The clitoris has 10,000 nerve endings. Here’s why experts say the discovery is ‘just the beginning’ for sexual health

Kaitlin Reilly

Mon, November 21, 2022 at 12:47 PM

When it comes to sexual pleasure, there’s one spot on the female anatomy that tends to get the most attention: the clitoris. Yet despite the clitoris’s association with orgasms and female pleasure, not much is known about the organ. For years, the clitoris was said to have 8,000 nerve endings — stated as fact in the 1976 book The Clitoris by Thomas Lowry and Thea Lowry, who cited a study on bovines. Now, thanks to a new study led by the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), which was presented at an Oct. 27 conference hosted by the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the International Society for Sexual Medicine, we know that there are actually a lot more nerve fibers packed into the tiny sexual organ.

According to the new research, that number is a whopping 10,281. By comparison, the palm of one’s hand has 17,000 nerve endings — in a much, much larger area. Yet this study on the clitoris provides more than just a fun fact — it also can have major implications for sexual health.

Why look for nerve endings in the clitoris?

There have long been questions on the validity of the claim of 8,000 nerve endings in the clitoris. Activist Jessica Pin, who lost sensation in her clitoris after a labiaplasty and has been outspoken since about the lack of knowledge of female genitalia in medicine, penned a Medium article in 2018 suggesting that the bovine study should not be used as a source for human beings. Yet in order to really analyze just how many nerve endings there are in a human clitoris, one had to, well, actually count them.

Dr. Maria Uloko, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of urology at UC San Diego and a urologist who specializes in the treatment of female sexual dysfunction, says that the inspiration for the study came from frustrations she was feeling with the lack of knowledge about the clitoris.

“If we look at the difference between what we know about the penis and what we know about the vulva, it is a stark, very concerning difference,” she shares. “I treat a lot of vulvar pain, and if you look at that demographic of patients, it usually takes four to five providers before they even get a diagnosis. When you look at the healthcare cost to those patients, it’s in the billions of dollars. For very common, treatable conditions, why is there such a barrier to care? So that was the question. I’m a researcher, and I’m an advocate and I’m just also pissed because I keep seeing the same thing.”

She brought her frustrations to her friend Dr. Blair Peters, an assistant professor at OHSU and a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon who specializes in gender-affirming surgery. Uloko pointed out the “knowledge gaps” in what we know about female anatomy.

“I was like, ‘And they don’t even know how many nerves are in the clitoris! It’s from a cow!’ And Peters said, ‘I can get you those nerves … let’s quantify it,’” recalls Uloko. “That’s how this project came to be: It was me ranting at the right person, and having someone as skilled as Dr. Peters, who was willing to do this work with us. Our goal is to establish, and reestablish, the knowledge gaps in our anatomy and physiology, and bring attention to the fact that there is this disparity.”

How were the nerve endings identified?

Peters, one of the study’s authors, says they were in a unique position to study the nerves in the clitoris. Phalloplasty, which is the creation of a penis as part of gender-affirming care, is the only surgical procedure that requires cutting into the nerves of the clitoris.

“In that procedure, it’s routine to connect nerves in the penis centers in the groin, so people that have that surgery will have sensation and erogenous sensation recovering the penis,” Peters shares. “And — at least to the best of our knowledge prior to this work — the most powerful donor for that surgery was assumed to be the nerves of the clitoris, given its well-documented erogenous function. I initially started out doing some work to kind of quantify all of the nerves that I use in that surgery to determine if there were nerves that were better used in different combinations because we didn’t have that information before and there hadn’t been any standardized way to connect to those nerves.”

Following the conversation with Uloko, Peters designed the study and collected samples, and then collaborated with scientists at Washington University in St. Louis to count the nerve endings.

“A lot of different staining techniques are used,” Peters shares of how the nerves were counted. “The nerve samples are sliced by what’s called an ultra microtome to these very, very minuscule sections, that are then magnified over 1,000 times and counted basically with an automated software system.”

What are the implications of this study?

Trans healthcare, Peters stresses, is an integral part of how this study was able to be conducted. Calling their work on gender-affirming surgeries “helping someone physically actualize their internal sense of self,” Peters notes that trans healthcare is a vital part of this study’s findings and is critical to talk about, as so much anti-trans legislation is brought forward.

“If we start limiting care for one group, everyone else indirectly suffers too,” Peters notes.

Gynecologist and obstetrician Dr. Jennifer Conti, who is an assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, says there is a huge disparity between what we know about the male and female sex organs. Studies like this one are a way to close that gap.

“Until only recently, everything we knew about sexual desire and function was based on historical works like that of Masters and Johnson, which largely centered on the cis-gendered heterosexual male perspective. Only recently have researchers begun to unpack how this is hugely different for different people,” she explains. “We are truly just beginning to understand the comprehensive picture that is female sexuality, and that includes our understanding of the clitoris. We didn’t even realize the full anatomy of the organ until 2005, which is embarrassing as a medical community.”

Dr. Rachel Rubin, a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine specialist, says historically, medical textbooks focused on male genitalia, while female genitalia was more of a “sidebar.” Female sexual health was almost always focused on the reproductive nature — not on sexual function. This study, she notes, could help change that. It also means people like Pin, who has not regained feeling following her labiaplasty, may be able to find proper healthcare, thanks to more knowledgable medical professionals.

“What this study does is that it shows that this work is possible,” she says. “When you understand something, and it’s exposed and people are aware of it, it will stimulate more research. This is just the beginning of the many questions we have to answer. How can we learn more about female sexual medicine and treatment options for arousal and orgasm disorders, anorgasmia, people who have been harmed by different surgical procedures and lost function — there’s a lot of work to be done. What this study shows is how incredibly dense the nerves are in the clitoris, similar to the nerves in the hand, even — this shouldn’t be ignored and forgotten.”

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAYThu, January 27, 2022, 9:15 AM

People who had slight changes in their menstrual cycle after getting the COVID-19 vaccine only experienced those changes for a brief time period, as a new study “reassures” there is little risk in fertile individuals getting inoculated.

Last week, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found the vaccine did not affect the chances of people trying to conceive a baby. However, getting the virus itself appeared to slightly lower the chances of conception, likely due to fevers reducing sperm count.

Now in a new study published in the journal The BMJ on Wednesday, nearly 10,000 people who have periods observed in the United States and Norway showed some experienced slight changes, such as heavier flow or delay, within their first two menstrual cycles following the vaccine before things went back to normal.

Victoria Male, a reproductive specialist at Imperial College London and lead author of the study, said people have become more aware of changes to their periods shortly after getting vaccinated, but there was little known if it was a common occurrence or people were just more aware of their periods.

“The main reason it would be good to know if these changes are associated with vaccination are practical: people need to plan for their periods, so it would be good if we could let them know if they might expect a change one month,” Male said in an email to USA TODAY. “People also need to know if vaccination might cause a delay to their period so they don’t start worrying – or celebrating – that they are pregnant if this happens to them.”

The first observation was done on 3,959 Americans who had logged at least six straight menstrual cycles on a tracking app, with 2,403 of users vaccinated. Findings showed the first dose of the vaccine had no effect, while the second dose had an average delay of 0.45 days.

However, some who got both doses of the vaccine in the same cycle had longer delays, with 358 experiencing a two-day delay. Of the 358 people, 39 had a delay longer than eight days, which is considered “clinically significant.”

However, all observed people had their cycles return to normalcy by the second cycle after vaccination.

The second observation with 5,688 Norwegians asked if people had any changes such as heavier bleeding or worse pain before and after getting the vaccine. Findings showed 38% of participants had a change before getting vaccinated, which increased to 39% after the first dose and to 41% after the second dose, with the most common change being a heavier flow.

After both observations, Male said the data should be reassuring to those on the fence of getting the vaccine, as changes were short-lived. She also noted that some vaccine hesitancy stems from misinformation like the vaccine is a form of “sterilization.”

“If you are particularly worried about your cycle, it’s also worth noting that we do have some evidence that COVID infection can disrupt the cycle, and getting vaccinated could help you avoid this,” Male said.

Even with this data, Male said further research is needed on those taking hormonal contraception as it could give an idea if these menstrual changes are driven by sex hormones. Those with pre-existing gynecological conditions may also be more vulnerable to change.

Tomer Singer, medical director at Shady Grove Fertility in New York City who was not involved in the study, says the studies should show benefits outweigh the risk of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In the past year, he said 5% of the 1,500 patients he’s seen in the past year reported menstrual changes, but none had their conception potential significantly altered.

“These two very large observational studies are supporting what we as OBGYN’s and fertility specialists in the community have been observing and discussing with our patients for two years now and supporting other studies that we have conducted with our medical students, residents and reproductive endocrinologist fellows,” Singer said. “I would encourage every patient who is in the reproductive age of 18-50 who has concerns regarding the theoretical risks of receiving the vaccine to speak to an OBGYN or seek the opinion of a fertility specialist so they can provide them with reassurance and relevant data.”

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID vaccine and periods: How will the shot affect my menstrual cycle

By DIEGO JESUS BARTESAGHI MENA
bartesaghi@montclairlocal.news

Colorful decorated boxes full of menstrual products have been placed in the bathrooms of Montclair High School by the Montclair Menstrual Club.

The boxes, which are placed in both girls’ and boys’ bathrooms, are intended to provide quick and free access to tampons and hygiene products when needed, without putting students in the uncomfortable situation of asking for products from friends or strangers, or asking permission to leave class to request them from the school nurse.

“I went to restock the boxes, and in almost every bathroom I went into the students were like: ‘Oh my gosh, I just needed a tampon. Thank you so much for doing this. This is helpful,’” said Dylan Campanaro, a MHS junior and board member of MMC. The group is not formally affiliated with the school, but consists of students and was founded last school year to destigmatize menstruation. “That’s really rewarding to see people need this and use it. I feel like they’re empowered by it.” 

The group has seen support from MMS’ National Organization for Women Club and MHS principal Jeffrey A. Freeman, who let the club store the products in his office. Campanaro said those interactions motivate the club to keep the boxes in place long-term. SAVE MONTCLAIR LOCAL: We need your support, and we need it today. The journalism you value from Montclair Local, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, depends on the community’s support — we exist because the old model of selling ads alone just can’t fund journalism at the level we endeavor to provide. That’s why you’ve seen other local newsrooms cut back staff or shut down entirely. Montclair Local was created because we believe that’s unacceptable; the community’s at its best when triumphs are celebrated, when power is held to account, when diverse lived experiences are shared — when the community is well-informed.

Montclair is seeking to raise $230,000 from donors, members and grantors between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 to put us on firm footing for 2022, and continue supporting the hard work of our journalists into the new year and beyond. Visit MontclairLocal.news/donations to see how we’re doing and make your contribution.

Freeman said he supported the initiative when it was brought to his attention.

“Our students do some amazing things and this is their initiative,” Freeman said. “This just speaks to how amazing our students are across the board.” 

BEEN TRIED BEFORE

Members of the Montclair Menstrual Club had told Montclair Local last spring they were hopeful to get the products in place in bathrooms. In 2017, NOW-organized drive placed decorated boxes of tampons in bathrooms, for anyone to take at no cost, then-MHS sophomore and club member Eliza Salamon said in the spring. She said then-Principal James Earle supported the idea, but NOW didn’t have enough money to replenish the boxes for the full year, she said.

Accounts of what happened the next year vary.

Salamon had said in the spring that in 2018, students went to then-Principal Anthony Grosso Salamon looking to bring the boxes back, but were told by administrators and nursing staff that cost would be an issue. Additionally, she said, there were concerns that students would take more than they needed at a given time. Salamon said as best as she and two co-club presidents she spoke to recall, club advisers told them Grosso and the nurse were also worried students could somehow use tampons to get drunk by soaking them in vodka before inserting them. 

Grosso, though, told Montclair Local by email in the spring no such concern about vodka ever came up. And he said the administrators “worked with the NOW Club, National Organization of Women, to find sustainable solutions for feminine products in the high school. This issue was collaborated in conjunction with district leadership.”

Still, the boxes didn’t come back at the time.

Law professor Bridget Crawford wrote a blog post about MHS’ history with the feminine products for FeministLawProfessors.com in March, drawing fresh attention to the issue on local Facebook groups, though that post made assertions about the history that weren’t attributed to anyone with firsthand knowledge. 

Freeman told Montclair Local he wasn’t working at the school at that time, and he was not aware of the past situation.

LOOKING AHEAD

MMC board member Serena Lee, also a MHS junior, said the club has several ideas for the future. She said that the club might not be able to see them all come to fruition, but one of its main goals is to bring the boxes to middle schools in town.  Group members haven’t yet approached middle school administrators about that idea.

Natalie Smith, another MMC board member and MHS junior, noted: “That’s when a lot of girls and people who have periods get their first period.”

The club is planning on hosting more collection drives and working with other organizations in town, Lee said. The club organized a collection with Café Mosso early this year that raised $387 in donations and collected more than 3,000 products. 

“We donated those to Montclair Mutual Aid so they distribute at their distribution days,” Lee said. “I think we have a great relationship with different groups because, for example with Aisle Seven (Montclair Mutual Aid’s menstrual product distribution program), we donated products to them and they’ve donated to us. I think it’s making all the work even more effective.” 

ENDING STIGMA

The club is in talks with the National Organization for Women chapter about hosting a drive to collect feminine products and host events, Smith said. However, Campanaro, Lee and Smith

said their biggest focus right now is on continued collection of donations, advocacy to have the products in middle schools and work to encourage the Montclair community to have conversations about periods. 

“There’s definitely a really big stigma around periods,” Smith said. “I think that’s kind of why we wanted to start it and work to de-stigmatize the whole idea around that.”

Campanaro said that many of her peers and friends would be afraid to ask a teacher to go to the bathroom or go to the nurse’s office. She said teachers question the reasons they have to go. 

“Or the teachers made them feel ashamed that they had to miss class time to take care of this natural bodily function,” Campanaro said. 

Another way to de-stigmatize periods is by telling stories. Smith said in past meetings, attendees just talk about their experiences, how people felt in classes, how their interactions with teachers went. She said that’s what the club wants overall, because “people are so silent about it.” 

To amplify other voices, Campanaro said, the club created a podcast, “That’s On Periods”, where it invites people to share their own personal experiences around their periods. It’s available on several podcast services, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Even though the club has received positive reception, it has had some negative responses, Smith said. 

“In some of the boys’ bathrooms, some of the boxes were destroyed and misplaced and emptied out in a kind of a rude way,” Smith said. “So, we were disappointed about it but we kind of wanted to take this to our advantage, and show why we wanted to start the club. This is an example of how there is a stigma around it.” 

After such an incident became known around the school through social media, Lee said the club received a lot of support from students.

“Overall, the student body response to [the incident] was very positive, very supporting, uplifting,” Lee said. “It was a negative experience, but it was a really rewarding, positive outcome in the end. I think it actually spreads awareness. And now more and more people are aware of this stigma and our club in general and want to support us.”

• TAGS
• Cafe Mosso
• Montclair High School
• Montclair Menstrual Club
• Montclair Mutual Aid

https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/covid-19-periods-in-pandemic-9-things-to-know?fbclid=IwAR3bGLgi9Lk_z1CjUD0ncssvpOvhwfZyneruLpmFRxyC1WDuzxn_TrImNzk

Lockdowns, closed borders, shuttered businesses – the coronavirus pandemic is having far-reaching consequences for many people. One of these impacts is on everyone who menstruates.

Here are 9 facts from UNICEF and UNFPA about periods in the pandemic:
 

1. Menstruation is not a sign of COVID-19

Having periods is healthy and normal. It is not a sign of illness.

But there are many myths surrounding menstruation and COVID-19 circulating around the world, such as menstruation is a symptom of COVID-19 and menstruating people are more likely to infect others.

Such myths have no medical explanation but can increase the stigma of menstruation.
 

2. Menstrual supplies are essential items

Economic disruptions can lead to women and girls losing access to hygiene products. These include sanitary pads and tampons, menstrual cups, reusable napkins, pain medication and soap.

Essential hygiene products are a priority for the health, dignity and welfare of all people who menstruate.

Decision-makers must ensure these items be declared essential and remain available. When menstruation-related supplies are deemed essential, it sends a clear message: essential hygiene products are a priority for the health, dignity and welfare of all people who menstruate.  
 

3. People in health care facilities do not have easy access to menstrual hygiene products

It is difficult for patients in hospitals and in quarantine to obtain menstrual hygiene products. Facility managers must address this potential loss of access by ensuring adequate supplies, and staff need to be trained to sensitively meet these needs.
 

4. Health workers, like everyone else, need menstrual health supplies

Around 70 per cent of healthcare workers are women. To effectively respond to the pandemic, they work long hours under intense pressure. Not only do they need access to menstrual hygiene materials, but also the time and the resources to manage their menstrual health.

This is particularly true for front-line health workers who wear personal protective equipment (PPE). Putting on and removing PPE prevents the quick changing of menstrual hygiene materials, leading women to bleed into protective suits, suppress menstruation through the use of oral contraceptive pills, or potentially miss days of work.
 

5. Poverty makes it harder to access menstrual hygiene supplies and care 

People living in poverty already face barriers to obtaining menstrual hygiene supplies and related health services. With stores and public transport closing, rising costs and increasing economic uncertainty, they are now facing even bigger hurdles. There have even been reports of women forced to prioritize food and water over personal care items. 

During the pandemic, the vulnerability of people living in extreme poverty and crisis settings is increasing, while access to sexual and reproductive health services and information is decreasing. 
 

6. COVID-19 threatens the rights and health of vulnerable people who menstruate

Gender inequality, extreme poverty, humanitarian crises and harmful traditions can turn periods  into a time of deprivation and stigma. These vulnerabilities are only increasing under the pandemic, as access to sexual and reproductive health services and information are decreasing.

Circumstances are equally fraught for people with disabilities, people in prisons, refugee and migrant women and shelter residents, all of whom may face shortages and reduced privacy under lockdown.
 

7. Preventing COVID-19 goes hand-in-hand with good menstrual hygiene

Providing water, sanitation and hygiene services to people in displacement camps, informal settlements and impoverished communities contributes to the larger pandemic response. While these services are more important now, they are also threatened more than ever. 

These communities are now facing shortages of soap, cleaning materials and maintenance staff. All of this will adversely impact both the COVID-19 response and the health and rights of people who menstruate.  
 

8. Information about menstrual health and hygiene is hard to come by in the pandemic 

As education and health services have been disrupted, so has the flow of basic information about menstrual health and hygiene. More than ever, we must find new, creative ways to educate people about menstruation – to dispel rumours and spread positive, accurate information about menstruation, both to raise awareness and to end stigma and shame. 
 

9. Harmful menstruation traditions leave people vulnerable to the pandemic 

Some traditions hold that menstruating people should be sent to a ‘menstrual hut’, or to a relative’s home, which could affect a menstruating person’s ability to engage in physical distancing. Other harmful traditions prohibit people from washing or touching their genitals while menstruating. Some say that menstruating people can pollute water sources or toilets.

Even in normal circumstances, menstrual taboos and traditions lead to exclusion and vulnerability. Under the pandemic, these traditions could affect people’s ability to protect themselves against COVID-19 and worsen the situation. 
 

How we’re responding
 

UNICEF, UNFPA and partners are on the ground supplying menstrual hygiene supplies and ensuring safe environments during the COVID-19 response. These efforts include:  

Providing hygiene kits and sanitary products to children, families and front-line workers, including in detention centres, correctional institutions, domestic violence shelters, health centres, residential care homes and quarantine facilities.

Dispelling myths and providing accurate information about menstrual health and COVID-19.

UNFPA has launched videos on topics from helping parents to provide menstrual health information to their children, to teaching people to make their own reusable menstrual products.

UNICEF’s Oky period tracker app provides girls with child-friendly menstruation content, a cycle tracking function and COVID-19 information.  

Lockdowns, closed borders, shuttered businesses – the coronavirus pandemic is having far-reaching consequences for many people. One of these impacts is on everyone who menstruates.

Here are 9 facts from UNICEF and UNFPA about periods in the pandemic:
 

1. Menstruation is not a sign of COVID-19

Having periods is healthy and normal. It is not a sign of illness.

But there are many myths surrounding menstruation and COVID-19 circulating around the world, such as menstruation is a symptom of COVID-19 and menstruating people are more likely to infect others.

Such myths have no medical explanation but can increase the stigma of menstruation.
 

2. Menstrual supplies are essential items

Economic disruptions can lead to women and girls losing access to hygiene products. These include sanitary pads and tampons, menstrual cups, reusable napkins, pain medication and soap.

Essential hygiene products are a priority for the health, dignity and welfare of all people who menstruate.

Decision-makers must ensure these items be declared essential and remain available. When menstruation-related supplies are deemed essential, it sends a clear message: essential hygiene products are a priority for the health, dignity and welfare of all people who menstruate.  
 

3. People in health care facilities do not have easy access to menstrual hygiene products

It is difficult for patients in hospitals and in quarantine to obtain menstrual hygiene products. Facility managers must address this potential loss of access by ensuring adequate supplies, and staff need to be trained to sensitively meet these needs.
 

4. Health workers, like everyone else, need menstrual health supplies

Around 70 per cent of healthcare workers are women. To effectively respond to the pandemic, they work long hours under intense pressure. Not only do they need access to menstrual hygiene materials, but also the time and the resources to manage their menstrual health.

This is particularly true for front-line health workers who wear personal protective equipment (PPE). Putting on and removing PPE prevents the quick changing of menstrual hygiene materials, leading women to bleed into protective suits, suppress menstruation through the use of oral contraceptive pills, or potentially miss days of work.
 

5. Poverty makes it harder to access menstrual hygiene supplies and care 

People living in poverty already face barriers to obtaining menstrual hygiene supplies and related health services. With stores and public transport closing, rising costs and increasing economic uncertainty, they are now facing even bigger hurdles. There have even been reports of women forced to prioritize food and water over personal care items. 

During the pandemic, the vulnerability of people living in extreme poverty and crisis settings is increasing, while access to sexual and reproductive health services and information is decreasing. 
 

6. COVID-19 threatens the rights and health of vulnerable people who menstruate

Gender inequality, extreme poverty, humanitarian crises and harmful traditions can turn periods  into a time of deprivation and stigma. These vulnerabilities are only increasing under the pandemic, as access to sexual and reproductive health services and information are decreasing.

Circumstances are equally fraught for people with disabilities, people in prisons, refugee and migrant women and shelter residents, all of whom may face shortages and reduced privacy under lockdown.
 

7. Preventing COVID-19 goes hand-in-hand with good menstrual hygiene

Providing water, sanitation and hygiene services to people in displacement camps, informal settlements and impoverished communities contributes to the larger pandemic response. While these services are more important now, they are also threatened more than ever. 

These communities are now facing shortages of soap, cleaning materials and maintenance staff. All of this will adversely impact both the COVID-19 response and the health and rights of people who menstruate.  
 

8. Information about menstrual health and hygiene is hard to come by in the pandemic 

As education and health services have been disrupted, so has the flow of basic information about menstrual health and hygiene. More than ever, we must find new, creative ways to educate people about menstruation – to dispel rumours and spread positive, accurate information about menstruation, both to raise awareness and to end stigma and shame. 
 

9. Harmful menstruation traditions leave people vulnerable to the pandemic 

Some traditions hold that menstruating people should be sent to a ‘menstrual hut’, or to a relative’s home, which could affect a menstruating person’s ability to engage in physical distancing. Other harmful traditions prohibit people from washing or touching their genitals while menstruating. Some say that menstruating people can pollute water sources or toilets.

Even in normal circumstances, menstrual taboos and traditions lead to exclusion and vulnerability. Under the pandemic, these traditions could affect people’s ability to protect themselves against COVID-19 and worsen the situation. 
 

How we’re responding
 

UNICEF, UNFPA and partners are on the ground supplying menstrual hygiene supplies and ensuring safe environments during the COVID-19 response. These efforts include:  

Providing hygiene kits and sanitary products to children, families and front-line workers, including in detention centres, correctional institutions, domestic violence shelters, health centres, residential care homes and quarantine facilities.

Dispelling myths and providing accurate information about menstrual health and COVID-19.

UNFPA has launched videos on topics from helping parents to provide menstrual health information to their children, to teaching people to make their own reusable menstrual products.

UNICEF’s Oky period tracker app provides girls with child-friendly menstruation content, a cycle tracking function and COVID-19 information.  

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm4FdyWaOCo

Posted from https://www.feministlawprofessors.com/

Montclair (NJ) High School Students Prevented from Placing Donated Menstrual Products in School Restrooms

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Bridget Crawford

A couple of years ago, students at Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey began placing in school bathrooms various menstrual products they gathered through school-wide tampon and pad donation drives. By all accounts, the project seems to have been well-received by teachers and students that school year.

photo of Montclair (NJ) High School By Tlantanu at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The next academic year, the students asked the new principal for permission to continue making menstrual products available in the restrooms.  To be clear, the students were not asking the school to pay for the products, just for permission to put donated products in restrooms.  The then-principal (who is no longer at the school) denied the students’ request.  Why? No clear reason was given.

Along with his denial, the principal did make some noises about the possibility that students might soak the freely-available tampons in vodka and insert these tampons to get buzzed during the school day.

Apparently, the school district’s nurse did not offer any support for the students’ project, either. Whoa. School nurses should function as educators and health-support personnel. The behavior of this health professional only exacerbates the perception that school nurses are suspicious of menstruating students and do not have the necessary knowledge to help students who need menstruation-related health advice. The failure of the district nurse to support the students’ project is inexplicable.

There are so many ways that Montclair High School missed the mark in turning down the students’ request.  Separate and apart from whether the school should provide free menstrual products in school bathrooms (more on that below, ehem), there is no reason that the students should be discouraged from undertaking a project that makes life easier for menstruating students, costs the school nothing, and sends an important message that menstrual products do not need to be hidden or kept secret. These products should be available just the way toilet paper is.

Let’s also address that vodka comment. Rumors of teenagers using vodka-soaked tampons as alleged by the then-principal (aka “slimming”) have been making the rounds for years (see, e.g., here and here), but I have found scant reliable evidence of the practice. And if teens really were going to try to get buzzed using vodka-soaked tampons, would they be using the school-provided tampons to do so? Anyone with any experience with teenagers (or who has been a teenager) can imagine many more efficient (and less detectable) practices than bringing booze to school, procuring a tampon from the school bathroom, soaking it, inserting the tampon, and getting rid of the evidence.

If school administrators latched onto sensationalist news stories as a weak excuse to shut down this volunteer effort by students for their peers, those administrators were not acting in the best interests of the students.

It doesn’t take much research to uncover the connection between the ready availability of menstrual products in schools and lower levels of student absenteeism. Period poverty is real, and a public school that serves students of all socioeconomic backgrounds should make it easy for students to concentrate on school, without worrying about being able to address menstruation in a timely and appropriate way.  Professor Chris Cotropia (Richmond) has demonstrated that in one cohort he studied, 92% of female high school students had the experience of needing a new pad or tampon during the school day. 91% reported “trouble affording” these products on their own. Professor Cotropia’s work demonstrates that access to menstrual products matters for attendance, academic performance and health.

Regardless of any student’s income level, periods don’t always arrive predictably, on a precise schedule. Every single person who has ever had a period knows this. Period unpredictability is especially true for menstruating teenagers. Making products available only via the school nurse’s office isn’t necessarily a solution, either, if the nurse’s office is far away, inaccessible, etc. etc. Because of stigma and shame associated with menstruation, many students simply don’t feel comfortable asking for menstrual products. Restrictions on bathroom access can exacerbate challenges for menstruating students.

To return again to the specifics of the Montclair situation, remember: the Montclair students were not asking the school to foot the bill, just for permission to do what they had been doing before.

So, what was the school really worried about? Maybe the then-principal thought that students might get too used to these “luxuries” of free menstrual products (hey, students and faculty alike seem to have gotten used to free toilet paper).

There’s a strong argument that Title IX would treat making menstrual products available in school restrooms as consistent with the obligation of federally-funded schools to make their programs available without regard to sex. Want to know more? Margaret Johnson (Baltimore), Emily Gold Waldman (Pace) and I have written all about it in Title IX and Menstruation, 43 Harv. J. of Law & Gender 225 (2020).

There are several states—including New York, California, Illinois and New Hampshire—that require schools to make menstrual products available for free in school bathrooms. Some local school districts, like the Boston Public Schools, the Brookline (MA) schools, and the Cambridge (MA) Public Schools, have done so voluntarily. Any concerns about expense appear to be overstated. Actual data provided by the Cambridge Public Schools suggest that the annual cost of providing free menstrual products to students is about $2.48 per student per year. 

Pandemic-era learning has meant that the students at Montclair High haven’t been back in the building since March of last year.  But when the school re-opens, let’s hope that the new principal has the good sense at least to permit the students to continue to stock the bathrooms with donated menstrual products. 

Better yet, the Montclair Township Council should pass an ordinance requiring all Montclair schools (@montclairschls) that serve students in grades 6 through 12 to make menstrual products available at no charge to students in all school bathrooms.  

Mayor Sean M. Spiller (@SeanMSpiller), do the students have your support? Eyes and ears await legislation from Councilor-at-Large Robert J. Russo, Deputy Mayor and 1^st Ward Councilor William L. Hurlock (@WillliamLHurlock), Councilor-at-Large Peter Yacobellis (@PeterYacobellis), 2d Ward Councilor Robin Schlager, 3d Ward Councilor Lori Price Adams (@LoriPriceAdams) and 4^th Ward Councilor David Cummings, hoping that they will follow the lead of school districts like Boston, Brookline and Cambridge.

And to the new principal of Montclair High School, you can be a leader on this issue and join other educators who recognize the value of making menstrual products available for free in school restrooms.

Pandemic periods: why women’s menstrual cycles have gone haywire
‘It’s like being at sea within yourself.’
‘It’s like being at sea within yourself.’ Illustration: Tatjana Prenzel/The Guardian
A majority of menstruating women have experienced changes to their cycle over the last year, surveys suggest. One of the main culprits? Persistent stress

Eleanor Morgan- The Guardian
Thu 25 Mar 2021 02.00 EDT

We will not look back on the past year as a vintage one for the human body. Since March 2020, many of us have experienced physical manifestations of stress that correspond to living through a global pandemic. From low energy and headaches to changes in mood and disrupted sleep, our rhythms are deeply upset. And many women have experienced changes to a fundamental rhythm: the menstrual cycle.

Rachel Burns has always experienced premenstrual syndrome (PMS), but it has been even more difficult to navigate in the past 12 months. “I always have a few days of feeling quite withdrawn before my period, but this has morphed into me feeling unreachable and anxious for over a week,” says the 36-year-old from Kent. “My partner says the change is significant.” Before Christmas, her PMS made her feel as if she were “going mad, like a panic attack I couldn’t come down from”. The effects of her period drag on now. She feels fluey, achy, “completely depleted, physically and emotionally”. As a result, it can feel like she “only has one ‘good’ week” a month. “It’s like being at sea within yourself,” she says.

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When the gynaecologist Dr Anita Singh (who writes and podcasts as the Gynae Geek) posted an informal survey on Instagram in May, asking if women had noticed changes to their cycles or hormonal symptoms, 65% of the 5,677 respondents said yes. A study (not yet peer reviewed) carried out by sports scientists and the bioanalytics company Orreco showed that 53% of 749 women surveyed on the characteristics of their menstrual cycle reported changes, such as changes in mood and longer cycles than usual.

To understand what may be happening, we need to think about the basic mechanisms of the menstrual cycle. In a 28-day cycle, ovulation will occur on about day 14. The empty follicle from which the egg pops out will form something called a corpus luteum – a temporary gland that produces high levels of the hormone progesterone (and lower levels of oestrogen) to prepare the uterus for pregnancy if the egg is fertilised. If it isn’t, the corpus luteum breaks down, causing progesterone and oestrogen levels to fall. This begins about a week before the period, on day 21.

The drop in these hormones can affect brain chemicals including serotonin. Many women who experience bad PMS find that, once bleeding begins and hormone levels stabilise, their symptoms disappear. But hormones are only a part of the picture.

“PMS is not purely biological, because the same process of rising and falling oestrogen and progesterone happens to everyone who has a cycle and we are not all affected in the same way,” says the consultant gynaecologist Dr Heather Currie, the associate medical director at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. “Women with PMS do not have abnormal levels of hormones, but appear to be more sensitive to the changing levels of progesterone and oestrogen.”

It is important for women to try to recognise what is going on in their lives that could be making their symptoms worse
What causes some women to be more sensitive than others is a million-dollar question. There is early evidence to suggest that some women may have a genetic vulnerability to being affected by hormonal changes, particularly with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a more severe experience of PMS. “The degree to which changing hormone levels will affect someone will probably be informed by her psychological wellbeing at that time,” says Currie. “So, if we already know that life events can make PMS symptoms feel worse, that tells us something about what is happening during something as all-consuming and life-changing as a global pandemic.”

George Pearce, 29, is a teacher in Southampton. She has had a 28-day cycle for many years and can “usually time my period to within one or two days”. Things have changed. “I will bleed for a few days, then it stops. Then it will start again, then I won’t bleed again for six weeks. It’s like even my period can’t be bothered!” Pearce says that she has never been a particularly anxious person, but feels “like a coiled spring. It’s like a weird sort of hum. I’m ruminating on things more than usual, though, as I’m obviously spending a lot more time in my own head. There’s nowhere else to go.”

Persistent stress leaves us suspended in fight-or-flight mode. In threatening situations, a hormonal pathway in the body called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which links the brain with the adrenal glands, encourages the release of the stress hormone cortisol – preparing us to respond to the threat.

However, if the brain is telling the body it needs to “respond” all the time (to anxious thoughts, changing circumstances, the stress of home schooling, the impact of loneliness, illness or bereavement), unregulated cortisol can suppress the normal levels of reproductive hormones in the body. This can lead to abnormal ovulation, which will disrupt the cycle – or even pause it altogether.

“It is important for women to try to recognise what else is going on in their lives that could be making their symptoms feel worse,” says Currie. Even our experience of period pain, which can be simply understood as the walls of the womb vigorously contracting to help the lining shed, can be affected by our emotional state. Studies have also linked painful periods to working in insecure jobs with little emotional support, which speaks to evidence showing that stress can deepen our perception of pain. Pain can be stressful; stress can be painful. There is no membrane between the physical and emotional.

The absence of our usual distractions and coping strategies make escaping – or accepting and getting on with – our thoughts more difficult. “There is no release valve,” says Dr Sue Ward, a consultant gynaecologist and a vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. “So many of us are miserable. Any condition that has a psychological element will have surely been made worse by lockdown. It is a perfect storm and the body can tell the story of stress in so many ways.”

Ward believes we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of women being unable to get together and vent, either. “Being able to talk about our health and emotional issues with each other legitimises what we’re thinking. Having the space to laugh takes the sting out of things. We seek solutions and affirmation from fellow women and so many of us haven’t been able to have that.” Domestic burdens and the inability to escape our partners may also make us feel exposed in a way we haven’t before.

During the second lockdown, Sarah Adams, 35, approached her GP to discuss what felt like worsening PMS. “I have experienced disconnection and sadness in the second half of my cycle for years, which I’ve known needed addressing, but the volume of my self-critical voice this past year has become so loud that it can be scary.” She attributes this, in part, to “not being able to take the feelings anywhere, like the library, swimming pool or pub”.

Adams lives in east London and runs a shop with her boyfriend. Until they had to close, they purposely arranged their schedules so that they wouldn’t work together all the time. Now, she says, they are “stuck together 24/7”. “Women are so predisposed to analysing our own behaviour and thinking about how we are perceived. Self-doubt flourishes when we can’t be around other women. You lose sense of what is normal or understandable.”

The same is true for those who live alone. Sam Davies, 38, is a product manager who lives in Hertfordshire. She says she has always experienced some form of PMS. But living alone for the first six months of the pandemic “exacerbated everything. I kept having this overwhelming feeling of being stuck; with my feelings, in my house, alone.” For Davies, PMS is usually characterised by depressive feelings. “I feel hopeless, headachey and very tearful, but also have quite angry, intrusive thoughts and misophonia [extreme sensitivity to sounds].” She is working with a private therapist, which is helping. “It’s hard to know whether my PMS during lockdown has become worse because of changes in routine and higher stress levels, or whether my ability to cope generally has changed. Maybe it’s both.”

A perverse upside to the pandemic is that it has presented an opportunity to reappraise what “stress” actually means and how starkly it can affect the body. If our periods have gone haywire over the past year, this is probably a response to prevailing stress; a signal from the body to think about what tools and habits might nurture our emotional wellbeing. Once life returns to something resembling normal, routines are easier to maintain and we are able to calm down, it is likely that erratic menstrual cycles will calm down, too.

Names and some identifying details have been changed.

Cosmo Investigates: Do Guys Have Periods?

Sometimes, dudes get all douche-y and moody around a certain time of the month. Which makes us wonder: Do guys have periods? Figuratively speaking, of course. We reached out to one of our fave experts, Yael Varnado, MD, to get the lowdown on why men sometimes act like they’re the ones with PMS.by DARA ADEEYO MAY 2, 2013

THINGS WE HATE: WHEN GUYS GET ALL PISSY LIKE ROSS.GETTY IMAGES

So, do guys have PMS?

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Of course, men don’t actually have the lovely bonafide PMS related to preparing the uterus and egg for fertilization. But some go through what’s called the male PMS: “IMS” (Irritable Male Syndrome). This can be attributed to men experiencing a drop in testosterone, the hormone that gives them their mojo. Their IMS can happen at anytime, as testosterone levels fluctuate during the day, but they tend to be highest during the morning and drop as the day goes on.

But what causes the dip in testosterone levels?

There can be many factors. From stress to change in diet, anything can impact your man’s testosterone levels. And thus, lead to male PMS. Interestingly, some attribute male moodiness to “sympathy PMS,” which is when guys experience similar feelings to the women in their lives who are dealing with the psychological and emotional feelings associated with PMS.

What happens when a dude experiences IMS?

It can cause him to be more angry, and moody. Guys who do have IMS can also be super anxious, depressed, and exhibit lower self-esteem.

What should you do when he’s male PMS-ing?

Talk to your man if his moodiness becomes an issue and raise your concerns with your doctor as well. Your doc could prescribe anything from a change in diet, stress relief advice, hormone creams/medication, or other remedies/medications if necessary.

If your guy is being a total beotch and you think he might be on his “period” or experiencing some IMS, cut him some slack. We do it too around that time of the month.

Want more from Dara? Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @dadeeyo.This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.ioMOR