For men in America’s educational past, a period was an hour-long measurement. There’s been a notable change.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, students are being offered free medical materials.
School paper Daily Bruin reports:
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring public schools and colleges to provide free menstrual products beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. To increase the accessibility of basic needs, UCLA has equipped campus bathrooms with complimentary menstrual products, according to a campuswide email sent March 17.
UCLA’s going all-out:
As the first institution in the University of California system to provide free menstrual products, UCLA is stocking them in more than 50% of restrooms — above the amount recommended by the bill.
Not only will access be lent to ladies; the public land-grant research college is also being generous toward gentlemen:
The university is providing these products in men’s, women’s and gender-neutral restrooms, the email stated.
So if you’re a man and it’s first period, you’ll be relieved to know the restroom stall’s ready for your maiden voyage on the Red Sea.
As relayed by the Bruin, the school’s been serving up free sanitary supplies since 2017.
The [Student Wellness Commission’s BruiNecessities] first established menstrual product boxes in the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and then expanded to residential buildings, followed by Kerckhoff Hall, said Camille Sumilang, co-director of BruiNecessities and a third-year psychobiology student.
Since then, the flow of funds has gotten heavier:
Tayloneei Jackson, the Student Wellness commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said the SWC has been providing annual $10,000 grants to the Ashe Center to fund the supply and distribution of menstrual products previously available. The committee’s feedback on the program’s benefits prompted the university to begin providing their own products, said Kelly Schmader, assistant vice chancellor for Facilities Management, in an emailed statement.
Biology major Tayloneei noted the importance of inclusivity:
It was important to ensure the university would prioritize inclusiveness and supply all bathrooms, including men’s, said Jackson, a fourth-year human biology and society student.
The Bruin reports that “menstruation is not a gendered issue.” Therefore, “the need to provide quality products is essential for all, Jackson said.”
Here’s a bit of sex ed:
Individuals who do not identify as female can also menstruate and need access to these products in their respective bathrooms, said Light, a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student.
As you may be aware, Google agrees. If one searches “Can men menstruate,” the following is a top result courtesy of Transhub.org:
Having a period is not a feminine thing, and people of all genders menstruate, including non-binary people, agender people and even plenty of men! Menstruation doesn’t change anything about your gender, it’s just a thing that some bodies do.
We’ve certainly come a long way. Consider this 2019 clip from RealTime With Bill Maher:
What was once a novel notion is now textbook:
High School Biology Class Tells Kids Biological Sex Is a Social Construct
https://t.co/X28ELZgzrB— RedState (@RedState) March 30, 2022
Back to UCLA, as it gifts students with sanitary solutions, it’s plugging environmentalism with planned products for those whose cups runneth over:
The committee’s next step is to provide sustainable and reusable menstrual products – such as menstrual cups, reusable pads and period underwear – in line with the UCLA Sustainability Committee’s goals, Light said. While UCLA is researching the pricing and availability of more sustainable products, students may currently obtain menstrual cups at the Community Programs Office, Schmader said.
Not long ago, there were men and women. Now, we’re told the two no longer exist. We’re simultaneously informed that anyone can be either.
At the end of the day, of course, such evolution is one of language. But something more personal is occurring in restrooms across America: Amid malodorous national division, members of both biological sexes are coming together to crap.
Progress is upon us: Gender is now substituting for sex; our binary system is surrendering to a sexual multiverse. And in guys’ bathroom stalls, previously unused space is being claimed in the name of MENstruation.
-ALEX
See more content from me:
University Hosts Graduation Ceremony Only for LGBTQIA+
Yale Psychiatrist Calls Verbal Assault ‘Just as Detrimental as Physical Violence’
Find all my RedState work here.
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