Women over a lifetime spend over 18 thousand buying the necessary goods that they need while having their period. Women go through a total of 8.5 years of constant bleeding but without it, women are at risk of not being able to bear children or increase their risk of illnesses. Periods, don’t get me wrong is a bitch, but it is something that is also natural and should not have this stigma that it is nasty attached to it.
In “Social Media for Social Change: Social Media Political Efficacy and Activism in Student Activist Groups " by Alcides Velasquez and Robert LaRose, they have a discussion on political efficacy. Political efficacy, which is defined as how much trust there is in regards to the government, starts to get questions with the increase of social media and the usage of it. The authors states, “Some studies suggest that political uses of social media have a mobilization effect among youth, as they create opportunities for individuals that otherwise would not participate. How can the use of social media for activism be explained and furthermore, motivated?” (Velasquez, 456). In order to answer this question, they conduct experiment that include three student activist groups. The answer to the question was “results suggest that successful enactive experiences using social media for activism influences positively both, IPE and SMPE perceptions” (Velasquez, 467).
The usage of social media has increased young audiences to become interest in politics and to start become involved in it to make a change in certain things. Seeing that others want to also want to become apart of such groups and want to learn more about what they protesting for, increases their participation with social media sites. For example, “Facebook ‘like’ buttons or online communities’ reputation systems that convey the positive opinions of others about the content posted might increase users’ perceptions of their social media political efficacy” (Velasquez, 469).
Jen lEWIS aRTWORK:
Period: The Menstrual Movement is a non-profit group that provides women with hygiene products who are not able to afford it and uses the concept of political efficacy in their organization. They bring knowledge to those that do not know a lot of information on menstruation and also want to stop the taxation on tampons and pads. I had seen a video on Facebook where this homeless women was not able to afford those necessary products so she had to settle with what she had found in the public bathrooms which was just tissue paper or bags. This can result in different diseases or total shock syndrome. Males are able to get condoms for free while women have to buy their products since the government does not consider it to be a necessary good which is why I was brought to their website Period.org. What interests me the most is that a 16 year old was the one that had created this whole movement and teens/young adults are involved to make a change for the better. As a woman, I know the struggle of having to deal with it is I was able to connect to it. Along with tampons/pads, I also have to buy birth control every month in order to regulate my period which is an added 20 dollars every month.
Sarah Gafur, one of my closest friends, has started a chapter with other students to spread what Period is advocating for and inspired me to write about their movement. A chapter is something that is managed by activists in different communities to have the information to be dispersed into a bigger audience. I had asked her why is it worth learning about and she stated “I guess because there are homeless people who have periods and they are unable to afford a lot of basic necessities and for an added tax to be on pads and tampons is ridiculous” (Sarah Gafur). Men do not have to deal with this every month so they would not know what some women would have to go through with their own body and I find it really unfair that those that are making the regulations is a panel full of men. Their organization is a start to a major change for all women, a start where we can finally have our voice heard over something that they consider to not be important nor something to look over.
They have a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their own website to be able to reach out to everybody that do not have a specific type of media form or have any social media at all. Their main website is what mainly caught my eye since they have the answers to all the questions I had on the motives of the organization. They incorporate many of their ideas into the website and how others can be able to participate in the movement and start their own chapter in their community.
In the Period.org website, they include different types of categories that lets the user be able to read the who, what, why, where, when and how of their activism work. Since it is a website, they are able to provide more of a creative aspect that lets a lot of people enjoy it while still being professional. Using different videos and posts, anybody can get engaged and be able to become apart of the movement with one click, either by donating or making chapters to spread their knowledge. You are able to interact with the website which is the most important aspect of the digital world since it is not going to be boring and be more of an exciting experience. This is all done by a group of students that are trying to accomplish their goal and with being young, it comes to an advantage to them because they were born into a generation that is more familiar with technology. For those that do not have social media, they include what they had posted on their instagram along with their tweets so everyone can be kept up to date with the new events they are creating or the new chapters that are being held in different communities.
When you search the website, the first thing that pops up is a test created by Diego L. Possible that shows the number of volunteer hours, the number of menstrual cups provided and the number of periods served. It is real life time, resulting it to increase each time new data is provided back to the organization. This shows the relevance of this movement and how it is actually making an impact throughout the country. This creates some sort of motivation for the user to become engaged in the movement and to become apart of the statistic.
On the about page, they include a video of the creators describing the problem surrounding homeless women and their periods. It takes a certain theme where they pass a red ball around, symbolizing passing their knowledge on the period. They take an artistic approach with different doodles and images while they are on the side explaining what they are trying to do to change the problem and how they are trying to do this. It is sort of an opening to their website since it gives the general idea of the movement. They include statistics and graphs to further their knowledge on the topic and to show how it is a problem that many women face in their daily lives. Under the video, they have photos of each member of the team where the user is able to click on it to read more about what each person does and be able to connect to other works they have done.
Digital tools became a way to spread information to a greater audience more efficiently and effectively. In “Digital Feminism: Questioning The Renewal of Activism”, Josiane Jouët discusses how digital media started to have young activists become more vocal and states “digital media helped to regenerate feminism, to attract young women and to bring gender issues in the public sphere…” (Jouët, 2018). It has become an advantage for young adults because instead on focusing on just their age, they are able to express their expertise on the subject through the website with different videos and writings. With just a click of the mouse, people become instantly aware of the injustice that is occurring and what is occurring in regards to homeless women. This website lets them join the movement and be able to change what is broken and become of a greater community.
Jouët, Josiane (2018). “Digital Feminism: Questioning the Renewal of Activism,” Journal of Research in Gender Studies 8(1): 133–157.
Velasquez, A., & Larose, R. (2015). Social Media for Social Change: Social Media Political Efficacy and Activism in Student Activist Groups. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59(3), 456-474. Welcome. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.period.org