tackling period poverty
katie donaghy FA5007 fashion editorial and journalism ba (hons) fashion communication
HEROES: communities/cultures FA5007 Fashion Editorial & Journalism (semester 1, 2019/20)
The brief
You will select a person or people that you see as HEROES. A community or sub-culture or people who inspire you - trailblazers, change makers, those with a unique vision, or those making the world a better place. You will produce a portfolio of three photoshoots inspired by your heroes; write a journalistic article based on them and their communities or cultures; and produce a digital, multi-media version of your story.
Your thoughts
A space for you to map, list or draw what you think are the key points about this brief.
idea 1: people / organisations advocating to end period poverty, erase period stigma and educate others on the truth about menstruation eg. Homeless Period Project idea 2: people / organisations that work within communities to support at-risk youths eg. United Borders
What you submit and when 1.
A 600-word journalistic article on your topic, containing at least two primary sources, submitted on Blackboard by 4pm on Thursday November 28. 2. An annotated research folder presented in tutorials in class on Thursday December 5. 3. A hard-copy photographic portfolio featured three different stories related to your topic (number of shots will specified by tutor), together with native Photoshop files on USB, in class on 1pm, Thursday December 12. 4. A multi-media, digital version of your story, link to be submitted on Blackboard, by 1pm, Thursday December 12
The module Credits: 20 Runs: Semester 1 Module tutor: Julie Bradford Teaching team: Julie Bradford, Catherine Glover, Christopher Hodge, Megan Jepson Self-directed study There are 200 learning hours attached to this module, and most of those will be outside class. See the module reading list on Blackboard, and work on the brief at home, the library, the 4th floor computer zone, or 013/010 when they are free. Keep up to date with your annotated research folder. How you are assessed Your work for this brief will be assessed against the following learning outcomes: >Demonstrate a critical awareness of the fashion, media, cultural and communication industries and an understanding of responsible and professional practice (pitch) >Identify appropriate research and show evidence of critical creative development and aesthetic judgement (research file) >Demonstrate experimental and/or innovative thinking in response to an identified issue or opportunity (digital content) > Generate creative concepts through experimental and iterative approaches using a wide range of media techniques (photo shoots) >Apply intellect, form independent judgement and be confident in articulating reasoned arguments (journalistic article)
How you get feedback You will get formative feedback – i.e., feedback and guidance on your work in progress – in tutorials during the module, specifically in weeks 6 and 7. You will get summative feedback – i.e. a final grade and explanation – on Blackboard, within 20 working days of a submission. Rules around assignments You must comply with specified word counts. Marks are deducted incrementally for assignments over length. See the Academic Regulations here:
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university- services/academic-registry/quality-and-teachingexcellence/assessment/guidance-for-students/
You must comply with submission deadlines. If your work is submitted up to 24 hours after the deadline without approval, 10% will be deducted from your assessment mark. If it is submitted more than 24 hours late, it will receive a mark of 0%. This brief is NOT eligible for Late Approval, because it is project work and submitted under exam conditions. So you CAN’T apply for an extension to the deadline. However, if there are unforeseen and unpreventable circumstances (such as serious illness or bereavement) affecting your work on this brief, you can apply for Personal Extenuating Circumstances via your portal. Speak to your guidance tutor and Student Central for advice. NOTE: you must apply for a separate PEC for each affected module.
For advice and guidance, contact Student Central on ad.ask4help@northumbria.ac.uk, at 0191 227 4646, on the ground floor of the library, and on the ground floor of the Business School (CCE1).
Week Date: Thurs 1-4pm
Workshop (013/010/101)
10
3/10
Briefing: photography and journalism
13
24/10
Guest speaker
11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
10/10 17/10 31/10 7/11
14/11 21/11 28/11 5/12
12/12 19/12
Issues-based features and sources/visual coding and representation in film and photography Pitching and constructive feedback/photography and film Feature pitches/shoot moodboard and timetables Digital content Tutorials Tutorials
Submission of 600-word article Tutorials
Submission of photographic portfolio and digital story Guidance tutorials
Initial Research
media coverage:
British Vogue One in 10 women and girls aged 14 to 21 in Britain can’t afford menstrual products when they get their period. Last year, the charity Freedom4Girls – which exists to help girls stay in school by providing them with sanitary towels – actually had to redirect a delivery originally destined for Kenya to Leeds, because girls in the North desperately needed sanitary provisions. The idea that in a cosmopolitan country women are left to stuff their underwear with newspaper, and that girls as young as 10 are missing school to avoid bleeding through their uniform, is horrifying. i-D Magazine For society’s most vulnerable women, extensive government cuts to welfare has left them without enough money to pay for sanitary items. They are victims of what has come to be referred to as “period poverty”. Either they forgo hygiene and comfort, or they don’t eat. The issue is exacerbated by the UK’s “tampon tax”, the VAT on sanitary products, that raises the cost of tampons by classifying them as “luxury items” much in the same way lipstick is. As destitution grows, dignity has become a luxury for women. The issue of period poverty is spreading across the UK. Last year alone, more than 137,000 girls missed school because they didn’t have access to sanitary products, with up to one in 10 girls aged 14 to 21 unable to afford them. The problem is so overwhelming that last year the Labour party pledged to commit £10m to ending period poverty in schools in England. Scotland has already begun offering free sanitary products to low income women. The UK is the sixth richest country on the globe, and while period poverty shouldn’t happen anywhere, we have the means to end this problem here, now.
on Period Poverty Dazed Magazine It’s a story that’s acutely familiar to millions of girls who have experienced period poverty across the globe. In the UK, the issue is scarcely talked about, but astoundingly widespread: one in 10 girls between the ages of 14 and 21 in the UK have been unable
to afford sanitary products, while 49 per cent have missed an entire day of school because of their period. Earlier this year, the government pledged two million pounds £2 million towards ending period poverty globally, and vowed to make menstrual products available for all school children in England by September – a promise the Torys have failed to live up to. Beyond the government’s hollow commitments, a number of charities have pointed out that far more must be done to dispel the shame and ignorance surrounding the issue, with 48 per cent of girls in the UK saying they feel embarrassed by their periods. Absent is a short film based on multiple true stories which gives a frank portrayal of the awkwardness, sensitivity and often humiliation that characterises many early experiences of menstruation. Through a series of quotidian but emotionally charged moments, the film follows the story of a young girl, Chloe, who, sitting on a school bus, is made aware of a stain on her clothing by another boy which, much to the amusement of his friends, leaves her visibly mortified. “(Period poverty) is impacting children’s education and sets back young girls before they are even given a chance”, says Libby Burke Wilde, director of Absent. Burke Wilde wanted the film to emphasise that the issue is “on our doorstep”, and to make people realise that for some families in the UK struggling to heat their homes or feed themselves, two pounds a month for a box of tampons is simply not an option.
Plan International UK
Plan International UK is a children’s charity, striving to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world.
In their global programming, Plan International UK recognises the importance of menstruation in all aspects of a girls’ life. This can be from education and health outcomes, to the ability to participate in society and economic activities, to their dignity. Their report therefore seeks to examine a key issue for girls – menstrual stigma and taboo – and expose the negative impacts on their lives and the solutions that could challenge this stigma and address its impacts.
BREAK THE BARRIERS: GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENSTRUATION IN THE UK Break the Barriers: Girls’ experiences of menstruation in the UK
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For centuries, menstruation has been a hidden topic – dealt with in silence, rarely spoken about and then only in female company – as well as a topic of shame and embarrassment. Many adverts for disposable menstrual products have a running theme: emphasising the importance of secrecy, implying dirtiness and the need to avoid social embarrassment. Nearly all commercial advertisements still use blue liquid to demonstrate the absorptive quality of menstrual products, concealing the reality of menstrual blood. Menstrual secrecy and concealment was a key theme among the girls Plan International spoke to. The anticipation of encountering negative reactions and discrimination after a menstrual leak leads girls to actively change their behaviour; for example, avoiding white clothing or abstaining from certain activities such as swimming. Girls undergo a form of self-surveillance and discipline to hide menstruation. A fear of leaking was expressed across all groups, apart from the groups of boys. Participants in Northern Ireland used emotive language when discussing how they felt about it: ‘insecure’, ‘embarrassed’, ‘ashamed’, ‘freakout’, ‘afraid’, ‘scared’, ‘uncomfortable’, ‘terrifying’. They found that younger girls were very aware of and understanding about their parents’ financial circumstances and therefore limited what they asked for out of the household budget. “By striving to protect their parents from the painful awareness of how poverty is impacting on their childhood they engaged in a range of strategies, including the self denial of needs and desires, moderation of demands and self exclusion from social activities.”
Facts and Statistics
Menstruation is an educational and socioeconomic issue across the world, not just a monthly biological event. Girls all over the world suffer during menstruation because of religious or cultural norms which often derive from patriarchal notions about a woman’s status and place in society
In July 2017, Plan International UK also conducted an opinion survey with 1,000 UK girls and young women aged 14-21 to understand their views on menstruation.
They also found that 49% of girls in the UK have missed a day of school due to their period and almost 70% of girls in the UK aren’t allowed to go to the toilet during school lesson time. The affordability of disposable menstrual products and the relationship between price and quality was mentioned by a number of participants. Plan International UK’s survey on menstruation found that one in 10 (10 per cent) of girls have been unable to afford sanitary products. It also found that: • One in seven girls (15 per cent) have also struggled to afford sanitary wear. • One in seven girls (14 per cent) have had to ask to borrow sanitary wear from a friend due to affordability issues. • More than one in ten girls (12%) has had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues. • One in five (19%) of girls have changed to a less suitable sanitary product due to cost. • 40% of girls in the UK have had to use toilet roll as they can’t afford menstrual products. • 27% of girls in the UK have overused a sanitary product because they couldn’t afford a fresh one.
Organisations combating The Homeless Period Belfast is a volunteer led campaign, providing homeless and vulnerable women across Belfast with sanitary and other hygiene items - founded by Katrina McDonnell in December 2016, a student living in the Belfast area, Katrina felt obligated to ‘supply women with the items they struggle to get access to.’ They launched a #MenstruationMatters campaign to encourage work places, schools, public spaces and all other establishments to provide FREE sanitary items in toilets. FREE toilet roll, soap, hand towels and sanitary disposal bins are already being provided in ALL toilets; what makes the items needed for another bodily function that we have NO control over, any different? They aim to reshape the conversation around periods. The taboo surrounding menstruation is closely linked to Period Poverty, leading many people to go without Tampons and Sanitary Towels during their period. Girls have missed school, women have left work and homeless people have used a sock because of the fear and embarrassment that comes with asking for help when an unexpected period arrives. No one should ever be in this situation; everyone deserves a dignified period.
Period Poverty
Amika George is a 19 year old student at Cambridge University, who, at the age of 17, started the Free Periods campaign from her bedroom to end period poverty in the UK. She was recently listed by TIME magazine as one of the 25 most influential teenagers in the world. Launched in April 2017, Free Periods called on the UK government to provide free menstrual products to all children who need them. Every child has a right to their education, and periods should never, ever be a barrier. After 2 years of campaigning against the injustice of period poverty, in March 2019, the Chancellor announced that, from early 2020, every child in England will be able to access menstrual products when they need them, as free products will be provided in all schools and colleges. Period poverty is a global issue, so they will continue to campaign for free menstrual products in ALL schools, so that every child, regardless of where they live, can have equal access to education, unhindered by period poverty. Free Periods also works to tackle the shame and taboo that’s bound up in menstruation. For too long periods have been associated with dirt and disgust, with fear and impurity, and we think this needs to change. The taboo surrounding menstruation is centuries old, and is steeped in outdated, superstition and myth. “If we tackle the taboos around menstruation, then we can come up with solutions for the girls around the country who cannot afford monthly sanitary protection - there are a lot of them, and they are missing school because of it.”
Investigating Periods: half the world has one, and yet they barely get a mention in film and TV. When they are, they’re mostly used as a means of shaming female characters. In one particularly charming episode of Family Guy, for example, Stewie tells Meg to “pop in couple of tampons” because she “must be PMSing”. Of course, it’s important that we’re offered stories relating periods to pregnancy, but the media’s connections between the two elevate the cultural narrative of menstruation to singularly highpressure situations, thereby rendering invisible the periodic experience of pain, self-care, and management. On any given day, approximately 800 million people on this planet are menstruating. Where are the casual, everyday moments of women having their periods? Where are the truer, lived realities of life as a bleeding person: the messiness, the cost, the hormonal changes and pain that has to be dealt with quietly at work and at school? The more casually and frequently periods can be referenced in popular culture, and, more importantly framed within a positive light, the closer we will come to shaking off centuries of indoctrinated disgust.
menstrual shame Bodyform’s #BloodNormal Campaign Periods are a natural part of life, so why are they rarely given any screen time? Surely hiding something so normal only adds to the shame and embarrassment many women feel when it comes to their periods. Let’s be open about it. Our #bloodnormal campaign aims to call time on period taboos. We’ve conducted an online survey of among 10,017 men and women and found that 74% of them want to see more realistic representation of periods in advertisements. We show true-tolife situations; we show blood; we show the world that the only way to kill stigma is to make the invisible visible. By bringing blood out of the dark, onto our screens and into the conversation we’re paving a positive path for women of the future. After all, shouldn’t period-talk be as normal as periods themselves? A recent global survey we conducted revealed that 37% of participants have never seen a reference to periods in films, TV or fiction, while 42% believe that periods are unnecessarily absent from pop culture. Female characters are much more likely to be sliced in half by a chainsaw (what are the chances of that happening?) than shown asking their friends for a tampon or towel because they forgot one (which probably happens to every woman in her life). Does mainstream culture create negative consequences in real life by misrepresenting a completely normal part of womanhood? A YouGov study found that the way young people perceive their own bodies is more likely (32%) than average (26%) to be negatively affected by celebrity culture. Given how much pop pop culture can nurture attitudes and stigma, it’s not surprising that in real life, 9 out of 10 women hide the fact that they are on their period completely.
Periods in Clueless, 1995. We are often guilty of periodshaming ourselves. We suffer in silence so as not to be ‘uncouth’ or ‘unfeminine’ when the time of the month comes around. Not Cher, though, she was happy to announce in front of the whole class her reason for being ‘tardy’.“Mr. Hall, I was surfing the crimson wave. I had to haul ass to the ladies.” We’ve all been there. Superbad, 2007. When Seth (Jonah Hill) discovers a girl he has been dancing with at a party has stained his jeans with period blood, he wretches dramatically, whilst the onlooking ‘lads’ laugh hysterically. Essentially, every girl’s worst-nightmare growing up. This is period shaming at its worst, and undoubtedly a experience anyone who menstruates has at some point been close to. When Kiran Ghandi got her period the night before she was due to run the London Marathon in April, she didn’t know what to do.“I thought through my options. Running 26.2 miles with a wad of cotton material wedged between my legs just seemed so absurd,” she has written on her blog. “I decided to just take some midol, hope I wouldn’t cramp, bleed freely and just run.” That’s exactly what Ghandi did. She didn’t put in a tampon or sanitary pad – she just ran the marathon and let the blood go onto her clothes.
Popular Culture In 2019, The Body Shop launched a Period Product Donation initiative in a number of their stores and The Body Shop At Home network to help create a sustainable flow of menstrual protection for those who can’t afford it.
Labour MP Danielle Rowley made history in 2018 for declaring in the House on Commons that she was on her period. The taboobreaking statement was made in a discussion about the tampon tax. The MP raised the issue on period poverty in the UK to the Speaker, detailing how much she has spent on sanitary products a week and how the cost is unattainable for many people in Britain. Carrie, 1976. Carrie was the first film to graphically show period blood. It didn’t help remove any stigma, rather it cemented it. A truly traumatic moment in cinematic history, when the titular Carrie White, discovers her period and screams to her classmates for help, as she believes she is bleeding to death, her classmates taunt her mercilessly and thus begins Carrie’s unstoppable telekinetic rampage.
Interviewing ‘BLOODY PROUD’
‘Bloody Proud’ is a self-directed project by Grace Brown, a Fashion Communication graduate, for her final year major project. The idea was to create a product that helps break the taboo surrounding periods and act as a platform to support young girls starting their period for the first time. Furthermore to help normalise menstruation and hopefully act as a talking point among families to break down the stigma. “Bloody Proud is a physical publication containing features such as an a-z of periods, real-life menstruation stories, period product reviews, product insertion instructions and periods from different perspectives. By openly discussing periods, the publication aims to make the target audience, 9-16 year old girls, feel less alone when it comes to starting their period for the first time, as they will be able to read that other girls have experienced similar situations. All of this is designed to open up conversations about periods and help turn them into a talked about norm. The publication also includes conversation cards which girls can give to members of their family or their friends to help make it easier for them to ask what they want about periods.’ Through researching Grace Brown’s work, I decided to interview her to gain perspective on the challenges of speaking to people about their periods and breaking the stigma that exists around menstruation.
Grace Brown
I specifically wanted to ask Grace about how the publication came to fruition and if there were any challenges while doing so therefore aimed my questions around this. 1. Your final year publication, Bloody Proud, was about breaking the taboo around periods. What made you base your publication around this issue? Is this something that has been important to you for a while? 2. Was there any negative or unsure feedback once you shared your ideas with family/friends/peers? Did anyone try to put you off choosing this idea? 3. Did you face any difficulties getting people to submit experiences / take part in the publication? 4. ‘Bloody Proud’ was a finalist for the Fashion Publication Award at Graduate Fashion Week, were you surprised that a publication about such a taboo subject was chosen for this or do you think that’s almost what set it apart from others? 5. I really loved how informative and educational your publication was. Is this something you wish was around when you were beginning your period? 6. There must’ve been a lot of research necessary for your publication. Did you learn anything new yourself about menstruation and periods? 7. Did you have any worries throughout creating your publication that it wasn’t going to come across how you wanted? 8. I especially loved the sections ‘Talking with Grandma’ and ‘Talking with Dad’ in your publication. These are conversations that a lot of us don’t get to have or don’t feel comfortable having with our parents/grandparents. Was it important to you to get a range of perspectives about periods? 9. My project is specifically about period poverty which you mention in the a to z section of your publication. Do you think the taboo nature and stigma around periods is something that’s holding back an end to period poverty? 10. Do you think an increase in period representation in pop culture and media such as tv shows / movies would help reduce stigma around periods? 11. I listened to the Bloody Proud podcast you made alongside the publication. I loved hearing periods and birth control pills being discussed so openly and being able to relate to different things I heard. Do you think we will ever get to a point where periods can be openly discussed with family/friends/even strangers and no one would question it?
Transcript 1. I had a lot of problems myself with my period. I went through years of not getting a period and my periods being all over the shop and getting really bad period pains. I just got to the point where I thought there’s a gap in the market for something like this. Like I knew period poverty had been covered a lot but for me, it was more talking abut periods that wasn’t covered. I had all these problems and I’m quite an open person but then I wasn’t being open about the one thing we should be open about. Originally I was scared to even tell my tutors that I wanted to do this idea. I was like “What are they gonna say? Is it too much of a wishy washy idea?” I really was overthinking it. We had to make boards to present our ideas and I made two boards, a period board and then one on an idea I didn’t even want to do and then I didn’t even show them the period board at the start. I was just too embarrassed but I went back after it was done and was like “This is actually the idea I want to do!”. 2. It was mainly Gayle who I spoke to about it. Throughout the project, more people were coming up to me and saying it was a really good idea so I had nothing that was “I don’t think you should do this”. 3. Yeah, definitely. Where to start? For the stories, I wanted to ask people in person about it but I didn’t want to approach people about it because you don’t know how open people are and if they’re having problems themselves so that was tricky because in the tutorial groups I would get stories from people there but I actually wanted to go out and talk to people myself but I didn’t know how to approach anyone. So then I sent out surveymonkeys too, thinking that maybe if it was anonymous people would be more open about it. To be honest, it was really slow, the stories were just so slow. I maybe got four ones I could properly use. So I just had to go and ask people as well like most of the stories are based on my friends. I think now I would maybe have the confidence to go out and do it but at the start, just no one wants to help. I was scared of people looking at the survey and thinking “Oh my god, why is she doing that?”. So that was really hard. But I think putting yourself in awkward situations is so much easier than not getting any results. Even when I did get stories, they were quite vague, Like I wanted people to tell me more about people’s reactions and their feelings. 4. I didn’t expect it at all due to the standard of work that was there for final year so in that way I was shocked. But then I looked at it like “Thank god it’s happened!” because now that’s gonna be on a list and I’m gonna show it at Graduate Fashion Week and I’m gonna be interviewed on it and getting the topic out there. But I didn’t really care for getting the award for myself like I wanted to get the award for the book, I’m so proud of the book rather than myself. I was like “Yes finally people are getting onto the topic”. I think if this won the award, people would actually be talking about it now. I’m looking to get the book published and get it out there. 5. To be biased, yes. In school, I can’t even remember what we were taught in school. We had one lesson and it was separate from the boys about periods and we just watched a video. I knew nothing about periods before I started, it’s only now going through it that you learn stuff. That’s really helpful. I didn’t even know how to tell mum. Even after telling people about my project, people are like “Well this has happened to me, this has happened to me” and I’ve now had all these conversations started from this book. 6. The main thing for me was I didn’t know what a vagina was. Like when I read the description when I was actually putting it in the book, it is completely different to how people actually see it. So that surprised me. Some stories as well, I photographed a rugby team and the girls from that were coming and giving me stories so that as really nice. Researching the different products was an eye opener. Even using the menstrual cup, it literally was the worst thing ever. I didn’t even use the sponge because it was too hard to use. The A-Z really helped me because some stuff you don’t know and never learn about. The survey results really surprised me, like the majority of women would go to self service instead of an actual till when buying period products. Seeing that people viewed periods neither positively or negatively, it should be 100% positive. Periods are something to be proud of, hence the name ‘Bloody Proud’.
of Interview 7. At the time, I didn’t have time to think about anything as it was so fast paced. Maybe when I was putting out the stuff and boys would see it on the internet like surveys about periods, that they would think I was weird. So that was a worry. I think my confidence grew with the book, being able to speak to people about it as well. 8. It was as I don’t think you see that at all, anywhere. You really don’t get taught anything about periods but you definitely don’t get other perspectives either. I didn’t really know anything about it either. Like I’ve never spoke to my dad about it so I didn’t know what he would think about it. When he found out I was creating this book, he was really supportive. But once I had said I wanted to interview him for it, the weeks just passed and he kept putting it off. Like every time I approached him about it, he was like “Oh, not tonight! I’ve got too much on”. That was really hard. Even though we was supporting the book, he still didn’t want to talk about it. For me, that was hard. I really wanted to speak to him about it but I think it was towards the end when I was like “You know what, I just have to ask you these questions” and we didn’t even bother sit down and doing it. We were just sat in front of the telly and some of the answers were really basic. It’s mainly one word answers that I’ve just had to expand on. And with my Grandma, I thought it would maybe be a bit awkward. It’s my dad’s mum as well so he was a bit hesitant. But then when. I sat down with her, she literally just started talking at me about periods and I was like “I do actually have questions!” She just started talking about it so that was really nice. 9. I think they really go hand in hand. I wanna say that more has been done on period poverty than the actual taboo of things. It’s really hard. I think there’s definitely a connection. You don’t see adverts for period poverty, and you don’t really hear about it. I only learnt about period poverty through researching periods to start with. Like, it’s frustrating that in public toilets, you still have to pay for period products. Like there’s so many girls out there who can’t afford that. Even girls who see that their families are struggling, those girls are too scared to ask for period products and don’t see it as essential when their family is budgeting. Maybe people don’t want to ask because there is a taboo link there. 10. Yeah, if you compare it to sex there really isn’t a clear representation of it. Sex has been normalised through tv shows and movies so why can’t periods be? It would definitely help the stigma around them. Even Bodyform in 2019, they were talking about periods as an average. When really periods shouldn’t be talked about as an average as it’s such a specific thing. Some people don’t get periods, some period have really heavy, really long periods. One of the top product providers were still talking about it as an average. I know it’s hard to generalise but I feel like that should be taken out all together. 11. I honestly hope so. In my life, I literally talk so openly. I talk openly with my boyfriend about it. For me, it’s no longer a problem for me anymore which is really good. I feel like everything is out in the open but other people don’t feel that way. I really do hope so. I think it should be seen as normal now but some people really don’t want to talk abut it. To me, that’s weird. People need more education, it’s been seen as a ‘gross’ thing. Boys are disgusted and it’s that that is building up the stigma. Like what?! It’s a natural monthly thing. Like why is there blue liquid used to represent blood in period adverts? Like it’s ridiculous. With the publication, the conversation cards are for younger girls to pass to their parents or their friends as conversation starters. Sometimes it’s so hard to say what you actually want to say. So if you have a card, you can just give it to someone and do it that way. During the project, I was in Leeds and just started my period while I was out. I was like “Oh my god! I’m just gonna have to ask someone” and I was still really embarrassed. And I thought, “I’m doing this project about this! Why am I embarrassed?” And asked and it was fine. The worst they can say is no, it was such a big learning curve for me. Now I feel like I could go up to anyone and ask them about periods.
Interviewing
After researching the Homeless Period Belfast, I knew I wanted to interview the founder Katrina McDonnell. She started the project as a university student and recently won the Women of the Year award at the Northern Ireland’s Women’s Awards 2019. I specifically wanted to speak to her as she organised this campaign in my hometown, Belfast, where it can be slow in terms of progressive ideas as abortion was only decriminalised and gay marriage was only legalised recently this year. I wanted to speak to her about how the campaign came together, and her opinions on issues such as menstrual shame and education about periods. 1. You founded the Homeless Period Belfast in 2016 during universty. What did you study in university? Did you have any background in charity work? 2. What inspired you to do this? Was it something you were aware of previously? 3. Was it easy to get a following behind your cause and get people volunteer? Did you come across any challenges when starting up the campaign?
Katrina McDonnell 4. How does the process work, from collecting the sanitary products to the homeless women receiving them? 5. Do you also provide to people who are less well off / in low income families? 6. Your recent campaign, MenstruationMatters, works to encourage work places, schools, public spaces and all other establishments to provide FREE sanitary items in toilets. What made you start this? 7. Has there been any negative responses to the campaign? 8. I saw you won Woman Of The Year at The Northern Ireland Women’s Awards 2019. Was it a surprise to win / even be nominated? Do you think this has helped promote Homeless Period Belfast to a wider audience? 9. A focus of my project is how menstrual shame and period poverty can go hand in hand. Do you think the taboo nature and stigma around periods is something that’s holding back an end to period poverty? Or stopping people from becoming involved? 10. Do you think an increase in period representation in popular culture such as media/ tv shows / movies would help reduce stigma around periods? Often it is very dramatised instead of seen as a normal everyday thing. 11. I think the Homeless Period Belfast’s Instagram page is very informative and educational about periods. Do you think education about periods within schools / or in general is something that’s lacking and therefore contributing to the stigma around periods? 12. As this project is about heroes and I’ve chosen you as one of my heroes, who are some people that inspire you?
Transcript
1&2. I was in my final year of university at the University of Liverpool, studying Business and Spanish. During my final year, I became a bit more socially, environmentally and politically conscious and aware. I had been hearing about the ‘Tampon Tax’ campaign and different period poverty campaigns. Over in Liverpool, there were certain students who were getting involved with activism in terms of the period poverty cause and campaign and I got involved in it as well. I volunteered for a similar project that was in Liverpool tackling period poverty and I was seeing the first hand work they were doing over there and just felt like this was something that should be happening in Belfast. Not thinking I would be the one to start it up! From then, I had been talking about it for a while and wondering why Belfast was always the last ones to do anything when period poverty isn’t just unique to England. There’s homeless people and people in vulnerable situations that period poverty issues would extend to in Belfast too. So I had been signing petitions, I attended a protest over in England and complained about it a lot to my friends and family how something like that needed initiated in Belfast. One of my friends just said to me, “Why don’t you just start it? You’re the one that’s passionate about it and you’re the one that knows about it. No many people probably even know what it is.” So that’s how it was started up. 3. Not at all, no. I started up the cause thinking, in all honesty, it was only gonna extend to me and my friends, and my friends of friends, and my mum and her friends. I honestly thought it would be a little, small group of people getting involved. I made the Facebook page public only thinking it was gonna be a few like-minded people. Yet within one night, I launched the page at 9pm on a weekday night and when I woke up the next morning, there was over 1000 likes on the page. It really went locally viral. Everyone was liking the page and being supportive through messages. I didn’t expect that response at all. When we did our first period pack session, there were so many volunteers that offered but we only needed a certain amount of help relative to the donations we received. I was almost having to turn people away. It definitely was easy to get people involved. 4. So we have public donation points which are pink bins, we have those located throughout Belfast. The first year I set it up, we had three pink bins and today we have 32 donation points. It’s now extended outside of Belfast, we have donation points in Lurgan, Craigavon and Coleraine etc. Once those bins fill, me and the team collect the donations from the bins and then we get together with 10-20 volunteers in sessions to organise the period packs. We categorise the donations and then put them into our period packages
Of Interview
and distribute them to our beneficiaries. In terms of the hard work, that is only ever three days every two months or so. That process - collection, making the packs and distribution is usually a three day process. Because we are donation based, we can’t do our work without donations. We have to wait until the bins have been filled. On average, it’s every two months or so. Around the Christmas period, it is much quicker around 2 or 3 weeks. 5. Oh yes of course. That’s probably something I need to do is change the name of the project. The Homeless Period, that word ‘homeless’, isn’t inclusive of all the other people we support anymore. I’ve been planning on changing it for a while. We donate to, first and foremost, homeless people and rough sleepers, people who rely on food banks, refugees and asylum seekers. We donate to survivors of human trafficking as sometimes those survivors are so traumatised from their experience they face financial difficulties. Also women refugees, victims of domestic violence, children in care, disadvantaged teenagers, certain community groups, soup kitchens, young adults between the age of 18-25 who are staying in temporary accommodation as well. The people we help extend beyond rough sleepers and homeless people, it’s anyone who is in a disadvantaged circumstance. 6. Throughout the three years of starting this project, I’ve really learnt that period poverty is linked to the fact that we as a society don’t prioritise women’s health and periods. We don’t talk about them, we’re ashamed and embarrassed about them. Not just men, but women as well. It’s not been talked about, and through it not being talked about it means sanitary items aren’t provided in toilets. We have toilet paper in every toilet, whether it’s in your own house, for your guests or in a school or public cafe, anywhere. As soon as it’s a women’s issue, we have to sort it out ourselves. If we had provisions of this items in every toilet, whether it’s a public toilet outside or anywhere, it would really alleviate the issue of period poverty. It wouldn’t solve it, but it would definitely help. Actually I would even go as far as to say it would solve it. If there was a rough sleeper or low income families or disadvantaged school girls, if there were in school and unexpectedly got their period, if there was a box of a few tampons or pads they could use it would facilitate their needs and help. We’re not asking for unlimited products, we still have to buy our own toilet roll for home but we’re saying toilets should have period products there just like toilet roll is. That is the point of our Menstruation Matters campaign to encourage work places, schools, universities and private establishments, that when they’re buying soap, sanitary waste bins and toilet paper to freely provide for their visitors, clients and
workers, why are they not adding period products for another bodily function that none of us have control over? We think it should be the norm now. 7. There is a lot of organisations that have signed up. It is a relatively new campaign so it’s still work in process and there’s a lot of work to be done. As we come up to the Christmas period, our focus is on getting period packs out there to people in need and collecting donations. We’ve had to focus heavily on that for this period. Come January, we really will be pushing that campaign off the ground even more. It’s still active but we just can’t give it 100% attention right now. It’s being nurtured. 8. Yes, it was a massive shock. I was actually in Mexico volunteering at a women’s refugee when I got the email that I’d been nominated at the Women’s Awards 2019. I genuinely thought it was scam. I kind of ignored it and then I got more and more emails before I realised it was real. So the day after I came home from Mexico, I was at the awards ceremony. I was really shocked, I was thinking why me? There was 27 different awards for entrepreneurs, and women in business etc. The last award of the night was Woman of the Year. I was in a category with women older than more who were more established in their careers, I was the youngest women nominated. I thought it was such a privilege and honour to be nominated alongside them so I went to do some networking and to dress up for the event. All of a sudden, I won it and I was just like ‘what?!’. It definitely has helped awareness for the cause because since then I’ve been asked to come speak as a guest speaker at a few events so that has put the Homeless Period out there. There’s one thing I try to be quite mindful about is that that award made it all about me, while that’s nice, it’s not about me it’s about the cause. A few people said to me there’s always someone behind the cause, and they deserve credit. While that’s lovely, I wanted the focus on the cause. So anything I do get asked to speak, I always make sure to mention the jounery of the project rather than my personal journey. 9. I think the stigma that surrounds menstruation and periods is definitely one of the leading reasons period poverty exists. I do think with more feminist movements and the generation of a ‘overshare’ culture, we talk about everything more openly. I don’t think it puts people off taking part, I haven’t had that problem. We always get male volunteers helping us at our period pack sessions. 10. Oh definitely! I know in that movie, Mary Queen of Scots, there’s a quick clip that shows her dress has blood stains. I listened to an interview with the director and they purposely put that scene in to try and erase stigma around periods. I definitely think it would help. I think we see blood shed in gore during movies and tv shows and
video games and we don’t question it but as soon as it’s a little bit of period blood, we can’t talk about it. I think the media definitely need to help with that. I know one of the period product brands, they no longer use blue ink to represent blood in their adverts. They now use red which is brilliant but it something that always should’ve been happening. Anyone that gets weird about blood, unless you genuinely don’t like all blood, but to be weird about period blood, I don’t see why they’re trying to hide it when it’s the most natural thing. 11. Oh massively yes. So as we’re in our third year now, in the last year we’ve been moving towards a secondary focus which is educating people about periods. That’s why we’ve been linking up with the Hormone Health Coach who is a period guru. We see that there’s such a lack of education and awareness about our reproductive systems and from your period to contraceptive pills and how those hormones affect you, menopause, PMS and endometriosis. Anything that’s to do with our uterus or hormones or our menstrual cycle, there’s a severe lack of education about them. I’m still asking my sisters or some of my friends, ‘Does this happen to you? Do you get this?’. These are things we should know about, brown staining and blood clots. Just anything that’s normal, we don’t really understand or know. It’s not good enough. Our bodies are so important for us to function and bring life into this world and the fact we don’t fully understand our bodies is a complete injustice, I think, to being a woman. That’s why we’ve decided to dispel myths and educate people and share experiences. Everything that is weird, wonderful and amazing and normal about your menstrual cycle. 12. Well my friends, girls that I met in university that were really passionate and had a voice. People that had the confidence and conviction and assertiveness to be passionate about these kinds of issues and that really showed me that I can do that too. I know that sounds really cringe but it’s true. People who are passionate about things that make you passionate. Like, I know people who are younger than me that have messaged me saying watching me doing something at a young age has inspired them. It’s really nice as that’s exactly what happened to me. I just watched people around me do really good things. People who are in the Women’s Movement in Belfast. People who are involved in women’s issues and activism, they inspire me through social media. I see them doing stuff and want to do the same.
Evaluating my
I decided to create a survey to post on my social media in order to gain an idea of what peoople’s opinions were about menstruation and period poverty. This would be useful as a primary source for my journalistic article. My questions were aimed at understanding what both men and womens’ knowledge / education of periods was like and how they’ve seen periods represented in popular culture. I also wanted to gather any stories / experiences about periods to use in my multimedia story. After 5 days, this was the overview of my results.
survey results
Finalising my article PARAGRAPH 1: Set the scene / Anecdote for introduction
Almost every girl has experienced it. You’re about to enter the cold, metallic stall of a public bathroom, when suddenly you feel it. Your stomach drops as you push through the door and pull down your trousers. Your period has come unexpectedly. You dig through your bag haphazardly, searching for a stray tampon or sanitary pad. No luck. You check your pockets for loose change but can’t manage to gather up the coins to pay for an overpriced pantyliner from the machine. Out of chances, you bunch up a thick wad of toilet paper and use it as a makeshift pad. It feels uncomfortable as you walk and you’re on edge for the rest of the day worried about leaking.
For many girls in the UK, it isn’t a case of an unlucky day with a forgotten purse. It’s a lack of financial means to afford sanitary products every month.
PARAGRAPH 2: Statement made backed up with statistic / Introduction to Katrina + QUOTE
Being unable to afford sanitary pads or tampons is a reality for 1 in 10 girls in the UK, reported Plan International. Many people are outraged at this issue, and they should be. Among the activists advocating for an end to period poverty is Katrina McDonnell, founder of the Homeless Period Belfast. “The Homeless Period, that word ‘homeless’, isn’t inclusive of all the other people we support anymore.” Speaking about how widespread the problem is, Katrina is considering changing the name of the project she started in her final year of university, “We donate to, first and foremost, homeless people and rough sleepers, people who rely on food banks, refugees and asylum seekers. We donate to victims of domestic violence, children in care, disadvantaged teenagers and soup kitchens. The people we help extend beyond rough sleepers and homeless people, it’s anyone who is in a disadvantaged circumstance.” For such a prevalent issue, period poverty is a topic rarely covered in mainstream news.
PARAGRAPH 3: Period Poverty coverage + linked to period stigma
While period poverty isn’t completely in the dark, when discussions arise it is met with apathy, disinterest or even a lack of awareness about the issue itself. 60% of people surveyed about period poverty thought it occurred in 1 in 20 girls, when the actual statistic is double that. Considering why something so dire could be so easily disregarded, it’s heavily speculated that the stigma behind menstruation is a leading reason period poverty exists in the first place. “Throughout the three years of starting this project, I’ve really learnt that period poverty is linked to the fact that we as a society don’t prioritise women’s health and periods.” Katrina discloses with frustration, “We don’t talk about them, we’re ashamed and embarrassed about them. Not just men, but women as well. It’s not been talked about and through it not being talked about it means sanitary items aren’t provided in toilets.” If public spaces can freely provide toilet paper, hand soap and even sanitary waste bins, why are they not adding period products for another bodily function that none of us have control over?
PARAGRAPH 4: Normalising menstruation / GRACE
Dismantling years of menstrual shame and ignorance is essential in the journey to eradicate period poverty but it’s no easy task. Grace Brown created a publication, ‘Bloody Proud’, aiming to break the taboo surrounding periods and educate young girls starting their first period due to the lack of education she received herself. “In school, I can’t even remember what we were taught. We had one lesson and it was separate from the boys about periods and we just watched a video. I knew nothing about periods before I started, it’s only now going through it that you learn stuff.” From this, the door to candidly discussing menstruation has been opened for Grace, “People tell me ‘Well this has happened to me, this has happened to me’ and I’ve now had all these conversations started from this book. I hope society can realise periods are something to be proud of and discuss them as openly as I do.”
CONCLUSION: How period representation and end to period stigma could solve period poverty
With a period emoji on the horizon and Josie Rourke including a glimpse of menstrual blood in her Academy Award nominated film, Mary Queen of Scots, the more casually and frequently periods are referenced in everyday life, the closer we come to seeing an end to period poverty.
Katie Donaghy
THE JOURNEY TO ENDING PERIOD POVERTY BEGINS WITH ELIMINATING MENSTRUAL SHAME
Why are public spaces not providing period products for a bodily function that none of us have control over?
Almost every girl has experienced it. You’re about to enter the cold, metallic stall of a public bathroom, when suddenly you feel it. Your stomach drops as you push through the door and pull down your trousers. Your period has come unexpectedly. You dig through your bag haphazardly, searching for a stray tampon or pad. No luck. You check your pockets for loose change but can’t manage to gather up the coins to pay for an overpriced pantyliner from the machine. Out of chances, you bunch up a thick wad of toilet paper and use it as a makeshift pad. It feels uncomfortable as you walk and you’re on edge for the rest of the day worried about leaking.
For many girls, it isn’t a case of an unlucky day with a forgotten purse. It’s a lack of financial means to afford sanitary products every month.
Period poverty is a reality for 1 in 10 women in the UK, studies say. Many people are outraged at this issue, and they should be. Among the activists advocating for an end to period poverty is Katrina McDonnell, founder of the Homeless Period Belfast. “The Homeless Period, that word ‘homeless’, isn’t inclusive of all the other people we support anymore.” Speaking about how widespread the problem is, Katrina is considering changing the name of the project she started in 2016, “We donate to, first and foremost, homeless people and rough sleepers, refugees and asylum seekers. We donate to victims of domestic violence, children in care and disadvantaged teenagers. The people we help extend beyond homeless people, it’s anyone who is in a disadvantaged circumstance.”
For such a prevalent issue, period poverty is a topic rarely covered in mainstream news. When discussions do arise it is met with apathy, disinterest or a lack of awareness about the issue itself. In a survey of 168 people, almost 60% thought period poverty occurred in 1 in 20 girls, when the actual statistic is double that. Considering how something so dire could be so easily disregarded, the stigma behind menstruation is a leading reason period poverty exists in the first place. “Throughout the three years of this project, I’ve learnt that period poverty is linked to the fact that we as a society don’t prioritise women’s health and periods,” Katrina discloses with frustration. “We don’t talk about them, we’re ashamed and embarrassed about them. Not just men, women as well. It’s not been talked about and through this, it means sanitary items aren’t provided in toilets.” If public spaces can freely provide toilet paper, hand soap and even sanitary waste bins, why are they not adding period products for another bodily function that none of us have control over?
Dismantling years of menstrual shame and ignorance is essential in eradicating period poverty but it’s no easy task. Grace Brown created ‘Bloody Proud’, an award-winning publication aiming to break the taboo surrounding menstruation and educate young girls starting their first period, due to the lack of education she received herself. “In school, I can’t even remember what we were taught. We had one lesson, it was separate from the boys and we just watched a video. I knew nothing about periods before I started, it’s only now going through it that you learn stuff.” From this, the door to candidly discussing menstruation has been opened for Grace, “People tell me ‘Well this has happened to me, this has happened to me’ and I’ve now had all these conversations started from this book. I hope society can realise periods are something to be proud of and discuss them as openly as I do.”
With a period emoji on the horizon and Josie Rourke including a glimpse of menstrual blood in her Academy Award-nominated film, Mary Queen of Scots, the more casually and frequently periods are referenced in everyday life, the closer we come to seeing an end to period poverty.
Word Count: 653
Period Poverty
AND EVERYTHING NICE - HANNAH ALTMAN
And Everything Nice is an analysis of the standard for female beauty. The series consists of women in states of affliction. The body fluid of the models (including blood, tears, and vomit) have been replaced with glitter, referencing performative femininity.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD - ARVIDA BYSTROM
The series depicts women going about various everyday activities, like jogging, reading, texting and waiting for the bus. The photographs aren’t sexual, they’re nearly mundane ... except that each woman is bleeding through her clothing — something that has probably happened to most women — some more than once.
Photographic Inspiration PERIOD. - RUPI KAUR
“i bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility. my womb is home to the divine. a source of life for our species. whether i choose to create or not. but very few times it is seen that way. in older civilizations this blood was considered holy. in some it still is. but a majority of people. societies. and communities shun this natural process. some are more comfortable with the pornification of women. the sexualization of women. the violence and degradation of women than this. they cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that. but will be angered and bothered by this. we menstruate and they see it as dirty. attention seeking. sick. a burden. as if this process is less natural than breathing. as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last. as if this process is not love. labour. life. selfless and strikingly beautiful.� In 2015, poet Rupi Kaur posted a series of fragmented photographs on Instagram representing the honest, bloody reality of menstruation. The series evokes an embodied, shared knowledge in period-having people; we know those everyday moments as intimately and corporeally as Kaur does; their soft, familiar textures, their tone of simultaneous surprise and routine. We feel them. The series was infamously taken down by Instagram, causing an outpouring of feminist response, critiquing Instagram’s unwillingness to portray the universal realities of menstruating women, a move that reads as misogynistic, given the proliferation of sexist images on the social media platform.
Shoot 1 Contact Sheets
For my first shoot focusing on awareness, the concept behind this shoot is a series of intimate self portraits revolving around what those 3-7 days of having a period looks like. I wanted to shoot different moments that occur during your period such as lying on your bed with cramps, ruining your favourite underwear and washing your stained sheets when it’s finally over. While photographing, I played around with the different shots I had planned to take but ultimately preferred these six visuals the most. I photographed multiple versions of each shot so I would have a variation of angles and slight adjustments to consider. As I’m the person who features in these photographs, I think it’s a much more raw and personal touch showing what I experience rather than directing a model, while still remaining familiar and relatable to those who experience periods.
Shoot 2 Contact Sheets
For my second shoot focused on destigmatization, I wanted to capture a variation of shots of women living their day to day lives while free bleeding. Inspired by Arvida Bystrom’s ‘There will be blood’ series, the idea is to normalise the presence of blood and menstruation in everyday life. I wanted to capture a multitude of scenarios from sports, studying and reading in order to showcase the normality of periods. I think this was very powerful and successful as the focal point of most of these images isn’t even the blood, it’s the activity. I wanted to reiterate this by not including faces within the photographs as everyday menstruation is not just a reality for these women, it’s most women in the world.
Changing Direction
Initially I had planned my third shoot around Katrina McDonnell and the Homeless Period Belfast who I had interviewed for my article. However, after scheduling conflicts I was unable to fly home to photograph Katrina and decided to go in a different direction instead. Inspired by Gillian Wearing’s ‘Signs’ series, I wanted to photograph signs depicting period poverty facts and statistics. However in contrast to her use of people, I want to photograph the signs in areas around Newcastle by themselves to highlight the lack of focus and awareness around period poverty. I think this is really effective as the areas are somewhat run down and neglected, highlighting the existence of period poverty in lower income families. Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say (1992-1993) - GILLIAN WEARING
of my Final Shoot
Creating MY
Multimedia Story
For my multimedia story, I want to create a fashion film. I want to film ‘stock’ visuals that represent period blood ie. red ice lolly melting, red glitter, paint splattered, raspberry jam etc. I want these to be quite minimalistic on a plain pink background, as shown in my inspiration moodboard. I’m also intending to use period products as props such as sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups within these visuals. I want these videos to be montaged together to create an effective and interesting visual story for my multimedia piece. In terms of audio, I want to take stories / experiences that I gathered during my survey for my article and have these read aloud by different girls’ to highlight the different perspectives of having a period. I also want to add aspects of kinetic typography to emphasise certain words and phrases associated with periods, whether positive or negative.
multimedia stills
Here are some unedited stills from the filming of my multimedia visuals. I wanted to capture still lifes that fit a certain colour scheme of red or pink therefore representing the idea of blood and menstruation. I think these are very effective and engaging in terms of catching the viewer’s eye.
END. ‘tackling period poverty’ katie donaghy FA5007 fashion editorial and journalism ba (hons) fashion communication