Let’s be clear - feminism isn’t feminism without intersectionality. Let’s take International Women’s Day to examine our privileges, embrace our differences and think about how we can build justice every day of the year. Here are 67 suggestions to get started.

1. Register to vote - for every level of government. The school board can be as important as the Oval Office.
2. Learn what to do if you see someone attacked for their identity.
3. Take an anti-racism workshop.
4. Follow the Journalists of Color Twitter list.
5. Resolve to confront your friends and family when they say something problematic. Figure out your strategy. Practice in a mirror.
6. Get a full eight hours of sleep.
7. Take a selfie. Post it and tell everyone how cute you are. (Tag us! We wanna see!)
8. Find out the name of the Indigenous people of the land you live and work on - and the treaty arrangements that govern that relationship.
9. Book that doctor or therapist appointment you’ve been putting off.
10. Support a women-owned business.
11. Pick up a copy of Vivek Shraya’s I’m Afraid of Men.
12. Donate to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
13. Think of one way you can cut plastic waste from your life - and put it into action.
14. Four words: Janelle Monae dance party.
15. Write to your congressperson or MP about an issue that means a lot to you.
16. Book your vacation. Even if it’s a stay-cation.
17. Learn to make your own personal care products.
18. Join Bitch Media’s The Rage.
19. Learn to fix your car or bicycle.
20. Donate to your local women’s shelter or Planned Parenthood. Alternatively, look into volunteering.
21. Pick up Robin Marty’s Handbook for a Post-Roe America.
22. Learn about the Stonewall Uprising.
23. Have an orgasm. Hell, have two.
24. Ask about pronouns. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
25. List three ways you have privilege.
26. Ask HR or your boss if they have a policy around accessibility.
27. If you enjoy economic privilege - pick up the tab today.
28. Go to a beach or park cleanup.
29. If you’re Canadian, read the Calls to Action for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools.
30. Seek out your healing community.
31. Notice how your commute could be inaccessible to a person with a disability.
32. Start composting.
33. Watch 13th, by Ava DuVernay.
34. Come up with a concrete way to support your mental health (meditation! journaling! exercise!) and commit to doing it for 15 minutes a day.
35. Find a package-free shop in your area and stock up waste-free!
36. Get rid of that bra that does not fit. Ditto your uncomfortable underwear. It’s 2019. We should be past this.
37. Read The Invisible Knapsack, if you haven’t already.
38. Repeat after me: diets don’t work.
39. Visit Harvard’s Project Implicit and take the daily task.
40. Check in with your electricity or gas provider and see if there is a way to reduce your energy usage.
41. Look for the B Corp symbol in your day-to-day purchases.
42. Forgive someone.
43. Watch Kimberlé Crenshaw’s TED talk on the urgency of intersectionality.
44. Pick up Fat Shame by Amy Erdman Farrell.
45. Quit your bank and join a Credit Union instead.
46. Donate to National Bailout and help #FreeBlackMamas
47. Find out who made your clothes, and then become a fashion revolutionary and push for greater transparency in the garment industry.
48. Pay for your porn.
49. Find an opportunity to laugh.
50. Find a local organization supporting immigrants or refugees and help them out.
51. Learn about the racist roots of modern gynecology.
52. Learn how many slaves work for you. (Yup.)
53. Start having a Meatless Monday.
54. Sign your organ donor card.
55. If you’re American, calculate your American Dream Score.
56. Learn about environmental racism.
57. Normalize the word cis. Practice using it in everyday conversations.
58. Center fat people / fat liberation in your conversations about body positivity.
59. Calculate your carbon footprint.
60. Say so long to "lame" and chuck other ableist metaphors from your vocabulary, too.
61. Quit gendered language. Why say his/hers when you could just say theirs?
62. Be open to having your assumptions challenged. Listen and sit with your discomfort.
63. Beautify your space with art by marginalized artists.
64. Practice being kind to yourself.
65. Book tickets to a local theatre performance that centers BIPOC artists.
66. Say it louder for the folks in the back: Trans women are biological women.
    
67. Use your privilege and platforms to amplify marginalized voices, but stay humble and know when to pass the mic.

Photo by Drop the Label Movement on Unsplash

It’s still cold out, but the menstrual equity movement is keeping the heat on. It’s simply ridiculous in 2019 that people that menstruate still struggle to access supplies, pay taxes on basic necessities and navigate an industry that keeps secret basic information, like exactly what is in a tampon.

So what’s the latest? Let us catch you up.

Period Poverty

Period poverty is real, y’all. In 2018, Canada’s Global News reported that one-third of all Canadian menstruators under the age of 25 can’t afford to buy what they need for their periods. We discussed how you can’t have a period on welfare in BC. It’s not much better in the United States or the UK, FYI - and an attempt to ditch the tampon tax in California failed.

It’s not all doom and gloom. Nevada and Ohio ditched their taxes on period products, making it just fourteen states where you can bleed tax-free. U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren stood up for incarcerated menstruators, helping them access dignity as well as menstrual supplies. It’s still not enough, but one step at a time. Canadians - raise your glasses to four years of being tampon tax free!

What’s Next

Congresswoman Grace Meng of the 6th District is a leader in the menstrual equity space, most recently leading Congressional efforts to ensure adequate period protection for federal inmates. Definitely join her newsletter if you’re looking to keep up to date on legislation to enforce transparency in period products (ie. what harsh chemicals are in your tampon?).

In the New York Assembly, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is re-introducing legislation to require that box packaging for menstrual products to disclose the contents of pads or tampons. Rosenthal called out Kotex in December during a product recall (ie. U by Kotex tampons just started falling apart in vaginas).

How Can I Help?

If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and cannot believe that you’re still paying a tampon tax in 2019, reach out to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf’s organization, Period Equity. They’re organizing legislative and legal challenges to ensure menstrual justice.

Regardless of where you live, organize against period poverty. One place to start is by contacting changemaking organizations like PERIOD, the Period Purse and Femme International. They organize opportunities to get informed and then take action in your local community.

Our guest blogger Mika Doyle introduces us to Roo - Planned Parenthood's new sexual health chatbot - and explains how this can change the sex ed game.

When I was a kid, I had so many questions about what I was hearing in music and movies. I can still remember all the different — and completely incorrect — interpretations I had for what Alanis Morissette meant when she asked if her ex’s new girlfriend would “go down on you” in a theater in her iconic song “You Outta Know.”

The internet was just getting up and running back then, so I couldn’t turn to Google to figure out what Alanis was talking about. And I sure as heck never asked my mom. I mean, when I asked her what “sixty-nining” was, she just looked at me side-eyed and asked, “What do you think it means?” Awkward…

But today’s teens have seriously got it so much harder. The internet may have opened a wealth of information to them that people like me might not have had as kids, but it also dumps a minefield of misinformation right at their feet. And how are they supposed to figure out what’s true and what’s not?

That’s why it’s so cool to see Planned Parenthood come out with a new sexual health chatbot named Roo. It puts expert sexual health resources at teens’ fingertips 24/7, and it’s completely anonymous. And, tbh, you don’t need to be a teenager to benefit from this cool new resource.

Sexual Health Chatbot Available 24/7

Planned Parenthood designed Roo for people ages 13 to 17, but the organization says anyone can use the new chatbot to ask questions about their sexual health. You can personalize your experience by selecting from a list of gender options, which include female, male, trans man, trans woman, non-binary, name your own, or you can skip that completely and just start asking questions or select questions from a list if you’re not sure what to ask.

The chatbot will continue to evolve and be able to answer more questions on additional topics as more people interact with it, according to Planned Parenthood. Until then, if Roo can’t answer your question, it’ll connect you with other resources, including Planned Parenthood’s live educators through the organization’s chat/text program.

“We know that many young people are nervous or embarrassed to ask questions about their sexual health,” Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a news release. “They often go online to get information and ask their questions anonymously. It’s important that our youth receive a reliable answer they can trust.”

The State of American Sex Education

Given that formal sex education in the United States is not standardized, it’s no wonder many people grow up to have a lot of questions about their sexual health. According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 80 percent of teens did receive formal sexual health education between 2011 and 2013, but the focus was on abstinence and preventing STDs.

During that same time frame, only 55 percent of teen boys and 60 percent of teen girls received education on contraception, says the Guttmacher Institute. And the Guttmacher Institute says that, as of 2015, fewer than 6 percent of LGBT teens reported any positive representation of LGBT-related topics in their health classes. Because teens — especially LGBTQ teens — have so little access to quality sexual health resources, the Guttmacher Institute says they’re turning to the internet and other digital media for help.

Designed with Teens in Mind

The biggest hurdle in creating greater access to sexual health resources is eliminating the darn stigma surrounding sex. People feel embarrassed to ask questions about it. Planned Parenthood found that teens are still into texting and instant messaging, and a chatbot format gave them the same kind of format with the anonymity to ask personal, sexual health-related questions.

"Helping teens access trusted information — especially since so many young people aren't getting the sexual health education they need — makes this a rare sort of digital product," Gene Liebel, Work & Co co-founder, the company Planned Parenthood partnered with to create Roo, told Ad Age.

No matter how old you are, Roo is available to answer your questions 24/7 about your health, your body, relationships, and even services that Planned Parenthood offers. And can use it with the confidence that it’s back by actual health experts.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Our guest blogger, Laura Delarato, talks period sex - why we've been taught it's shameful, and why you need to start having orgasms every day of the month if you want. 

Oh my god, what the fuck!

Those words have chimed through my subconsciousness for years; verbally connected to a credulous man I was sleeping with when I was 24 years old who was not expecting to look down post-orgasm and find his groin and penis covered in menstrual blood. I’ll never forget that moment — it was disgust and shame and selfishness wrapped up in one ball of energy and placed right in my lap as I (equally shocked) sat up from the red spot.

Of course this was the reaction. We have been handed the narrative of disgusting menstruation for years; perpetuated by negative representations of the “that time of the month” through language and media spots — not to mention the sophomoric ways we hide the actual event behind blue liquid tampon/pad commercials to not offend. So when a person does have sex while they are on their period — or gets it right in the middle of sex — they are bringing along years of internalized stigma.

This is interesting. I have watched full-on murder scenes in film, the news will outright show graphic violence, Dr. Pimple Popper literally does full surgery on Instagram, but periods are gross and we should cover them up? The shame derives from a lot of places, but all of it tends to lead back to one location: Religion. Religious texts outline periods being impure. “Menstrual Taboos Among Major Religions”, in the Journal of World Health and Societal Politics, takes a look into how different religious texts view menstruating women. Menstruation has been used as justification to keep menstruators away from positions of authority (Christianity), sequester them (Islam), deem them poisonous (Buddhism), or just ritually unclean (Judaism), and many more. Of course, some taboos have been mowed down by science, education, empowerment, and female-driven companies, but a lot of shame still exists. We teach our prepubescent children to shame and be shamed by this outdated information. It’s a vicious cycle that then seeps into how we represent periods for the masses.

Period sex hasn’t really made it into our media zeitgeist. All I can remember is Jonah Hill’s character being tagged “Blood Brothers” with another partygoer after a woman he is dancing with gets period blood on his denim in Superbad; setting off a storm of awkward jokes and disgust. Wow. Okay, that’s a four minute scene that definitely doesn’t teach an appropriate response to a period. There is also Sansa’s first period scene in Game Of Thrones where she tries to hide the evidence as to not produce an heir for the Lannisters. And that scene in Friends when Monica does period math when she wants to have a baby. While period sex is not a full-on thing in media (except maybe this amazing moment in Crazy Ex Girlfriend), we are still left with these super intense depictions of just having a period. I’ll leave you with this well-known scene in Carrie where she is left unaware of her menstruation and taunted by her classmates because she thinks she is bleeding to death. Just, wow.

The only shame that we should acknowledge are the missed opportunities to have great sex because we’re afraid of it being gross and embarrassing. There’s more lubricant, oscillating hormones and major blood flow to the area might launch your sex drive skyward, and the orgasms reduce cramps!

Still feeling embarrassed?  Think about this: Period sex shame is, literally, man-made. It’s the patriarchy. Take that into consideration when you’re about to have period sex — every bit of information you’ve been given has directly correlated to a shame tactic for you to feel bad about your body. Own your body and your menses. You can even use this as a moment to feel more connected to your partner. Talk about fluid boundaries and mention your own comfort (cramps cramps cramps). Let this be an opportunity for both of you to strengthen your communication. Also, try different positions! Because your genitals might be more sensitive, you might be more interested in deep penetration. Experiment with this! And sure, it’s messy but so is regular sex. If you’re emotionally mature enough to touch genitalia, then you can extend that a bit more to accommodate menstruation.

So, has anything changed? We’re going in the right direction! We now have incredible TV episodes where menstruation is actually talked about i.e. Big Mouth’s Everybody Bleed, period conversations are becoming more mainstream especially as social media has expanded different POVs across the globe as a helpful resource — just YouTube search “period sex” and you’ll find a ton of people who want to talk to you about it. We’re getting there, babes.

I think a lot about that night years ago when I was 24 and totally fearful of what it meant to have period sex. I was so afraid. I internalized his complete lack of maturity into the intensely shameful story I had been told about my period. But, oddly, I don’t regret the experience. Of course, I wish I had better information to keep me secure in my body and push back on his offensive reaction. But that one singular moment allowed me to recognize the work we have to do to remove the stigma. Period sex is awesome. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Grit. For women entrepreneurs, it’s a quality you need in spades. From facing structural barriers to accessing venture capital to people just not taking you quite as seriously as they should, women entrepreneurs face greater barriers in making their business dreams a reality. Our own CEO, Suzanne Siemens, sat down with Toni Desrosiers, founder of Abeego. Both SheEO Venture Finalists, they discussed grit, entrepreneurship and getting it done.

Q: What, to you, is entrepreneurial grit?

Toni: Entrepreneurial grit is deciding that you are big enough to face any obstacle that gets in your path and if you get knocked down you’ve learned and are more prepared to face the challenge the next time it presents itself, even if it shows up in a different form than expected. Problems or obstacles are good for an innovative thinker like me because they represent endless opportunities.

Suzanne: It’s about believing so firmly in your business that you’ll do whatever it takes to succeed. It’s about having the resilience to keep pushing forward, balanced with the practical mindset that the business model must be sustainable to succeed in the long term.

Toni: It’s the belief that problems are opportunities in disguise that keeps me motivated and moving forward.

Q: Can you tell me about a tough time in your entrepreneurial life when you needed to dig deep to overcome challenges?

Suzanne: In the early years, we ran short on cash flow and went without salary, juggled our payables and hustled for sales. More importantly, it forced us to rethink our B2B business model and change our focus to direct-to-consumer sales. Thanks to e-commerce, that shift in perspective saved the business and is the primary source of our success today.

Toni: I’m an entrepreneur who, when I set my goals, I expect to reach them. In 2015, I reached for the stars and fell flat on my face before I could recalibrate my goals. I was forced to triage the business; I had to make the heart wrenching & critical decision to lay off almost my entire team two weeks before they went on Christmas holidays. It was a moment that could have sunk me emotionally and it took all the grit I had to get up and dust myself off. I overcame it by surrounding myself with radically generous women who helped me get up emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually to come back stronger than ever. My sincerest thanks to all SheEO Activators that had my back.  

Suzanne: Yes, shout out to the fabulous SheEO community!

Q: Is grit ever harmful? How can you practice self-care while pursuing entrepreneurship?

Suzanne: “Blind” grit can be harmful. When things are not going well, don’t let your grit dig you deeper into a hole. Instead, re-examine the fundamentals or root behind of the challenge and redirect that grit into new tactics that will be productive and regenerative.

Toni: A day is often over before it even starts and self-care is left in the dust. I don’t practice self-care well and it’s constantly the area I need to be gentle with myself about.

Q: How is grit unique to women entrepreneurs?

Suzanne: Women entrepreneurs are typically driven by the desire to solve a challenge they have personally experienced. Business is personal to many of us! So, the lived experience of dealing with something we truly want to fix takes on a deeper level of commitment, or grit, if you will. Grit takes on a level of emotional investment, leading us to refuse to give up easily and  work hard to find a better way.

Toni: As a woman, I don’t “persevere” alone and I don’t believe that it my duty to hold the weight of the business on my shoulders alone. That being said there are few people you can share the highest 5% and lowest 5% with when running a business. The dark side of entrepreneurship is how utterly lonely is can be, especially when things are not going as planned. I have actively surrounded myself with other incredible entrepreneurs that I lean on when things get tough and are there to hear my biggest successes. Many happen to be women because I find they comfortably hold space for the emotion that comes with the lowest and highest points of running a company.  

Q: What are other values crucial to success as an entrepreneur (compassion, independence)?

Toni: Value your unique thinking style. I wish I knew earlier that the way I think is a strength not a weakness. My business coach helped me recognize that I am visionary thinker, not distracted and unorganized. Once I identified my unique thinking style, I embraced it and then found the action-oriented people needed to bring my great ideas to life.

Do something, even when you can’t do everything. I believe in doing something even when I can’t do everything because every single step in the right direction takes you down a path you may never go down otherwise.

Suzanne: As a social entrepreneur, I hold compassion and humility as cornerstone values, as they are fundamental to learning and listening to others, especially from folks who aren’t typically heard. We all hold our own forms of unconscious bias; compassion will ensure you remain open to other ideas and perspectives. Entrepreneurs must be willing to take risks and make mistakes. But to succeed in the long run they also to have the humility to accept they are not always right or know everything.

It’s December! If the weather where you are is frightful, it’s the perfect time for a sweet shot of feminism via the ears. Podcasts have taken over the internet, and so often, it seems to be four white bros sitting around collecting that sweet advertiser money while they explain the world to their listeners. Where is the smart, feminist analysis? Here’s my roundup of six sweet listens to keep on heavy rotation.

Popaganda

So, full disclosure, my primary form of self-care is cleaning the house with Popaganda on full blast. Tons of podcasts advertise themselves as smart, savvy takes on pop culture. Popaganda actually delivers.

Start here: This episode on wellness and the continual monitoring of the body is enough to set Goop on fire. 

Fainting Couch Feminists

Designed for “witches, bitches and anyone who has ever been called hysterical”, this Vancouver original interviews writers, poets and artists about all the intersections of life and art. This podcast might expose you to poetry, in all the ways.

Start here: Talking poetry, periods and pussies - sounds good to me! Digging into "the right to be gross" is deeply satisfying, especially when it roots right down into taking pleasure in your body.

Another Round

Technically, Another Round is on hiatus, but there are still 75 episodes of goodness for you to listen to, and they’re on a mission to snag Michelle Obama for an interview. Trust me, you want to be subscribed when that happens.

Start here: This chatty and fun episode features all the cool folks (Lin-Manuel Miranda! Padma Lakshmi!) while compiling a gripping portrait of what it means to be an immigrant in America. 

otipêyimisiw-iswêwak kihci-kîsikohk (Métis in Space)

Two Métis women, who happen to be sci-fi nerds, break down the “whitest genre of film and television” ever (harsh but true). Packed with hilarious analysis and cool guest stars, decolonizing sci fi has never been more fun.

Start here: This episode veers from Australian sci-fi to yeast infection treatments, and features the writer and badass Gwen Benaway. 💥💥💥

Choice/less

Reproductive rights are, to me, the canary in the coal mine of feminism. Body autonomy is just table stakes for feminism, yet there seems to be a long line of white men working hard to take this right away. Choice/less exposes the human costs of anti-choice laws, in heartbreaking ways. Prepare to be angry.

Start here: This four part miniseries on the history of reproductive health and the historical injustice that came along with that starts with a harrowing look at early contraceptive pill trials in Puerto Rico. 

One From The Vaults

Being trans is not a new phenomenon - in fact, there is a rich history of trans lives that proves that the binary has always been bonkers. Hosted by Morgan M Page, Canadian trans writer and artist, each episode delves into another aspect of trans history, making all these untold stories gripping yet accessible.

Start here: This is a great history about COG, North America's first trans organization, which operated in San Francisco in the 1960s, advocating for an end to police persecution as well as for the healthcare needs of trans folks. 

Our guest blogger Mika Doyle digs into the period poverty incarcerated menstruators face every month - and how impossible dignity can seem in that situation. 

Imagine having to bargain for menstrual products every month, sometimes having to do things you never thought you’d do to get them. When that doesn’t work, you’re forced to bleed straight through your clothes and sit in your own menstrual blood for hours on end. And the people who are supposed to protect and help you mock you and call you disgusting for a natural bodily function almost everyone with a uterus has. That’s the reality many incarcerated menstruators face across the globe.

In the United States, federal prisons are supposed to provide menstrual products for free, and that includes regular- and super-sized tampons, regular- and super-sized pads with wings, and regular-sized pantiliners. But Senator Cory Booker, who’s been working with Senator Elizabeth Warren to create greater access to the products menstruating prisoners need, told Refinery29 that policies like this are “just words on a piece of paper unless it’s properly enforced.”

That’s why it’s so easy for menstrual products to be used as bargaining chips to gain power and control over inmates, Women’s Health reports. “There’s a constant negotiation with [corrections officers] to get menstrual health supplies,” Chandra Bozelko, a prison reform advocate and writer who blogs about her time as a prisoner at York Correctional Institution in Connecticut, told Women’s Health. “You’d ask a CO for pads or tampons, and he would ask you questions like, ‘How long have you been bleeding? Didn’t I give you a pad yesterday? How long is this one going to last?’”

So even though federal law states prisoners have a right to free menstrual products to ensure they have clean conditions during their incarceration, those menstrual products are still being withheld from them by people who are willfully violating their human rights. And on the state level, access to menstrual products is even worse, with many states putting a cap on the number of menstrual products inmates can receive each month. That’s why Arizona state representative Athena Salman introduced a bill in January 2018 that would provide unlimited menstrual products to prisoners, according to Global Citizen.

Formerly incarcerated people in Arizona testified before a committee of nine men (yes, men) about the 12-pad per month limit, according to Global Citizen. This restriction forces inmates to ration menstrual products, free-bleed, or face unsanitary conditions. If inmates want more than 12 pads, they have to ask a corrections officer — who are often men — or pay for them using their commissary accounts, Global Citizen reports. But, says Global Citizen, paying for extra menstrual products is often impossible for most prisoners, who earn only about 15 cents an hour through prison-provided jobs.

"Bloodstained pants, bartering and begging for pads was a regular occurrence," one woman told the Arizona state House of Representatives committee, says Global Citizen. "You’ve got to really think if you want to sink your whole month’s income into pads.”

In the UK, the Home Office proposed in August new guidelines for police treatment of menstruating detainees to ensure they are treated with dignity, The Independent reports. The new guidelines came after watchdog organization the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA), which monitors the mistreatment of detainees, revealed alleged mistreatment of menstruating people while in police custody, says The Independent. According to BBC News, the ICVA is funded by the Home Office, and it found that menstruating people in Wales and England are often held in police cells without access to menstrual products or facilities for changing or washing. One woman, says BBC News, allegedly had her clothes removed and was dressed in a paper suit without any menstrual protection. "She was left in a state of vulnerability sufficient to cause concern for her wellbeing, bleeding in a paper suit, alone in a cell," the ICVA told BBC News.

Under the proposed new guidelines, police will be required to ask female detainees (there was no mention of transgender or gender nonbinary detainees) if they need menstrual products while in police custody, says The Independent, and police need to make it clear those items are available for free.

It’s worth noting that no one in police custody or who is incarcerated deserves to face unsanitary conditions. Bustle reports that many people who are incarcerated are survivors of violence and poverty. In fact, 72 percent of incarcerated women lived below the poverty line before entering prison, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. And none of these policies on menstrual product access even remotely mention transgender or gender nonbinary prisoners. Incarcerated people are human beings who should not have their basic human rights withheld.

Menstruation is a natural bodily function that should not be penalized or shamed, and menstruators should have access to the products they need — no matter where they are or who they are.

Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash

Lunapads is based in Vancouver, Canada, easily one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Out our front windows, the North Shore mountains gaze down on a city full of beautiful parks, great culture and shiny, glassy condo buildings that twinkle against the sun and the sea. It is also one of the most unaffordable cities on the planet.

For those who don’t know Vancouver, housing and homelessness is a persistent and endemic challenge. Although it can be found throughout the city, poverty is the most notorious characteristic of the Downtown Eastside. Located just a few blocks from Lunapads HQ, it is a stretch of the city known for its drug use and deep poverty, as well as community activism and proud resilience. Many residents of the Downtown Eastside rely on social assistance to survive. This means that they have to make it work on just $710 a month.

In a city with rents as high as they are in Vancouver, that typically means living in a single-resident occupancy hotel, or SRO. It’s Vancouver’s polite word for slum. A Globe and Mail exposé of some of the city’s most notorious SROs revealed toilets overflowing with feces and needles, rodent infestations and holes in walls. Despite these appalling conditions, rents in private SROs keep climbing.

Organizations such as Raise the Rates have worked for years to draw attention to this problem. They work the numbers, showing how life on welfare is literally unliveable. A 2017 budget allotted $548 a month for rent, $68 for required costs to look for work like bus tickets and a cheap phone, $19 a week for food and just $10 for hygiene. Just ten bucks.

You can’t have a period on welfare in BC.

So let’s do some menstrual math. It is $6 for a box of menstrual pads at local retailer London Drugs. That leaves $4 for laundry, soap and toothpaste. Tough luck if you ruin your underwear or need some Advil for cramps.

So, yeah. You can’t have a period on welfare in BC.

As an company that has advocated repeatedly that access to menstrual supplies is necessary to lift yourself out of poverty, we’ve been recognized for our work in the Global South. We’re less known for our work in the local community - and that’s okay, because we’re not looking for a cookie. We donate reusables through the United Way of the Lower Mainland and PERIOD, both organizations working hard to bring menstrual supplies to those who need it - thousands of dollars worth of pads and underwear. We have donated our period boxer brief to support trans menstruators who struggle with poverty. We advocate for all efforts to remove the tampon tax and increase accessibility. We’re angry about continued period poverty, because it’s beyond unacceptable. It’s the patriarchy in its purest form.

We’re angry about continued period poverty, because it’s beyond unacceptable. It’s the patriarchy in its purest form.

To be honest, our product donations have their limits. To adopt reusables, you need access to clean water and washing facilities, something that makes Lunapads hard to use in a crisis situation. Trust us - this is a crisis situation. However, we’re not giving up. Instead, we’re asking you to help us take action.

If you live in BC, call or email your MLA and ask them to take action to support welfare recipients. If you live elsewhere, call your local representative. This problem is everywhere.

Donate disposable menstrual supplies - host an office drive, drop off products at your local food bank or call your local women’s shelter for ideas. If anyone gets squicky because you keep mentioning periods, point out that the needs of poor menstruators outweigh their hang-ups about vaginas.

Resist period shame. The menstrual taboo prevents honest and open conversation around reproductive health and the basic need to have a dignified period. It hurts everyone who has a period, especially the most vulnerable amongst us.

On Giving Tuesday 2018, Lunapads will donate $10 for every sale we make and $1 for every time this article is shared on social media. We’ll be sending the funds to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, one of Vancouver’s most outstanding feminist organizations.

Let’s stand up for each other. Every day.

Image from Flickr user AlexMH17. Used under Creative Commons. 

Our guest blogger Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez is expecting - and she's sharing her plan to ensure her daughter lives a body positive life.

The bond between mother and daughter is one I have seen exalted - and commercialized - for as long as I could remember. Your daughter is your “mini-me”, and the portrayal of that relationship has often felt fetishized. But when I found out I was expecting a girl, I was more fearful than excited.   

The romanticized images are cute, but I’m afraid of the responsibility that accompanies mothering a daughter. I’m even more terrified that I am vastly under-qualified to teach her all she needs to know about body positivity when my own self-love journey is still in progress.

So much about life feels predetermined when you’re giving birth to a Black daughter. Much of what molds her socioeconomic experience will be present from birth.

So much about life feels predetermined when you’re giving birth to a Black daughter. Much of what molds her socioeconomic experience will be present from birth. And even if she doesn’t identify with her assigned gender, those qualities will impact how the world receives her. But I have decided to prioritize on one of few things I can control - fighting to raise a body-positive daughter.

I’ve heard too many stories from loved ones on ways their mothers “toxic interactions” led to a life of self-hate. It seems way too easy to pass insecurities and personal demons to my daughter. I’ve decided the best gift I can give are the tools of body positivity and unconditional love. And I’ve done some thinking about the ways to accomplish this.

I plan to prioritize reproductive empowerment long before menarche. As dramatic as it sounds, the messages of shame and disgust will be all around. The TV shows, jokes, and folklore of our society make women into punchlines. And being twice marginalized, waiting to see what she internalizes is a luxury we can’t afford.

The most essential ingredients in the cocktail of self-love will be information and transparency. I don’t think it’s necessary to hide the hurtful aspects of the world- there are too many of them. But by informing her of the intricate process that was required not only for her to exist but her body to function properly she will have a leg up. Once you see our existence as a miracle, it will be hard not to perceive everything that comes from it as amazing.

The hardest part of her journey will be what I have to do. Having these expectations of her means I must learn to model them in my words and action. I can’t teach self-love unless I learn to reach the milestone for myself.

 I can’t teach self-love unless I learn to reach the milestone for myself.

Understanding that the stretch marks, sagging breast, and hyperpigmentation I experience are nothing compared to the process of bringing a new life into the world. But more importantly, embracing that I am not flawed because of these things. The perfect form is a myth, and I have every right to love myself with wear and tear. Self-love, when you have been “othered”, shouldn’t be revolutionary. It’s a birthright.  

Reinforcing the beauty of diversity in oneself and others will be another vital piece of our journey towards body positivity. I don’t believe it’s possible to rip apart the “problem areas” in someone else without eventually allowing that same criticism to destroy your own self-image. The human body comes in a range of appearances and forms- most often, we choose to focus on its societal beauty. I will encourage appreciation and even vanity in her appearance, but instead of being anchored solely in her looks it should develop from the complexity of her entire self. She shouldn’t be afraid to celebrate herself like I am.      

I don’t expect her journey to be quick or easy. There will be many experiences that hinder the lessons I’ve maps out for her. But that’s the beauty of it all- it’s her journey.

The stakes seem much higher this go’ round. Each kick and hiccup I feel for my unborn child serves as a reminder of what I am fighting for.

If we came into this world loving ourselves wholly, we would have nothing to aspire to. The path to body positivity and self-love is littered with challenges. But also, high levels of joy. The ability to unwaveringly love yourself despite what trends are happening in the beauty industry or the number on the scale is invaluable. It’s something I want not just for my daughter, but also for myself, and for everyone.

Reproductive rights in the US have been under attack for decades. Our guest blogger Mika Doyle shares her political awakening to their erosion, and explains why it's more crucial than ever to fight for the right to choose.

Growing up in America, I never imagined my reproductive rights would ever be at risk. Call it naivety or childish optimism, but I have always viewed abortion and birth control as such fundamental human rights that I thought the Roe vs. Wade decision was like an iron-clad foundation beneath the U.S. health care system.

But I’ve been fortunate enough to be insulated from much of what others have had to fight for over the last few decades because — without knowing it — I’ve sat in a place of privilege that hid the realities of the battle for reproductive freedom. I’ve always had health insurance. I’ve always had access to medical professionals. I’m biracial, so I can pass for white, and I was able to obtain a college education.

It wasn’t until a few years ago when access to birth control started to get cut off based on employers’ religious beliefs that I started to pay attention. I had just turned 30, and I was working for a non-profit Catholic health care system. Suddenly, a basic health care need that I had taken for granted had been stripped away from me. I was blindsided. I thought, surely America would never take steps that far back. Right?

What I didn’t know is that the battle for reproductive freedom hadn’t ended with Roe vs. Wade. According to Marlene Gerber Fried, since Roe vs. Wade was passed, efforts to restrict access to abortion have continued over the last 40 years, with the main strategies including passing legislation that restrict abortion access, appointing anti-abortion judges, running anti-abortion campaigns, and violent criminal attacks on abortion providers and clinics. So even though abortion is technically legal, access to safe abortion services is severely restricted for many people.

“Currently the promise of Roe vs. Wade is in many ways an empty one for so many people across the country,” Megan Donovan of the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on abortion rights and women’s health, told the LA Times

According to the LA Times, today one in five people need to travel at least 43 miles to reach the nearest abortion clinic. Six states have only one abortion provider, says the LA Times, and one of those states — Kentucky — might be the first state to have no abortion providers after the state challenged the legality of its last abortion clinic back in 2017. “The burden of travel is not just distance and time. It’s also money and time off of work and child care,” Donovan told the LA Times. What’s more, says the LA Times, more than 1,100 abortion restrictions have been passed since Roe vs. Wade.

What about the right to contraception? That’s been a moving target, too. According to PBS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled back in 2000 that contraception must be covered by employers’ health insurance. Then in 2012, The Obama administration required health insurance plans to fully cover the cost of birth control but ended up having to roll back on that for some small companies, Vox reports. But, as I mentioned previously, according to TIME, some people had religious objections, and the fateful Hobby Lobby decision ruled that employers didn’t have to cover birth control if it conflicted with their religious beliefs.

So are employers still required to cover birth control? Well, back in October 2017, President Trump rolled back on the Obama-era birth control coverage, basically saying that companies can just cite a “moral” objection to covering birth control, according to TIME. They don’t even have to have a religious objection, says TIME; they can just say they don’t want to cover birth control.

With major changes happening on the United States Supreme Court, reproductive rights in America are likely about to change even more dramatically in the coming years. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, 22 states could completely ban abortion, and eight other states will be at risk of losing the right to abortion. And TIME says there’s also a chance that if Roe is overturned, the constitutional right to birth control will also be eliminated. If feels like a dystopian novel I was meant to read about, not actually live through.

I am lucky that I will live through this with the financial and emotional support of my family. But there are so many others — people without the socioeconomic means that I have — who will not survive these changes. It is for them that people like me must fight. 

Photo by Mirah Curzer on Unsplash

Period pain is the real deal - so why do doctors tell you that it is just a matter of some Midol? Our guest blogger Mika Doyle digs into how sexism in health care is hurting those who need help the most.

Doctors are gaslighting period pain, and it’s having serious consequences for those who experience severe menstrual pain symptoms. Maya Dusenbury, author of Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick, said that sexism in health care has caused the “pain and illnesses [of people with uteruses to be] overlooked because of their menstrual cramps, menopause, even entering motherhood.” And the research backs Dusenbury up.

Gender Bias in Medical Research

Medical research has a history of favoring cis men. According to Broadly, doctors actually base their pain management treatment on male physiology because medical research typically uses cismale subjects and ignores medical conditions experienced primarily by people with uteruses. “Although 90 percent of [people with uteruses] report at least one PMS symptom, five times as many studies have been dedicated to erectile dysfunction, a problem experienced by 19 percent of men,” Broadly reports. And according to Harvard Health Publishing, even though 70 percent of the people who experience chronic pain are people with uteruses, 80 percent of pain studies are conducted on male mice or cis men.

It should come as no surprise, then, that most people with uteruses who were potentially able to have children were excluded from clinical drug trials until 1993, so most pain medications were only tested on cis men until fairly recently. And that gender bias continued after people with uteruses were admitted into drug trials. Broadly reported that the Journal of Women’s Health found that only 24 percent of participants in 46 drug trials from 2004 were people with uteruses, and the median enrollment of people with uteruses in federally funded clinical trials in 2009 was only 37 percent. In other words, researchers are testing drugs on only one kind of body with totally different hormones.

But the gender bias goes even further than lack of research, extending to a cultural phenomenon that dates back to ancient Greece when people with uteruses were labeled “hysterical” if they complained of ailments that couldn’t immediately be explained. Although the term is no longer used today, the sentiment persists as an implicit bias that manifests as delayed medical treatment or misdiagnoses. “It takes women ages to get treated because they get labeled psychiatric cases and that’s it,” novelist Porochista Khakpour told DAME. Khakpour said that people with uteruses “often end up being sick longer because society doesn’t hear them, or believe them, and they second-guess their symptoms.”

Researcher Dr. Annalise Weckesser agrees with Khakpour. She told the Independent that “there is a long history of not taking menstrual pain seriously and even writing it off as women’s hysteria. We don’t talk about menstrual health; young girls' knowledge about menstrual health is poor.”

Missed Diagnoses and Misdiagnoses - Because Of A Lack Of Research

Given the history of gender bias in pain management in general, it’s sadly no shock that as recently as last year the UK’s Daily Telegraph reported that there’s a “remarkable lack of research and understanding around period pain.” That means people with uteruses are suffering severe period pain for years without a proper diagnosis.

Now medical experts in the UK are recommending that people with uteruses who are experiencing severe period pain get checked for endometriosis out of concern that too many primary care physicians are missing this diagnosis, The Telegraph reports. The Telegraph says endometriosis occurs in around one in 10 people with uteruses and can damage fertility, but of the 2,600 people who gave evidence at Parliament in March, 40 percent had seen a doctor 10 times before getting a diagnosis.

Jillian Neckar told The Independent that her primary care physician her told her that “the pain was likely in my head, and I should get therapy to deal with it. They refused to prescribe any painkillers. At that point, I gave up. I was tired of fighting, so I started to believe that I was making up the pain.” Unfortunately, Neckar’s isn’t an isolated case. The Independent reports that a study published in March found that doctors aren’t addressing their patients’ psychological and social concerns when it comes to their period pain. In other words, they’re gaslighting them, leaving them to deal with their pain alone.

Gender bias in health care isn’t just about microaggressions in behavior. It can cause delayed care, missed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, and even death. If you’re experiencing severe period pain, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have endometriosis, but it couldn’t hurt to talk to your doctor about whether you should get checked out for the condition. If they refuse to test for endometriosis, insist until they do or find a new doctor. Remember, you are the best advocate for your health.

Our guest blogger Priya Shah is sharing some of her personal reflections on body hair. Priya is a Chicago-based freelance copywriter and serial blogger armed with a journalism degree, creativity, and a killer voice. She’s also a world-traveler, has lived abroad, and loves exploring other cultures.

My relationship with body hair has been an interesting one.

I walked into a nail salon, before my high school graduation, to get my eyebrows waxed for the first time after a co-worker made comments about my thick brows. At the age of 19, I waxed my arms a few days before a date with a boy I wanted to impress. In my early 20s, I went through several painful laser hair removal treatments on my chinny-chin-chin (only for the hairs to grow back after some time). This was all done because of the judgment of others, the fear of judgment by others or self-judgment.

When the hairs on my chin grew back, I went back to my old methods of hair removal, pre-laser. It was frustrating, but eventually, I had a huge realization. I was trying to fix what I perceived as flaws thanks to external influences. In reality, I just had to love myself.

I didn’t need lasers or wax; I needed self-compassion. The girl who went through several painful, expensive laser hair removal treatments was insecure and felt like something was wrong with her. Now the girl who notices the hairs growing back is strong and confident. Yes, I still take the time to remove the hairs. But I am much more secure in who I am and if I skip a day or two, who cares? I needed to go through the process of trying to fix something to realize that it wasn’t broken.

It’s no secret the stigma of female body hair is still very strong in the world we live in today. Last year Swedish model, Arvida Byström, did an Adidas campaign, showcasing her unshaved legs. While there were many people who were empowered by her, there was also a lot of negative comments. She even received rape threats.

Society’s norm on female body hair is so strong that most women don’t question it, and often act as the body police when it comes to enforcing cultural norms. There’s a scene in Sex and the City: The Movie where Samantha shames Miranda for her bikini line hair growth being noticeable while she’s in a bathing suit. This is an example of the standards we’re expected fulfill as women.

While what we do with our body hair is our choice, grooming/shaving/waxing can feel like a requirement - and really, it’s not.

Hair Removal - It’s Your Choice

Have you ever thought about the time you could’ve saved by not shaving your legs or grooming/maintaining any of your body hair? According to a British survey, women spend 72 days of their lifetime shaving their legs. It’s a serious investment of time and effort.

Of course, every woman has different body hair experiences. Some have fairly unnoticeable body hair and rarely shave, while others have thick, dark body hair and feel the need to shave more often. Some only shave when they go on vacation and others shave daily. There’s no right or wrong, but when we think about the root of why we’re taking the extra time to maintain or remove our body hair, it can be transformative to your relationship with your body.

Are you shaving because of what others will think? Are you shaving because it makes you feel more confident? Or is it a combination of both?

Personally, I like the feeling of having hairless skin and it makes me feel my best. However, I don’t always have time for it. Hair removal is a very time-consuming (and sometimes painful) task that can feel like a chore. When I have the time to shave, great. But it’s not a big deal when I can’t get to it, especially when I have more important tasks to attend to other than the stubble on my legs.

As women living in the 21st century, we have the option to groom, shave, and pluck our body hair. We also have the option to wear it au naturale.

Kim Kardashian lasered her full body and is proud not to have a single hair on her body (Hey! It works for some!). Whereas other celebrities such as Miley Cyrus are flaunting their body hair. Some are even dyeing their underarm hair, such as Cyrus and Lady Gaga, making brightly colored armpits a fashion trend.

Today there are way more women out there embracing their body hair and not shaving their pits, legs, and other body areas. Just go to Instagram to view the beautiful pictures of @bodyhairmovement and @veryhairyfaery as an example.

So pluck, shave, wax if it makes you feel confident. But if you don’t have time for it or don’t want to, don’t stress. You do not owe anyone any version of you. The only opinion that matters is yours.

As India.Arie sings in her classic song, Video, “Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don’t. It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul.”