Students at Cornell University recently passed a referendum
(that they sponsored) to provide free tampons and maxi-pads in all campus bathrooms, men’s and women’s.
3,034 of the young intellectuals voted, with an overwhelming 78.6% in favor of
“free” (formerly) feminine hygiene products. The “#FreetheTampon” initiative
would provide all bathrooms with free menstrual products year-round.
Brown
University has already implemented a similar program, so perhaps the Ivy League
schools are going in alphabetical order. I’m guessing Dartmouth will soon be
voting on its own referendumb.
The new
“wisdom” on campus is that not all people who menstruate are women. Come again? Call me a skeptic, but I can’t
think of a more clearly distinguishing characteristic. Not all women
menstruate, but everyone who menstruates is- by definition- a female. Some
women don’t look like women, and I know some are firefighters or box
professionally, but if we can’t agree on the menstruation thing, this truly is
a country divided. And demented. (A corollary: all those getting abortions are women, too. Sorry to be such a
purveyor of traditional understanding, skepticism and non-inclusiveness!).
Many of
the cruel and non-inclusive students who voted against the measure expressed
concern over the financial burden the initiative would create and the almost
certain waste of the products supplied to the men’s rooms, as less than one
percent of the population is transgender, with far fewer than that being
“males” who menstruate. Many students posted comments on the Cornell Assemblies
Elections page.
Some
students said that they’d be okay with supplying the women’s bathroom with the
free gynecological goodies, but not the men’s rooms. Sadly, they are missing
the point of the endeavor.
One
student reasoned, “In any situation in which a discussion is being had about a
given institution providing some good or service for free, it is essential to
first be able to estimate the cost of such a provision prior to implementing
it.” Calvinist tightwad.
Another
stated: “Having the school subsidize more products leads to an increasing cost
for the students to attend…where does the subsidizing stop?” A third remarked,
“The school shouldn’t provide other services that aren’t directly relevant or
necessary for education.” Where has that clown been in recent years?
Many of
those who voted “yes” said things along the lines of, “this is a basic human
right, like water or shelter,” and that it’s “ridiculous” and “insane” that
they aren’t free already. Insane, you say? I don’t know many people who don’t pay- a lot- for their shelter, and
I myself just spent $1.75 for a bottle of Aquafina!
The
issue was to be presented to the school’s president for potential
implementation.
I’ll
close with yet another student’s comment on the proposal, this one succinct and
to-the-point: “Seems expensive and unnecessary.”
That it
is, my friend, that it is. But who’ll stop the bleeding?
P.S.: “Go
red big!” Oops, I mean, “Go Big Red!”
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