Tampons
Or what this is really about...ignorance.
I’m starting this post without a clear idea of how I want to talk about this topic. I’m not entirely sure what the topic even is, only that it’s something that when I saw it, I knew I had to write about it. Have you ever had that experience? It’s the closest thing to spiritual that I get—this deep desire, and compulsivity, to explore an idea or question in writing. It feels divine. (Not that my words are divine, mind you.)
Several weeks ago, I took a screenshot of a Facebook comment that was in response to a friend of mine praising Tim Walz’s part in passing legislation to have menstrual supplies in all school bathrooms. The dissenting comment was “This isn’t about actual girls getting free tampons.” A clear anti-trans response that my friend then respectfully and intelligently rebutted. What followed was not a continuation of that particular topic, but a rant in which this person tried to backtrack so they would not sound like a homophobe and instead ended up sounding like the world’s oldest and worst stereotypical Boomer.
“Back in my day…”
It was a rather pathetic and unfortunate view of the world in which this person felt since they made it through life with very little, so should everyone else in exactly the same way. “We just managed, we never had xyz, times are hard, but they were for me too” so buck up, bucko.
This way of thinking drives me insane. We are supposed to want more for the younger generations—better than what we had, not equal to, or in some cases worse. For me that is a natural feeling. When my oldest son lectures me about saving for retirement, or my daughter teaches me about art and anime and the queer community she’s in, or when former students have schooled me about the inequities of college culture—I welcome these perspectives. I don’t always understand it all, but I try to because I am happy they have all learned something I haven’t. I value perspectives from lives I have not lived.
I’m not saying I never roll my eyes at young people’s complaints; I too, am far removed from the issues a high schooler has to deal with. And sometimes it’s hard for a fifty year old to relate to a fifteen year old. I get it. But what I don’t get is the complete inability to listen and consider. Especially with this particular rant of “when I was a kid”, I do not understand why people compare themselves like this. There will always be someone worse off, and there will always be someone better off. Neither discounts what anyone feels or believes, and neither means cultural progression should stop.
Tampons in the boys’ bathrooms—I mean, so what? Of all things in today’s schools, that’s what bothers this person? We just had yet another school shooting (as per this writing). A 14 year old with an AR-15 and they’re worried a boy will see a tampon—or that a boy will need one. On one hand they’re right, it’s not about “actual girls getting tampons”. It’s about equal rights, equal access, normalizing what more than half the population goes through—menstruation—and simply offering supplies in case one gets caught off guard no matter what bathroom they are in. Which I personally think is so generous and awesome. As a kid, in particular, the fear of getting your period unexpectedly is a very real fear. And back in my day, (haha) if you didn’t have a quarter on you, you were doomed. That was IF the machine was even stocked. And this fear returns in spades during perimenopause, so THANK YOU TIM WALZ.
Boomers old and young, try to just listen instead of proclaiming how hard or great or whatever your own life was that makes you think nothing should change in anyone else’s life now. That is the biggest blockade to so many good things for newer generations. It’s also the biggest blockade to your own growth. Do us all a favor, if you’re that determined to never grow and change in your own life, don’t infect the rest of us with pointless objections.