Sure, we can toss around blame and say that all women should schlep their period accoutrements all month long in case they start bleeding, or we can cut women a break and agree that most people only have a general sense of when their period is set to begin.
Hence why we need Free the Tampon.
All public bathrooms in America "promise" you three things: toilet paper, soap, and some method of drying your hands whether that be an air dryer or paper towels. (If you've spent enough time in a wide range of American bathroom locations, I think you get why we need "promise" in quotation marks.) Some provide seat covers, and some get super fancy and provide sharps disposal. Most provide a receptacle for collecting used tampons. But how many places tell women they care about their vaginas by giving them a tampon for free?
According to Free the Tampons, "79% of U.S. women ages 18 and older have ever started their period unexpectedly in public without the supplies they needed." The mission of the group is simple: get places to provide tampons along with that toilet paper and soap as a supply that every bathroom needs.
How you can help is also simple: they have a hashtag you can use to thank or shame public bathrooms that provide or don't provide free tampons (#freethetamponsyea or #freethetamponsnay). They have cute graphics you can add to your Facebook page in order to spread the message. And you can follow their Twitter account@FreeTheTampons.
So... what do you think? Should public bathrooms provide tampons (and let's shoot for the moon: sanitary pads too!) in the same way that they provide toilet paper or soap?
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