This week pharmacies in Catalonia are handing out a free menstrual cup, menstrual panties or a pair of cloth pads in an initiative that is part of the campaign to facilitate access to reusable menstrual products. After years of ignorance, it is an exercise in empathy and also in the search for equality. It is a step, of course. But I would like to believe that not everyone thinks that women’s rights are vindicated by the 8M, wearing a purple t-shirt and making noise. There is life beyond March, believe me.
Last year, on the occasion of Women’s Day, I participated in a debate with other journalists in which we talked about the challenges we face every day, the gender perspective and other issues of this holy profession. And among the many statements came the anecdote of a colleague who one day had to explain to a colleague what a menstrual cup was in order to be able to write, with all four hands, a report on the market for feminine hygiene products. Far from being an anecdote, which it is and a very good one, it reveals how much ignorance there is still about such a domestic and routine issue for us women.
And what is not known, nor thought about. Who is going to focus on making pads, menstrual cups or panty liners cheaper if no one knows how much they cost, if whoever makes the decisions that affect us does not make this purchase every 28 days? It is an example of how important it is that the gender perspective, applied by whoever applies it, overlies the policies exercised by the authorities. Beyond a label, knowing each other to understand each other should be the mantra that should guide our politicians, regardless of their color. To all. That “I who have daughters, I who have sisters…” is not valid. And if they don’t have them, won’t they make an effort to understand them? What’s the point of having them if you don’t make an effort to understand them?
Renaturalizing the playgrounds so that they do not respond only to one student archetype (the child who likes football) as proposed at the Ballester Fandos school in València is to apply that egalitarian perspective; It is also important to design buildings without nooks and crannies so that women can enter calmly when they get home or allow night buses to stop at their request to bring them as close as possible to their destinations. We cannot deny that there is more consciousness, more equality, but we cannot deny that there is still a lot of malicious retrograde going around.
Recently a man followed me, at night, coming home. I started running and stood next to a girl who seemed to be heading the same way. He understood me the first time and her company saved me or gave me the calm that she had not found walking alone. They call that sorority, but we must all try to go further. For everyone to learn how much one, two, or a pack of pads costs, it would be a gesture. Let’s ask for more.
PS: They cost between 0.20 and 0.35 euros per unit. Do the sum.
