Emerson College Putting Tampons In Men’s Bathrooms For Next School Year

By Tom Joyce | May 6, 2023, 8:32 EDT

A box of tampons and menstrual pads in the Pembroke Public Library men’s bathroom

Tampons and menstrual pads will be available in most men’s bathrooms on the Emerson College campus next school year.

Emerson Flows, an advocacy group that supports putting menstrual products in all bathrooms on campus, presented vice president of student life Jim Hoppe a petition with 408 signatures advocating for this change. Hoppe presented the proposal to administration and budget representatives, and the school agreed to set aside $7,000 per year for the initiative, The Berkeley Beacon reports.

The products are scheduled to be placed in all public bathrooms on campus by July 1, 2023, except for on-campus residential buildings.

Emerson Flows president Emily Lang said that she thinks it is vital for tampons to be available not just in women’s bathrooms, but also in men’s bathrooms.

“While I understand that the majority of the menstruators at this school are cis women, we should still treat men who also menstruate with the same level of respect,” Lang told The Beacon. “You get period products just like everyone else, and you get the same amount because you’re just as valid.”

“Cis” is a shortening of “cisgender,” a term used to describe males who identify as males and females who identify as females.

The term “men who menstruate” refers to biological females who identify as men.

Emerson student Camryn Ciancia also voiced support for the initiative, calling menstrual products a human rights issue.

“Health care is a human right, and part of health care is having ample supplies for when your period happens,”  Ciancia told The Beacon. “It shouldn’t be privilege-based to get period care … Emerson tries to be inclusive, and the best way to be inclusive is to make sure that there are resources available for everyone whenever they need it.”

Emerson College will not be the only place in Massachusetts offering menstrual products in the men’s bathroom.

The men’s bathroom at the Pembroke Public Library offered tampons and menstrual pads when NewBostonPost visited it in December 2022. And the men’s bathroom at Brookline Town Hall offered free menstrual pads when NewBostonPost visited in January 2023; however, the bathroom was out of tampons.

Emerson College is a private college mostly located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston that serves 4,117 students.

Hoppe, Lange, Cancia, and a press spokesman for Emerson College could not be reached for comment on Thursday or Friday.

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