More than 8,000 emails threatening to kill a 27-year-old local assembly member in central Japan were sent after she posted on social media calling for menstrual products to be made available in public restrooms.
People can argue all day long that we should be responsible for our own pads/tampons etc. but ultimately these arguments of where the responsibility lies miss the point. It’s just nice, it’s such a relief when you get caught out and have an emergency and you know you don’t have to worry about making something makeshift or finding a shop or having some change to use one of the crappy vending machines in the bathroom. I was ambivalent about free period products before moving to Scotland last year but just having them available when you need them is fantastic. Like the state doesn’t need to provide them but god does it make such a difference when they do.
In cities, many businesses will advertise by putting a little marketing ad inside a small pack of tissues. People will be hired to hand these out at busy street corners. It’s not uncommon for restrooms to not have toilet paper, so you use the tissues.
You start carrying emergency toilet paper then.
People can argue all day long that we should be responsible for our own pads/tampons etc. but ultimately these arguments of where the responsibility lies miss the point. It’s just nice, it’s such a relief when you get caught out and have an emergency and you know you don’t have to worry about making something makeshift or finding a shop or having some change to use one of the crappy vending machines in the bathroom. I was ambivalent about free period products before moving to Scotland last year but just having them available when you need them is fantastic. Like the state doesn’t need to provide them but god does it make such a difference when they do.
To be fair, this is actually normal in Japan.
In cities, many businesses will advertise by putting a little marketing ad inside a small pack of tissues. People will be hired to hand these out at busy street corners. It’s not uncommon for restrooms to not have toilet paper, so you use the tissues.
Truly a most advanced society.