Along with advocating for free feminine products in public women’s restrooms, some campus activists are now pushing for free feminine products in men’s and gender-neutral restrooms. 

You might be thinking: why put feminine products in men’s restrooms? Men don’t have periods? While biologically-classified men don’t need feminine products, putting them in men’s restrooms is a way to be inclusive of all genders, including female-to-male transgender students who still menstruate.

As could be expected, there have been some critics of the initiative. Ultra-conservative news outlets like Breitbart call it “academic insanity” and there have been some attempts to steal the products on campuses where the initiative has been created.

These efforts follow programs on other campuses to create easier and more affordable access to feminine and contraceptive products. One program at the University of California Davis created vending machines that provided discounted health products like Advil, condoms, pregnancy tests and the morning after pill.

All of these programs are meant to improve sexual health education among college students and de-stigmatize health issues like menstruation and contraception. With more education and acceptance, perhaps the notorious “hook up culture” and its consequences will become less of a taboo and more of a conversation.

To read the full article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, click here.