Montclair Menstrual Club brings hygiene products back to MHS bathrooms - Montclair Local

Montclair Menstrual Club board members, from left to right, Serena Lee, Dylan Campanaro and Natalie Smith at a hygiene products drive run by the club, Cafe Moso and the MHS Time’s Up club in spring 2021. (COURTESY MONTCLAIR MENSTRUAL CLUB)

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. 

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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.”

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