Why You Should Learn About Different Period Practices

If you have a period and access to high-quality period care, you’re probably familiar with the usual period practices and products, including period cups, period discs, and leakproof underwear. Have you ever considered what people with periods do when they can’t afford or otherwise don’t have access to the period care products they need? It’s not always as simple as inserting a menstrual cup and heading out the door.

Why is it important for you to know how other people with periods manage their flow? The reasons listed below might inspire you to dive a little deeper or pick up a few modern books on periods.

Everyone Has the Right to a Safe Period

You might not think of it this way, but many people in middle- to upper-income homes feel very safe during their period. They have clean water, period care products like a menstrual cup, and a community that understands periods are just a part of life. You can leave the house, go to school, and hang out with other people.

When you research how people with periods in other parts of your country and the world live during the first phase of their cycle, you see that not everyone has the same luxury—and high-quality period care is a kind of luxury. While everyone should have the right to experience their period with dignity and safety, the reality is that many people, even in cities and countries with overall high incomes, aren’t able to afford the period care they need to live their lives as usual while on their period. That’s called period poverty. Period poverty is everywhere. Still, there are ways you can support and help make safe periods possible for others, no matter where they live.

Period Care Keeps People with Periods in School

What would you do if you woke up with your period but couldn’t get period care? There was nothing at home or the local grocery store, and you couldn’t just order period care with delivery. Would you go to school? Or work? Would you leave the house? Millions of people with periods are in this position, missing valuable education and work opportunities because their basic needs are not met every month. It’s not just in other parts of the country. Young people living in neighborhoods near you could be missing school because they don’t have access to period care. Many people resort to reusing things like scrap fabric, paper, or cardboard to manage their cycle in order to attend school and work, which can even lead to things like infections that require medical care.

Period care products keep people with periods in school. One or two pairs of leakproof panties or a period cup are all a person needs to make it through a school day. You can’t donate used period care products, but you can support companies and initiatives that work hard to provide period care options to those who do not have them. Knowing they exist is the first step.

Education and Accessibility Are Essential to Healthy Periods

When you have education and period products, you have a healthier relationship with your period. Sometimes, period education looks a little different (i.e., in rural areas of the world, low-income areas, or homes where young people or girls’ needs aren’t a primary concern), but learning about periods is incredibly valuable. The problem is that usually, only people with periods know much about periods—and it is a big problem.

There is a lot of misinformation negatively impacting the lives of people with periods. If you know other areas in your state, country, and other countries in the world lack open discourse and information on periods, you may be more likely to encourage it where you live.

You can see that knowledge is power when you look into period practices around the globe. Periods aren’t limited to you or the people you know. They happen everywhere—in the bathroom, at school, at a hard-working person’s second job, on a farm in Iowa, and on a walk with family in rural India. People are better able to manage their periods with safety and dignity when they can access quality period care and education about their periods. It’s important to be a proponent of good period care regardless of where you live so that everyone can go to school, get to work, and take care of their families even while they are on their period.

About Saalt

Your goal is to find the best period care for your most comfortable period, which is Saalt’s goal too. The modern period care brand offers a selection of period cups, discs, and leakproof underwear that can only be described as incredible! With high-quality and safe materials, innovative designs, and easy-to-use products, Saalt offers the best of the best and the most comfortable products to use during the first phase of your cycle. Plus, you can help Saalt ensure people with periods worldwide have access to the same great period care. Saalt donates period care products like their menstrual cup and period underwear to communities with the greatest need and funds initiatives in menstrual health, education, and sustainability. They work hard to promote safer, more dignified periods that won’t stop people from going to school, working, and doing all the great things they were born to do.

Find out how Saalt supports people with periods worldwide at https://saalt.com/