Applying Sanitary Products For Australia 's Economic System

Doyal, Lesley. (1995) What Makes Women Sick: Gender and the Political Economy of Health. Macmillan Press Pty. Limited.

There has always been a stigma surrounding the topic of women’s health, especially the reproductive kind, as the world has set standards for a how a woman’s body should be. The stigma begins where, unfortunately for the world, women’s bodies oftentimes do not comply with these standards. Because of the rifts between expectation and reality girls are shamed, oftentimes unconsciously or via systemic responses and interactions. It becomes an ingrained and understood conduct, teaching girls that their bodies exist for objective purposes, and it lays the foundation for developing insecurities. Bodily insecurities tend to run so deeply that even women in adulthood shy away from taking proper care of themselves. Because of how taboo discussing women’s

In our culture, girls become women at the average age of 12. The right of passage is bloody underwear and feminine products that never seem to fit right. This means, as children, women are given a heavy responsibility: the ability to create a human life. While straddling childhood and adulthood, we are meant to learn how powerful that responsibility is and how to protect our bodies from experiencing it too early. Yet, in our culture, girls are sent so many different messages on how to accomplish this. The message sent loud and clear today is, “your body does not belong to you.” Through all the blood, tears, and sacrifice . . .my body belongs to my government and will be treated however middle-aged white men see fit.

“Sir James Clarke’s Female Pills” and other similar products were part of a class of patent medicines targeted at women and advertised as a cure to a universe of “painful and dangerous diseases incident to the female constitution” (Fig. 5The Daily Globe 1856). They offered hope for women in search of relief from monthly discomforts. In actuality, patent medicine manufacturers were capitalizing on the increased demand for abortifacients by advertising products that restored the regularity of the monthly period. To avoid prosecution, veiled language was used to advertise their nature, which compelled women to consider them for the purpose of removing what was described as “irregularities,” “suppressions,” and “obstructions” of the menses and to deal with all causes of the cessation of menstrual flow (Fig. 5; The Daily Globe 1856; The Star of the North 1855).

Currently, in the State of Michigan, there is an additional 6% sales tax that is imposed on menstruation items like pads and tampons. Senate Bill 0091 which was reintroduced by Senator Rebekah Warren on February 1st, 2017 was created in response to Michigan’s gendered tax system. In summary, this bill along with SB 0092 would eliminate the current sales tax and use tax that classify feminine hygiene products as “optional” or as “luxury items.” This paper seeks to further examine how women are directly impacted by this reproductive justice issue by providing a micro-level assessment. Furthermore, an examination of how community agencies are affected by lack of access to feminine hygiene products will be explored in addition to a macro-level

As a volunteer, I boxed items such as, latex gloves, masks, and shoe covers so that they could be sent to communities in need of those items. Before GlobeMed, I was oblivious to the fact that many countries deliver medical care without basic medical supplies. In addition to volunteering at GlobeMed, I had the opportunity to sit in on a lecture by Dr. Bethany Caruso who discussed the impact of menstruation on adolescent girls in underserved populations. Being that I am majoring in biology, I for some reason only thought of menstruation from a biological standpoint. This lecture was very impactful to me because, as a woman I am cognizant of the toll that menstruation can take on a young lady’s body. It was not until Dr. Caruso’s lecture that I was apprised of how menstruation—depending on the location—could be a societal issue. As an aspiring medical doctor, I believe that it is paramount to not only understand the human body and the conditions that it may face, but to also understand how environment and location plays a component in these

When one chooses to write on a matter that seems to have been laid to rest decades ago their burden extensively lies not in trying to argue for their position, rather in showing the relevance of their position. This paper attempts to do both of these things when it comes to non-consensual sterilizations of women, specifically disabled women. A practice prominent in the 20th century, this paper examines coerced sterilizations from a feminist care ethics perspective and ultimately concludes that paternalistic arguments for this practice are in fact eugenic arguments, and thus renders coerced tubal litigations as unethical. Although neo-eugenics is starting to gain a number of followers for its genetic benefits, this is but a misconception of

Today, there are still many different views on the impact of the ‘Woman’s Liberation Movement’ in Australia, but because of it there is more recognition about violence against woman (although violence has not necessarily decreased), woman now have more choice over reproduction than they did until the 1960s, and their also able to reach high positions in politics, professions, and businesses. However, it is still far more difficult for a woman to attain these positions than for a man and laws in which attempt to create equal pay and opportunities for woman do not automatically ensure these things.

The most controversial field of feminist’s actions is women’s rights to the control over their bodies with respect to fertility, sexual relationships, rape and medical power over women’s health. Male control over women’s bodies has also traditionally expressed itself through

In this article the Author talks about how girls are often too embarrassed to even ask their moms for clean cloths and end up getting serious infections because of it. () She even mentions a case that led “to a 13-year-old having to undergo surgery to remove her uterus.” () In an interview author Chris Bobel talks about the need for menstrual activism and the negative way we (women and men) as a society are accustomed to talking about periods. She addresses the fact that girls are trained to hate their periods before they even have one, and men and women alike are conditioned to make jokes about raging PMS. In fact, sometimes it seems the only "OK" way to talk about periods is by making PMS jokes or going on and on about how horrible and painful periods

For example, the government has never said anything about the covering of Viagra. Viagra is a medication used for males which helps men get “hard” enough to have sex with their sexual partner, but the government has given harsh rules against birth control which protects girl’s future. Since Viagra and other erection pill were covered by insurance, many feminists would make joke about how men’s sexual pleasure and reproductive rights were being covered but women were still paying out of pocket for it. In 2012, it was a huge step into the lives of many when women didn’t have to pay for birth control. In fact, in the 21 century birth rates dropped because of the current ways to prevent sex such as rubber condoms, and birth control (Graff, 2012).

She was starting to live alone and had a partner; with whom it was dreaded she was expected to instigate a sexual relationship. Consequently, Z’s mother contended that it was in her best interests to have a hysterectomy. The solicitor disputed that in place of a hysterectomy it would be better to go for a contraceptive method. The Court believed that it was in the patient’s best interests to implement a sterilisation as menstruation caused her nothing but agony, distress and humiliation, together with the likelihood of pregnancy and the subsequent difficulties of managing with a child or giving it up.

American society, Martin says is organized around distinctions of home and the outside workaday world. Cultural conceptions that place menopause, pregnancy and mensuration in the realm of family and home, however, women see them as inextricable from work and school. How to find private space and time to change tampons in high school (sometimes middle school) and at work.? How to conceal hot flashes and exhaustion from business associates? Women are asked to do the impossible-to-control hides their body functions in institutions that do not honor their needs.

Like stated before, many times it’s a choice between food and feminine supplies, where each time food will take priority. On top of this, the excessive tax on tampons and pads make it even more difficult to be able to fit these products into the budget of an extremely poor individual. It is obvious that lowering or getting rid of this extra tax will not just benefit middle and upper class women, but “exempting things we need to buy at least provides some modest relief to the poor” (Brunori). This huge debate regarding the “tampon tax” finds many opposers who make bold statements claiming it will make the government lose all its money. This is a true statement to an extent, but we are not aiming to completely abolish this tax on menstrual products. Instead it would be more intelligent to simply lower the tax to make them more affordable (Anderson). Then we can easily make up for the lost money by applying sales taxes to items that aren’t already taxed or not essentially necessary to survive, such as the popular drug of Viagra (Brunori). By placing a sales tax on more items regardless of the item, it will decrease the price of products for all while ensuring the government maintains its needed income from the sales tax. In addition, it will lower rates across the board for other items, no “favoring” of products would be embraced, and the distortion of preferences and production by companies will be eliminated

Women make up just slightly over half the U.S population (US Census Bureau, 2010) and should not be even considered a part of a minority group. The female population should acquire the same equal research attention as men do, especially when it comes to health issues. The unavoidable, yet quite simple realities of breastfeeding, menstruation, menopause, along with pregnancy require special scrutiny from medical experts. Those medical specialties are generally referred as gynecologists or obstetrics, who focus on the exclusive needs of a female’s reproductive health throughout their lifespan. Historically, the health needs of women have been disregarded as well as their fundamental rights. However, over the past few decades, it has grabbed the media and the government’s attention causing some major changes in support of women’s rights and health care.