(Image via unsplash.com)
Volunteer Writer: Emma Bowser
Email: ebowser@umassd.edu
On February 7th, the Center for Women, Gender, & Sexuality (CWGS) and Student Health Services hosted a viewing of Periodical with a discussion on the film as well as myths and misconceptions about menstruation.
The event was titled “Free Your Flow!”
Juli Parker, Assistant Dean of Students since 2013 and the Director of CWGS since 1995, organized the event to expand students’ knowledge of menstruation and menopause.
Erica Botelho, DSN, and Victoria Santos, BSN, MHA, were at the event to answer students’ questions and guide discussions about reproductive health.
Periodical is an unrated documentary released in 2023 by XTR, a “premium global nonfiction entertainment studio” that creates documentaries, podcasts, and TV series. Their other notable works include They Call Me Magic, Ascension, and 76 Days.
The company began in 2019 and “has produced and financed over 80 documentaries” since then. They have also created Documentary+, a free streaming service for documentaries available for AppleTV, Roku, and iOS.
IMDb describes Periodical as “an eye-opening documentary.” The film covers multiple issues directly related to menstruation, societal expectations, and values surrounding it.
One of the primary focuses of the film was the tax that twenty-one states in the USA put on products for menstrual hygiene, also called “period products.”
This tax has been wittily nicknamed the “tampon tax.”
“One in five girls has missed school because of her menstruation in the United States” because they are unable to stay clean or even feel comfortable while they are menstruating at school due to the inaccessibility of period products.
Activists are working to get rid of the tampon tax because period products are not optional unless someone is comfortable with free bleeding, “when you don’t do anything to block or collect your period blood.”
When someone free bleeds, the blood is left to be absorbed by their underwear and bottoms. Because most people don’t want to wash blood out of their clothes, this method is often accompanied by the use of period underwear.
It isn’t the most subtle method of menstruation management, as Kiran Gandhi demonstrated when she ran the London Marathon in 2015. Gandhi was featured in the documentary for this reason.
Period underwear is specifically designed to reduce the amount of blood that needs to be cleaned up. It’s more absorbent than regular underwear and typically has a waterproof layer to prevent the blood from soaking into the wearer’s clothes.
Aside from free bleeding, Periodical discusses the lack of awareness surrounding menstruation and menopause.
Many people consider both topics to be inappropriate for conversation or discussion.
Even though society avoids talking about menstruation, the same cannot be said for the apps and online resources many people turn to in order to understand their bodies better. Many people track their periods one way or another, and the available apps to do that have only been increasing.
The problem is that the people using these apps are unaware that their information is being shared with other parties.
“HIPAA is only for your doctors and for your nurses. I think apps just don’t fall under such act, such a protection,” Lino Lyte Plioplyte, Periodical filmmaker, warns.
While the companies producing these apps may claim to protect your privacy, there are currently no laws or regulations in the USA that hold them accountable. In fact, some states allow the information that these apps collect to be used in a court against someone who is suspected of having an illegal abortion.
For many people, this is the unfortunate downside to being able to track and predict their periods and reproductive health conditions effectively.
Luckily, there is Clue, a period tracking app based in the European Union. Information put into the app is protected by the European Union’s privacy laws, making it a safer alternative to apps developed in the USA.
After the film ended, Botelho and Santos answered students’ questions and provided more information on how different period products and birth control methods work. A model and sample products were used for demonstrations.
Student Health Services provides multiple reproductive health services and encourages students to call or make an appointment if they have any questions or concerns.
CWGS continues to offer free period products for students in need. They currently have various sizes of menstrual cups, pads, tampons, and period underwear. Parker assures students that all tampons are certified organic cotton and free from harmful chemicals.