Community members are organizing a local event to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day and help reduce the stigma around menstruation.
The event will raise awareness about menstruation, collect menstrual hygiene products, include vendors as well as hold performances by several artists and speakers such as FemCare founder and president, Halima Al-Hatimy. Attendees that donate menstrual products at the event will also be entered in a draw to win prizes.
The event takes place at the Guelph Curling Club on May 28 and is organized by Holly Mastrogiacomo, creator of Tampon Tuesday Guelph, an initiative that places free menstrual products across community areas in Guelph, Catherine Kormendy creator of Red Water, a program with services for the cycle of womanhood and Jodie Baker, innovator of Beppy, a string-free tampon.
The event sees innovative contributions from three women passionate about making a difference in how society deals with menstruation.
“Menstruation is breaking the taboos and stigmas of generations of repression and silence. There is a movement happening with free menstrual products being provided for the homeless, low income, those in prisons, schools and workplaces. Products are the tip of the iceberg and I am excited to see where this has the potential to go,” said Kormendy.
Leading up to May 28, the organizers are also screening Kormendy’s Red Moon, a short film that explores menstruation and the politics of gender with humour at the Guelph Public Library Main Branch on May 16. A pad making workshop will take place at the Guelph Tool Library on May 21.
Mastrogiacomo said when she began to collect menstrual products in exchange for a discount at her store Smitten Apparel, she recognized the crucial need and shortage of these products for women in the community who can’t afford them.
Her donations proceeded to The Bench, Onward Willow, Hope House, Chalmers Community Services Centre, The Salvation Army and the Drop In Centre to benefit many women who simply did not have access or could not afford menstrual products.
“We felt so passionate about the importance of this movement that we started supplying free products to Planet Bean, Second Chance Employment Counselling (Wellington), Anishnabeg Outreach andWellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health,” said Mastrogiacomo.
Now, Mastrogiacomo supplies free menstrual hygiene products to all Guelph Public Library locations because she noticed many people in the community use libraries as cooling and warming stations throughout the year.
Baker said prior to organizing this event, all three women understood that there's a movement towards talking about menstruation socially and publicly, while at the same time recognizing the need for it.
Baker said it is important to raise awareness of the lack of research that shows who in the community is in need and why it is important to provide these products.
“We all menstruate. Half of the population does. Let's talk about it,” said Baker.
Baker said she hopes that the event will create a safe place for the community to learn and have an effective dialogue about menstruation.
“With my specific background and now an owner of a tampon company there was already a passion, desire and awareness of what menstruation impacts are,” said Baker.
“As a business, I wanted to provide innovative non-toxic period solutions and as an ally and advocate, I wanted to lobby for menstrual equity. So contributing to the global movement through Guelph Menstrual Hygiene Day is a great avenue for that.”
