They're Cotton-Picking Committed: Oregon Education Stocks the Boys Room With Tampons

For all you teens who read RedState, it may be hard to fathom; but there was a time in America when men’s restrooms failed to stay stocked with tampons.

Indeed, walls that bore urinals once framed cottonless wastelands, but that dark age looks soon to die out — thanks in part to the Oregon state legislature.

In 2021, Democrat Governor Kate Brown signed into law the Menstrual Dignity Act, which stipulates thusly:

Each public education provider shall ensure that both tampons and sanitary pads are available at no cost to students through dispensers located in at least two student bathrooms of every public school building.

To be clear:

“Student bathroom” means a bathroom that is accessible by students, including a gender-neutral bathroom, a bathroom designated for females, and a bathroom designated for males.

House Bill 3294 is set to become active by July 1st. So for the 2022-23 school year, boys will have access to period care while at school.

As pointed out by Fox News, the law covers restrooms “regardless of age.”

Tampons have really absorbed the spotlight as of late:

UCLA Stocks Its Men’s Restrooms With Tampons

California Eyes a Near-Million-Dollar Menstrual Bill for Women, Men and the Nonbinary

NBC: Transgender Men Face More Suffering From Their Periods Than Women Do

Is Sex Real? Do Women Menstruate? Author Gets #Canceled For Standing With J.K. Rowling

GirlPower 2019: Instagram Feminist Regularly Covers Her Face in Menstrual Blood to Encourage Women

Historically, menstrual products have very rarely found themselves front and center, period. Hopefully, they’re really soaking it up.

Meanwhile, not everyone’s psyched over boys finding ovarian accoutrements next to their toilets. That includes GOP gubernatorial candidate Bridget Barton.

She offers harsh words concerning the soft supplements:

“This is an absolute implosion of the family; it’s a violation of the family.”

The way Bridget sees it, confusion may result:

“It’s very confusing for children, and then, when they hit puberty, they have even more confusion about their bodies and have real difficulty understanding what’s going on in their world, a lot of them go into depression, they act out, and we’re seeing more and more evidence that is causing kids to become confused, depressed, and to have to act out and have very serious problems going forward.”

It’s not difficult to imagine a boy asking, “Where do I put this?” Hopefully, he’ll find the answers he needs.

Bridget says parents are perturbed over the idea of fibrous bullets being loaded in boys’ bathroom stalls:

“‘Complaints’ doesn’t even begin to describe it, and a lot of them haven’t even heard yet about all this background stuff that the teachers are going to be forced to teach in sex ed classes, in health classes. I’m hearing from parents everywhere who say it’s almost beyond belief.”

Hence:

“They’re in shock. They’re in disbelief. They’re angry. They are exiting the schools as fast as they possibly can, and Oregon has literally run out of room in private schools, charter schools and other options for kids that want to get out.”

Oregon’s hyper-focused on the effectiveness of education. Therefore, action has been taken toward improvement:

Oregon Department of Education links standardized testing to White supremacy, @JessicaChasmar reports: https://t.co/kirYIeJUBL

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) February 15, 2022

From the February Fox article:

The Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE) state board hosted a work group Monday that declared standardized testing is rooted in White supremacy and has been “weaponized” against students of color. …

The work group comes after Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill in July that dropped the requirement that high school students prove proficiency in reading, writing or math before graduation.

So the school system is worried over white supremacy, but it’s dedicated to the supremacy of white personal products.

And there’s more complexity on offer: While Oregon is fighting racism in public education, the tampon takeover and its resultant homeschooling boost is countering some of that “antiracist” work.

At least, that’s the case according to MSNBC. And like a period without the proper accessories, it’s insidious:

It may seem harmless, but the insidious racism of the American religious right's obsession with homeschooling speaks volumes, writes @AntheaButler. https://t.co/cETwck5n27

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 13, 2022