great, period.
If you’ve been in a women’s washroom in the University Centre over the past week, you may have noticed a new addition: a machine that dispenses pads and tampons for free.
These machines didn’t appear out of the blue. In the winter semester of 2017, the Central Student Association (CSA) posed a referendum question to undergraduate students during their General Election, explained Emily Vance, the CSA’s vice president of student experience. The referendum question asked students if they supported “a mandatory fee of $0.90” in order to freely supply and distribute menstrual hygiene products to its members.
REFERENDUM QUESTION
“Do you support a mandatory fee of $0.90, indexed to the cost of living, per semester for all undergraduate students, with the intention of freely supplying and distributing menstrual hygiene products, including, but not necessarily limited to, tampons and pads, to all its members who experience menstruation across campus to be put in effect at the beginning of the semester in Fall 2017 (inclusive) to be collected only from full-time enrolled undergraduate students?”
The referendum was passed with 77 per cent of the vote, wrote Lee Ann Clarke — the CSA’s business manager — in an email to The Ontarion.
REFERENDUM RESULTS
Yes: 3427 (77.01%)
No: 807 (18.13%)
Decline: 216 (4.85%)
Ten machines have been installed in the UC as well as one machine in the Bullring. Products will be available in the machines beginning on Monday, Nov. 20 and will be stocked once per day from Monday to Friday, wrote Clarke.
In addition to the machines, “portioned open stock will be distributed every four weeks to the Student FoodBank, GRCGED, and the CSA Main Office,” wrote Clarke. It may be unclear at this point why this article is in the opinion section rather than the news section, because this initiative by the CSA is so obviously newsworthy as far as campus events go. However, I felt that there was no way for me to write this article in an objective enough manner for it to be a news story. Actually, there was no way that I wanted to share the side of those who perhaps feel that they shouldn’t have to contribute to others’ menstruation needs.
Menstruation is rough. Symptoms like tender breasts, aching limbs, stomach cramps, general weakness, mood swings, and more slowly drain the energy from you.
On top of all that, there is constant pressure to do everything you normally would do — without being able to openly talk about how you feel and why you might need a break. That time of the month is difficult, and not just because we are “PMS-ing,” which people really need to stop saying — but that’s another article altogether. When you’re going through the discomfort associated with having a period, the last thing you want is to not have access to the products you need because you: forgot them at home, ran out due to a heavy flow day, didn’t have the money, or felt too embarrassed to grab a pad on your way to the washroom.
Whether you will use these machines or not, you should know that they will be a big help to those who need these products. And that’s something we should all feel good about.
Photo by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion