In the mind of a girl (Diary) #Wattys2016

Paying for Periods

It's that time of the month, ladies. You get that all too familiar pain. Like your uterus is being rung out like a flannel. You sigh and crawl over to the cabinet for a sanitary product, to find...There is none! Your bank account is at -£1.25. You can't afford them.

You must go without basic hygiene because of your income. Or lack of. You can't control menstruating, your body's automatic reaction to being fertile. Believe me, if we could control or stop having periods...We would. 
The aggression and mood swings. Bloating, acne, hot flushes. Stomach cramps, appetite for anything unhealthy. If it came with and off switch, that bitch would be off. But we have no control over 'Mother nature.'

But now I have to walk around and bleed into my clothing. Embarrassed to leave the house because people might accuse me of "Smelling funny" or I might leak onto things. All because I can't afford sanitary products.

This is very much the reality for 1 in 5 girls. They skip school and work because they have to choose between eating, or basic hygiene. What. The. Fuck! What age are we living in here? Condoms are free at most clinics. Why aren't sanitary products.

I have to pay £5 and over to maintain something my body has no control over what so ever. This is 2018, and woman are still going without tampons and pads. We have iphones, treatments for cancer, even fucking robots. Why is the lack of sanitarty products a thing?

And fuck whoever goes 'Ew, don't talk about periods its gross.' Mate, if your Mum didn't have a period, she wouldn't have had you. Period. Period. Vagina bleeding. PERIOD! It's the most normal bodily functions out there. Deal with it!

In an age where equality and the 'Times up' movement is taking centre stage, shouldn't we be looking into the period poverty going on? (Yes, poverty.)
Here's how we can rectify it...
1. Cut half of the parliament salaries (I highly doubt they need 100 thousand plus a year. When there's people on the bread line.)
2. Make a deal with a sanitary product line (Tampax) to do an annual distribution at pharmacies. Woman go to the chemist and get their monthly supply. 
3. Done.

Here is something every one can do now. Buy a box of Tampons or pads and donate them to a homeless shelter/ charity or food bank. Its small, but it helps big time, trust me. If you can't cure the problem, treat it!

Of course, it's not that simple. But it isn't fucking rocket science either. Where there is a will, there is a way.

It breaks my heart to think about a poor teenage girl, skipping school or a day out with her friends because she can't afford a basic human right. A right we should all be entitles to. They are NOT luxury items! They ARE a necessity. And if you don't want to see period blood, change to fucking law and make them free and accessible for everyone! (Throws Tampons and Pads into a crowd of applauding people.)