Liberal Arts student advocates for accessible menstrual health products

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Shaka Ramanathan, a fourth-year Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar majoring in psychology and double minoring in women’s studies and biology, is the president of Days for Girls at Penn State. Days for Girls is an international nonprofit organization that aims to provide sustainable menstrual health solutions and products to menstruators who have to miss school or work during their period. At Penn State, Ramanathan and other members of Days for Girls help prepare these menstrual kits by sewing different cloth liners, shields and bags that meet specific criteria.

Ramanathan said she joined the organization during her first year on campus because it was a safe space where she felt comfortable sharing her thoughts and questions about periods. As president, Ramanathan continues to make Days for Girls a happy and secure place where students can be authentic, talk about new and important topics surrounding periods and forge connections with others.

From Paoli, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia, Ramanathan understood the impacts period poverty has on menstruators around the world and knew that she wanted to join an organization dedicated to menstrual equity while in college.

“We should view period poverty and menstrual equity through a human rights framework,” Ramanathan said. “Menstruation is a basic fact of human existence. People with periods deserve and are entitled to have resources to take care of their bodies and to feel safe and comfortable.”

Having become interested in this sphere of activism and learning from a project in high school about period poverty, Ramanathan realized how many factors lead to menstrual inequity. She says that menstrual equity encompasses more than just period products but also access to restrooms and clean water to take care of yourself. Menstruators throughout the United States, including on many college campuses, are not guaranteed these essentials either. 

She says that sustainability in terms of menstruation is an "important concept" since most disposable period products contain plastic and end up in landfills. As for options considered more sustainable, they are more expensive, thus leading to a discrepancy in who gets to use what product. However, Days for Girls aims to provide free menstrual cups whenever possible.

During an annual meeting titled “Sustain-A-Bleed,” the organization talked about different sustainable options for period products that some members might consider using in lieu of the traditional disposable pad and tampon.

“We like to educate people on how to use menstrual cups because there is a lot of misinformation around using sustainable options, like menstrual cups or menstrual discs,” Ramanathan said. “We have a lot of resources on our Instagram, and we have meetings discussing how to use them and how to maintain the use of them.”

Last semester, the organization held a menstrual equity event that featured philanthropist Chelsea VonChaz, who spoke on menstrual freedom. VonChaz is the founder of #HappyPeriod, which aims to provide menstrual products to menstruators of color and to empower women to advocate for their bodies.

The advocacy leadership team, led by Emma Cihanowyz, a fourth-year student majoring in international politics and double minoring in women’s studies and French, plans educational workshops and advocacy campaigns for social media or in-person events.

Cihanowyz, a Montoursville, Pennsylvania, native, works with the various colleges at Penn State to provide free period products around campus. Days for Girls distributes these “Flow2Go” kits filled with pads, tampons and menstrual cups around various Penn State University Park buildings, such as the HUB-Robeson Center and Sparks Building. Students can follow Days for Girls at Penn State on Instagram to see the full list of locations.

“I enjoy having conversations about menstrual equity with a wide variety of individuals and administrators. I want to create a foundation of ethical leadership and activism in the menstrual equity sphere,” Cihanowyz said.

In addition to Cihanowyz and Ramanathan both minoring in women’s studies, they are Paterno Fellows and Schreyer Scholars. This focus and being part of these two honors programs have allowed both women to tailor some of their education to their interests outside of academia.

“The women’s studies minor has granted me a foundational knowledge on gendered issues such as period poverty,” Cihanowyz said. “I understand theories such as intersectionality in period poverty and the importance of inclusion of all gender identities in my work. Not all women menstruate, and not all who menstruate are women, so it is deeply important that I use this inclusive approach when working to eliminate period poverty.”

Ramanathan said her participation in Days for Girls has allowed her to meet specific Paterno Fellows Program requirements in terms of leadership opportunities and experiences.

“All three programs [the women’s studies minor, the Paterno Fellows Program and Schreyer Honors College] have allowed us to share these messages,” she said. “There are a lot of Liberal Arts professors who we have been in contact with who are very open to listening and supporting us, which has been very encouraging.”

'Moments of Change: Creating a Livable Planet'

In the fall of 2022, the College of the Liberal Arts chose the theme for its next offering in its Moments of Change initiative — an undertaking that brings students, faculty, staff and alumni together to explore what it means to live through historic and contemporary times of change. Through the spring of 2024, "Moments of Change: Creating a Livable Planet," is focusing on the many aspects of sustainability and highlighting the ongoing work of the Liberal Arts Sustainability Council, students, faculty and staff in that regard. Similar to "Remembering 1968" in 2018 and "A Century of Women’s Activism" in 2020, the college has planned an array of courses, lectures, presentations and events centered around the "Creating a Livable Planet" theme.