WAKE UP KICK ASS: WUKA PERIOD ACTIVISM
Those of you who are aware of my academic background, will know that periods are something which have taken up a considerable amount of my research, activism and campaigning over the last decade. For my thesis I spent a full year immersed in literature, studies and workshops in order to break one of the biggest social taboos in our world. I’ve fought alongside and supported some really incredible initiatives to challenge this discourse. So, with this in mind I was of course delighted to partner with WUKA – a female lead startup making incredibly stylish, reusable, comfortable, sustainable and socially conscious leak-proof period underwear in the UK. I of course took the opportunity, with my whole heart, to speak about my own experience of periods, sustainable alternatives, and why period activism is a crucial campaign worth advocating for.
So why all the fuss about periods? For my entire life I’ve felt and understood a social shame around them. I had my own experiences with this embarrassment as a teenager when in my school the girls were taken away from the boys (how gendered of you) to be given big brand period endorsement, a very basic at best anatomy lesson and some awkward clunky tampon packets. If this wasn’t othering enough, separating us out, we were then sent back to our classmates who ridiculed us for being ‘unclean’, made jokes, and took tampons from one of the girls’ bags and threw them across the classroom. One person got their period and it leaked; the shame could be felt through the corridors. There was such fragility in my body at that time, such vulnerability and the period pressure was an added weight to an already worried mind.
From thirteen to seventeen me and my best friend would constantly speak in code about our period for fear that someone would crack it; checking the backs of our school skirts for each other when we’d stand up from sitting cross legged too afraid to move, carefully keeping pads in an envelope at the back of our lockers hoping it wouldn’t slide down to the one below, and folding tissue into our underwear just in case.
Over the years, we became experts in scrunching a pad up in our fist and rolling it into our school jumper sleeves so we could successfully get to the bathroom on time. To be young and trying to learn, with an added pressure like that, is indescribable.
These feelings were something I carried and transformed into period activism, leading me to university where I spent much of my BA and MA studies analysing the cultural, societal, psychological and financial impact of period stigma and poverty. It was there that I realised just how dangerous having a period can be. Around the world, across borders, throughout bedrooms and in the streets; your period can have you ostracised, leave you financially compromised, placed in exile, seen as a danger to plants, animals and new beginnings. An intersectional feminist lens shows that race, ethnicity and a combination of socioeconomic factors means that period inequality isn’t felt the same by every person; in fact in many spaces and at some tables it truly is a matter of life or death. On top of this, whenever periods are discussed the language of marketing tries to clean us up, ignore the trans and non binary community, shape our bodies and label them to sell products which are harmful to ourselves and the environment, all because they believe periods should be had and sold, but never ever seen.
And while we’re on cost; did you know that period products are taxed and considered a luxury item in many countries, but moreover, by only removing this tax on disposable products and keeping it on reusable products we’re promoting a disposable period culture. WUKA are fighting to abolish the period pants 20% tax and highlighting the disparity and inequality this causes for those who menstruate and want this reusable option. Period products are a personal choice, and many find that using a product such as reusable pants allows for a more economically friendly and comfortable option, while also having a positive environmental impact. The wonderful team at WUKA are advocating for change, and you can support them by singing their petition here and by combating period shame at any given avenue possible to you.
Sometimes my period sails comfortably by me and other times it is debilitating, challenging and ridiculously inconvenient. The conditioned shame I feel around my period has changed due to self empowerment, awareness and advocacy but of course there are still times when I have to check myself; in conversation with someone I don’t know too well, during a new intimate experience, or when I need to ask a friend for an emergency solution; the past comes forward and I find myself choosing and rechoosing my words. In those moments, I can see that fifteen year old checking her skirt, but my voice is much louder now.
In collaborating with WUKA I truly pushed myself to put my body out there, bruises and all. I adore their message, founding principles and relentless advocacy for equality, so there was no question in my heart about why I felt they were a great fit. I also wanted to work with my own vulnerability and speak up about a cause which is so important to me. This campaign links both bodily autonomy and social equality and I’m proud to support it. I am always finding ways to challenge and reclaim spaces, so that others can feel safe to do the same and I won’t stop fighting for a world which promotes positive menstrual awareness, period equality and acceptance any time soon, period.
P A P E R M A C H E M I N D
To learn more about WUKA, the amazing work they do and support and all about buying your first pair head to their website. Thank you to them for partnering on this post.
Bleeding Deadly Tshirt by Irish Artist Nessa Finnegan
