Hello!
As you read this, I am galivanting around Tokyo! The View From Down Here will still be landing in your inbox (although marginally less frequently than usual), so do not fear - anti-ableism continues apace! However, I won’t see replies and comments until I’m back in London in mid-November. Catch up then.
Disabled people have periods.
This shouldn’t be a revelatory statement and yet here we are.
Why am I stating the bleeding obvious (pun absolutely intended)? Because apparently it’s not obvious to quite a lot of people.
These people include whoever it is who designs disabled loos, who seem very keen to use the space to provide a baby changing table (always set too high for a disabled parent to use) but not so keen to provide sanitary bins or product dispensers.
Also, clearly, the people who design sanitary products to be as fiddly as humanly possible. Even with a PA, getting a pad on and in the right place is, let me tell ya, a mare. Who decided to make them sticky-but-not-really? Probably an nondisabled bloke.
While we’re on the subject, it was also be good if said designers considered making their fiddly products more comfortable for those of us who sit down all day, please and thank you.
Also, obviously, the people who decide that a disabled woman who needs help to the loo can go without a care visit for eight (or ten, or twelve) hours.
The myth that disabled people don’t have periods doesn’t just have immediately practical implications. There’s cultural and social issues too.
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