Period Poverty

Period poverty is the access problem where people who menstruate cannot reliably afford safe, appropriate, and dignified menstrual products. 175.女性卫生用品的社会史：比想象中更精彩！ raises it in the closing section after discussing sanitary-pad history, menstrual taxes, environmental burden, product safety concerns, and the continuing difficulty some girls face in obtaining reliable supplies.

The concept connects income inequality to Menstrual Public Infrastructure. If sanitary products are treated as optional private purchases, lower-income users are more likely to use unsafe substitutes, stretch products too long, miss school or work, or bear shame as an additional cost.

Key Claims

• Menstrual products are recurring necessities, so small unit prices can become a durable gendered expense.
• Poverty interacts with stigma: the harder a need is to discuss publicly, the easier it is for institutions to ignore.
• Safety standards and affordability have to be considered together; cheap products are not enough if users cannot trust materials, sterility, or enforcement.
• Environmental concerns are real, but reuse or alternative products cannot be imposed without attention to water, privacy, cleaning, comfort, and local access.

Connections

• Menstrual Product Social History - historical frame for why products became necessary infrastructure.
• Menstrual Public Infrastructure - policy and availability branch.
• Gendered Medicalization and Toxic Shock Syndrome Risk - safety and health context.