One Very Important Thing Is Missing from Women’s Bathrooms
Real talk: There’s one week of the month that us ladies love a little less than all the others. But getting your period is a normal thing that happens to all women. Shocking, we know. Women can do things to make their period suck less, like telling PMS to chill with some mood-boosting food, but unexpectedly getting your period always sucks. So why is it that public bathrooms provide toilet paper, soap and even seat covers, but not tampons? It’s a great question that Nancy Kramer and the team behind Free the Tampons is trying to answer.
Nancy introduced the nonprofit back in 2013 at a TEDx Columbus event, where the team is located. In her speech, Nancy said, “When a woman is confronted with an unexpected start to her period, it can create a huge, overwhelmingly emotional ordeal.” She added, “We don’t all carry rolls of toilet paper with us. Who decided toilet paper was free but tampons weren’t?” Insert shrugging shoulders emoji here.
Enter Free the Tampons, which believes that “every bathroom outside the home should provide freely accessible items that women need for the period.” And we agree. According to research from Free the Tampons, 86 percent of US women aged 18-54 report that they’ve started their period unexpectedly in public without the supplies they need, and 76 percent of those same women have improvised with toilet paper or another makeshift fix. Not cute (or comfortable), but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do — hopefully not for too much longer, though.
You can help create awareness for free and accessible tampons in public bathrooms, like at restaurants, stadiums and theaters, by tweeting out #freetamponsnay or #freetamponsyay @freethetampons with your location. You can also donate directly to the FTT Fund through the Columbus Foundation.
Do you think there should be free tampons in public bathrooms across America? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Photos via Getty and Free the Tampons)
