Name: Jemma

Social Justice Group: Menstrual Health

Date of Fieldwork: January 19, 2018

Name of Organization: No organization

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Sara Shoner, a senior policy advisor on the mayor’s board for gender equity

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did:

We traveled to city hall and met with Sara Shoner, a senior policy advisor on the mayor’s board for gender equity. It was really cool to see city hall and everyone who works there. And at the end, the First Lady’s chief of staff took our picture.

What I learned:

I learned that our mayor is making strides for menstrual equity by speaking publicly about menstrual health. A few years ago he passed a bill to make sure menstrual products are available to everyone by making sure they are available in public restrooms around the city. Other than that the mayor hasn’t done much for menstrual equity so she didn’t have much more to teach us. We informed her about appropriate language and the tampon tax. But in all the experience was really great to have.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

People need to stand up for whats right if that’s what they believe in. Lots of people are silenced and before even talking people feel silenced before they even speak when discussing menstrual equity because of the taboo. We will make no progress if we are silenced so we need to continue the conversation. And if you are silenced at one place there is always someone to listen so just keep looking for someone to listen. And it may not seem like much but one discussion is one step closer to breaking the stigma. Because if we don’t move forward we will never reach the destination. And not continuing the discussion is a step back because you perpetuating the system.