Name: Zoe Karp

Social Justice Group: Menstrual Health

Date of Fieldwork: January 19, 2018

Name of Organization: Commission on Gender Equity

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Sara Shoener – Senior Policy Advisor for the Commission on Gender Equity

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did:

We went to City Hall and we interviewed the Senior Policy Advisor for the Commission on Gender Equity, Sara Shoener.

What I learned:

Interestingly, Sara Shoener didn’t know very much about our topic. She was very interested in learning, but she didn’t know that we should be calling menstrual products “feminine hygiene products,” and she didn’t know about the tampon tax. Something that I did learn is that the Mayor gave his wife a budget and his permission to create a commision on gender equity.

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

I learned that it’s important to be open to learning new things. After we talked to Sara Shoener, she told us that she was going to do some more research around menstrual equity. I think that because she is willing to do this, she can be instrumental in the menstrual equity movement.