Care Rumer Portfolio
Interdisciplinary Connections: HS to World
Let's talk about periods!
For my Junior Research Project, I researched menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in the United States. The Human Rights Watch defines effective MHM as “adequate, acceptable, and affordable menstrual management materials; access to adequate facilities, sanitation, infrastructure, and supplies to enable women and girls to change and dispose of menstrual materials; and knowledge of the process of menstruation and of options available for menstrual hygiene management.” (Human Rights Watch). This project impacted me deeply and subsequently, I have become obsessed with menstrual justice and it is an active part of my life.
Update 2021: I have worked with St. Paul's University College to provide free menstrual management supplies in the washrooms. I also wrote on the topic for the Imprint, the University of Waterloo newspaper: crumer.org/imprint.
Menstruation has obvious connections to the world because at any point in time there are millions of women, genderqueer people, and transmen are experiencing their period.
This presentation connected with my world first when I put my money (other people's money) where my mouth was and instead of asking for traditional gifts I asked my friends to get me menstrual supplies for my birthday in addition to collecting supplies from my classmates as the action portion of my project. Then, I continued on. The best way to break the stigma around something: talk about it. That's just what I did. I contacted Elise Joy from Girls Helping Girls Period and invited her to be a guest on my podcast Something Good Happened. In addition to weakening the period stigma, we promoted GHGP and how to get involved with menstrual justice to spread the action beyond our limited community.
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From their menstruation flowed into my art. I took the photo that is the background of this page in ART 381. It is a tampon when it gets wet expanding into a beautiful flower shape. And then . . . the realities of menstruation bit me in the butt, or more accurately my uterus, hard. On a particularly bad period of mine, while we were studying Existentialism, my menstrage flowed into my prose.
My latest menstrual escapade is when San Mateo High School closed all of the bathrooms except for 1- 4 stalled restroom for each binary gender open only during lunch and brunch. There are a host of reasons why this was a terrible administrative decision. I helped with a strongly worded letter from Dr. Kristen Rumer M.D. Ph. D. (my aunt) and Lilian Rumer (my cousin). I brought to the table and contributed my research from the JRP to their letter.
