A bedazzled cardboard box covered in a glittering silver border and colorful construction paper sits in the atrium, awaiting boxes of menstrual products to be donated to those in need.
The Gender Equality Club, a chapter of the United Nations Girl Up organization that works to promote gender equality worldwide, organized this period product drive. Through fundraisers, bake sales and drives such as this one, the club furthers Girl Up’s goals locally and brings awareness to sexism and discrimination. The Gender Equality Club also helps out at Day of Change, which raises awareness for sexual harassment.
Co-president and senior Gianna Gravina said the Gender Equality Club continues to be an important presence at the high school amidst anti-feminist attitudes that persist in local and broader communities.
“I think there’s been a lot of anti-feminist moments going [on] either within BHS or just globally, like with the taking away [of] Roe v. Wade, and there’s just been a lot going on,” Gravina said. “And I also think feminism is so important at our school specifically because we’re such a large environment and we have a lot of toxic masculinity and unsafe environments going on here.”
One of the volunteer events that the club runs to work towards eliminating stigmas is the period product drive for the women’s homeless shelter Rosie’s Place. This drive helps to solve an issue that is often overlooked, according to club co-president and senior Jolie Revis.
“[Period products are] just such a necessity that I think we sometimes take for granted because at least for me, I’m able to get it whenever I need it. But it’s actually a really expensive product,” Revis said. “It’s just a necessity, and I don’t think enough people view it that way.”
Gravina said that the drive is an easy way for those who are able to provide products for people who might not be financially capable of prioritizing these essentials.
“For someone who can’t even afford to have a home or for food, [period products are] not going to be at the top of their list, but they should have the right to feel comfortable and like a person,” Gravina said.
The Gender Equality Club does not do their work alone, and has worked with groups such as Reproductive Equity Now and the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention coalition (SHARP) to amplify discourse surrounding gender equality and safety for all.
Junior and Gender Equality Club member Noah Krewinghaus said that volunteer work like the drive or other fundraising events impacts the entire school community.
“It makes me feel good, because I feel like I’m making a difference,” Krewinghaus said. “And it speaks to BHS because I think the Gender Equality Club—in the way it acts and the period product drives and all of that—helps promote a different culture, a more healthy culture, on topics like periods and working in collaboration with SHARP on topics like rape culture.”
Revis said that each project the Gender Equality Club gets involved in also sparks necessary discussions amongst students and staff about gender injustice.
“At least for the rhetoric in BHS, I think we definitely get conversations started,” Revis said. “In the past four years we’ve done some general surveys about gender equality, and we’re able to look at the results after and have discussions in our own club. But I think when people see that and are participating in those surveys, they’re maybe going to talk about it with their friends, and just getting these issues heard and spread around the school is really big.”
