0:00:06.324,0:00:07.492
Me?

0:00:08.445,0:00:10.903
I was disgusted,

0:00:10.903,0:00:12.640
in shock really.

0:00:13.219,0:00:16.830
I felt like Mother Nature was hazing me

0:00:16.841,0:00:19.664
into a sorority I wanted no part of.

0:00:20.466,0:00:22.502
"Welcome to womanhood!

0:00:22.502,0:00:25.056
By the way, we don't really[br]talk about this,

0:00:25.086,0:00:28.420
so if you can just keep it[br]to yourself, that'd be great."

0:00:29.409,0:00:31.818
I was angry,

0:00:31.818,0:00:34.773
angry at every single woman on the planet

0:00:34.773,0:00:37.695
for the entire existence of this globe,

0:00:37.695,0:00:42.432
who had not yet done anything to stop this

0:00:42.432,0:00:46.231
before I had to have my first period.

0:00:47.910,0:00:50.479
Now, perhaps in the past,

0:00:50.479,0:00:53.910
this maybe wasn't a very[br]comfortable topic for you.

0:00:54.373,0:00:57.771
For the women, maybe you can relate.

0:00:58.411,0:01:03.107
For the men, I want to remind you[br]that you have a sister,

0:01:03.107,0:01:05.477
or maybe a daughter,

0:01:05.477,0:01:06.900
or a wife.

0:01:07.897,0:01:11.759
But at the very least[br]you all came from a mother, right?

0:01:12.379,0:01:16.470
Chances are you love[br]someone who menstruates.

0:01:16.473,0:01:18.862
(Laughter)

0:01:20.780,0:01:23.050
After my first period,

0:01:23.050,0:01:26.071
I just took a cue from everyone around me

0:01:26.071,0:01:28.980
and just kept it to myself -

0:01:28.980,0:01:31.702
all the symptoms and the questions -

0:01:31.702,0:01:33.887
even though half the population

0:01:33.887,0:01:37.013
was likely experiencing[br]the very same thing.

0:01:37.663,0:01:40.293
I just "went with the flow."

0:01:40.308,0:01:42.113
(Laughter)

0:01:42.533,0:01:45.549
Of course, I'd heard the occasional[br]sitcom references

0:01:45.549,0:01:49.336
to "Her time of the month" or "PMS."

0:01:49.876,0:01:53.245
There is a more crass version[br]at school and on the bus

0:01:53.245,0:01:57.557
of "She's on the rag" or "Don't be a rag."

0:01:58.254,0:02:01.174
And we've all heard euphemisms,[br]have we not?

0:02:01.174,0:02:03.517
"Aunt Flo's in town!"

0:02:03.520,0:02:05.882
"The crimson tide,"

0:02:06.633,0:02:09.001
"The painters are in."

0:02:09.001,0:02:10.972
(Laughter)

0:02:12.380,0:02:16.125
Of course, I think[br]my favorite is: "Shark week."

0:02:16.125,0:02:18.025
(Laughter)

0:02:19.345,0:02:21.965
I don't really mind these euphemisms,

0:02:21.965,0:02:25.193
but they did very little to educate,

0:02:25.193,0:02:28.895
or to normalize [br]such a prevalent process for me.

0:02:29.568,0:02:31.755
And for 25 years,

0:02:31.755,0:02:36.464
I hid all evidence of my period[br]like it was a crime scene.

0:02:37.454,0:02:41.015
But that changed for me[br]when I took my first trip to Haiti.

0:02:41.967,0:02:45.198
In Haiti, I worked[br]in mobile medical clinics,

0:02:45.198,0:02:50.628
and in four days time, we saw 320 women,

0:02:50.628,0:02:53.467
and every single one

0:02:53.467,0:02:57.548
had either a urinary tract infection[br]or a yeast infection.

0:02:58.555,0:03:00.385
These very painful infections,

0:03:00.385,0:03:03.914
they had waited weeks or months[br]to see a doctor for.

0:03:04.607,0:03:08.918
And the scene is repeated[br]week after week in Haiti.

0:03:09.851,0:03:14.112
Grappling with trying to understand[br]why these infections were so rampant,

0:03:14.125,0:03:20.029
I learned that the women of Haiti[br]have little access to feminine supplies,

0:03:20.609,0:03:23.474
that they would use cut-up rags

0:03:23.474,0:03:26.189
or a maxi pad for several days.

0:03:26.509,0:03:30.037
And this was what was contributing[br]to their infections.

0:03:30.637,0:03:34.461
You know, it had never occurred to me before

0:03:34.461,0:03:37.405
what other women were doing[br]for their periods.

0:03:37.562,0:03:40.723
You know, we were all just so busy[br]keeping this to ourselves,

0:03:40.729,0:03:43.446
that nobody was really talking about it.

0:03:43.681,0:03:45.261
Nobody was talking about the fact

0:03:45.261,0:03:48.706
there are women who don't have[br]access to feminine supplies.

0:03:49.704,0:03:51.892
That never occurred to me.

0:03:51.892,0:03:56.183
And then, as if to add[br]an exclamation point

0:03:56.183,0:03:59.161
to the epiphany I was having in Haiti,

0:03:59.161,0:04:01.529
I had an unexpected period.

0:04:02.002,0:04:05.363
I would have been fine had I packed[br]those ever-essential items

0:04:05.363,0:04:08.779
that every woman traveller should pack.

0:04:09.652,0:04:11.525
But I didn't.

0:04:12.237,0:04:17.842
And I was able to experience the panic[br]of not being able to find supplies,

0:04:19.154,0:04:21.191
and the shame

0:04:21.191,0:04:25.543
of not being able to take care[br]of my own body,

0:04:26.779,0:04:31.741
and the humiliation[br]when I bled through on my clothing,

0:04:32.974,0:04:38.262
and the relief, finally, when I was[br]in an airport where I could buy supplies.

0:04:39.334,0:04:40.932
Two days,

0:04:40.932,0:04:43.387
two short days, I experienced

0:04:43.387,0:04:48.670
what hundreds of millions[br]of women on our planet

0:04:48.670,0:04:51.694
experience every month,

0:04:51.694,0:04:55.007
month after month, decade after decade,

0:04:55.007,0:04:59.898
an average of 3,500 days[br]in a woman's lifetime.

0:05:02.399,0:05:05.092
I came back very different.

0:05:05.338,0:05:08.384
And I immediately started[br]working in a non-profit

0:05:08.384,0:05:12.232
that makes reusable feminine hygiene kits

0:05:12.232,0:05:15.538
for women and girls[br]in developing countries.

0:05:15.847,0:05:18.921
And because the cloth items[br]in the kit are colorful,

0:05:18.921,0:05:21.272
they can be washed and hung to dry

0:05:21.272,0:05:24.332
using the sanitizing power of the sun.

0:05:24.478,0:05:26.333
It was through my work[br]in this organization[br]

0:05:26.333,0:05:31.149
that I learned so much about the state[br]of menstruation around the world.

0:05:32.031,0:05:34.786
I learned that women will resourcefully

0:05:34.786,0:05:38.800
resort to using items like[br]bits of their mattress pad,

0:05:39.472,0:05:41.695
or corn husks,

0:05:42.187,0:05:45.649
even a rock, to manage their flow.

0:05:46.284,0:05:50.900
Some girls who don't have anything[br]would sit on a cardboard mat

0:05:50.900,0:05:55.024
and wait out what they call[br]their "week of shame."

0:05:56.044,0:05:58.759
Did you know that there are places[br]on this planet

0:05:58.759,0:06:01.722
that place limitations[br]on where a woman can go

0:06:01.722,0:06:05.133
and what she can do[br]when she's on her period?

0:06:06.568,0:06:11.468
There are some women and girls[br]who know the power of work and education

0:06:11.468,0:06:14.311
to turn around cycles of poverty,

0:06:15.169,0:06:17.048
and they get forced

0:06:17.048,0:06:20.407
into exchanging sexual favors[br]

0:06:21.147,0:06:24.277
for a maxi pad.

0:06:25.884,0:06:28.868
These are the facts that I learned[br]and I share in my community

0:06:28.868,0:06:31.812
as I try to rally support for this cause.

0:06:32.060,0:06:36.961
The response, without fail, is almost[br]identical to my own which was:

0:06:37.188,0:06:38.531
"It never occurred to me[br]

0:06:38.531,0:06:41.555
what other women were doing[br]for their period."

0:06:42.870,0:06:46.038
And then, as if talking about[br]other women's periods

0:06:46.043,0:06:48.258
almost opened the floodgates,

0:06:48.258,0:06:50.785
and give permission[br]for the women in my community

0:06:50.785,0:06:53.413
to talk about their own,

0:06:53.413,0:06:57.095
my favorite thing to do at sewing events[br]is to walk by a table of women

0:06:57.095,0:07:00.724
and listen to them talk[br]about their first periods,

0:07:00.724,0:07:03.408
the thing they just didn't know!

0:07:03.581,0:07:05.964
Embarrassing moments!

0:07:06.153,0:07:10.278
There was one girl who thought[br]that it was a singular event,

0:07:10.278,0:07:12.896
"period," one and done.

0:07:12.906,0:07:14.905
(Laughter)

0:07:14.937,0:07:17.821
Life would be different[br]if that was the case.

0:07:18.242,0:07:21.375
Several women shared[br]about how they learned quite painfully

0:07:21.375,0:07:24.523
that when they try tampons for the first time,

0:07:24.523,0:07:28.110
the applicator was actually meant[br]to be removed and thrown away.

0:07:28.110,0:07:29.798
Yeah...

0:07:31.127,0:07:34.431
It was through these communications[br]that I learned

0:07:34.431,0:07:38.058
that the ability to openly[br]talk about menstruation,

0:07:38.058,0:07:40.738
and have access to supplies,

0:07:40.754,0:07:44.374
isn't just something[br]that was happening over there,

0:07:44.388,0:07:47.552
in Uganda, Guatemala or Haiti,

0:07:47.552,0:07:49.803
but here,

0:07:49.808,0:07:53.043
in our country, our state, our city.

0:07:53.784,0:07:57.954
Right outside these doors,[br]there are women in our community

0:07:57.954,0:08:01.179
who struggle to find access[br]to feminine supplies.

0:08:02.225,0:08:06.904
Our homeless population are particularly[br]susceptible to infections

0:08:06.904,0:08:09.114
and having to go without.

0:08:09.353,0:08:12.654
But our refugee centers,[br]the food banks, our crisis centers,

0:08:12.654,0:08:15.023
they all need feminine supplies.

0:08:15.584,0:08:18.414
Even some local middle schools!

0:08:18.793,0:08:20.386
The nurse will pass out supplies

0:08:20.386,0:08:23.945
faster than her own pocket book[br]can keep up with.

0:08:25.313,0:08:28.045
Food stamps doesn't pay for tampons.

0:08:28.464,0:08:31.695
And as a community we gather support[br]around those that are struggling

0:08:31.695,0:08:36.866
and try to provide some basic needs[br]like food, water, and shelter.

0:08:38.048,0:08:42.256
But feminine supplies[br]are the silent necessity,

0:08:43.302,0:08:47.714
a need that's not being met[br]because nobody's talking about it.

0:08:48.897,0:08:52.330
The interesting thing is: I was talking[br]to volunteers by the thousands

0:08:52.345,0:08:55.485
about the needs [br]around the world and locally,

0:08:55.485,0:08:59.896
and I realized that I wasn't really[br]talking about menstruation.

0:09:01.057,0:09:03.606
You see, I have four boys.

0:09:03.719,0:09:07.629
And we turned our house[br]into a maxi pad manufacturing plant

0:09:07.629,0:09:10.265
for girls around the world.

0:09:11.575,0:09:17.106
But I realized that I was still[br]hiding my own supplies.

0:09:17.475,0:09:20.279
I would smuggle them in[br]from purchase to bathroom,

0:09:20.279,0:09:22.747
you know, not wanting to embarrass.

0:09:23.177,0:09:27.086
And when I realized the incongruence,[br]I decided that I needed to change.

0:09:27.237,0:09:29.607
So I tried an experiment.

0:09:29.914,0:09:32.615
I got a box of tampons,

0:09:32.635,0:09:37.135
and inside I placed some money[br]and a note that said,

0:09:37.135,0:09:40.493
"Congratulations for being brave[br]enough to open this box!

0:09:40.493,0:09:42.513
All the money is yours."

0:09:42.513,0:09:44.449
(Laughter)

0:09:44.449,0:09:48.606
I took my box and put it in the middle[br]of my kitchen islands,

0:09:48.606,0:09:50.259
and waited.

0:09:51.476,0:09:53.588
Nobody touched it for three weeks.

0:09:53.588,0:09:55.288
(Laughter)

0:09:55.447,0:09:57.209
Finally, when I went out of town,

0:09:57.227,0:10:00.469
Dad, who was in on the deal[br]pressured the boys.

0:10:00.478,0:10:03.325
"- Open the box.[br]- Pff! ... Uh-uh."

0:10:05.022,0:10:08.254
My 12-year-old didn't really know[br]like "what is this about?"

0:10:08.254,0:10:11.847
And when his older brothers[br]let him in on it, he left the room.

0:10:12.028,0:10:14.833
He wasn't going to have anything[br]to do with that.

0:10:15.430,0:10:18.427
Finally after much pressure,[br]my 9-year-old,

0:10:18.427,0:10:20.978
with his quick ninja-like reflexes,[br]

0:10:20.978,0:10:23.288
opened the box and then ran[br]into the other room

0:10:23.288,0:10:25.958
before the contents could have[br]any effect over him.

0:10:25.968,0:10:27.639
(Laughter)

0:10:27.939,0:10:29.927
My 15-year-old

0:10:30.987,0:10:33.017
peeped in the box

0:10:33.017,0:10:36.489
and then pocketed[br]the money for his efforts.

0:10:37.385,0:10:40.948
This experiment wasn't just for my boys,

0:10:40.948,0:10:42.928
it was for me.

0:10:43.683,0:10:48.226
I wasn't doing myself or them any favors

0:10:48.239,0:10:53.519
by hiding the very biological process[br]that helped create their lives.

0:10:54.868,0:11:00.939
So now, I no longer hide[br]my products, my symptoms, my period.

0:11:04.119,0:11:08.921
There is a cost to the shame and silence

0:11:08.921,0:11:11.544
in which we surround menstruation.

0:11:12.709,0:11:15.143
It is individual,

0:11:15.143,0:11:17.739
it is local and it is global.

0:11:19.380,0:11:22.520
The costs range from the energy and effort

0:11:22.520,0:11:25.760
it took for me to hide for 25 years,

0:11:26.565,0:11:30.934
to the girl in Middletown, America,[br]who lives with Dad

0:11:30.934,0:11:34.220
and is too embarrassed[br]to ask him to buy her some supplies,

0:11:34.220,0:11:37.319
so she goes to her school nurse instead;

0:11:38.520,0:11:42.922
or the girl in Uganda,[br]who on first signs of her period,

0:11:42.922,0:11:45.648
thinks that she is dying,

0:11:45.650,0:11:50.041
because nobody told her[br]what was going to happen with her body;

0:11:51.181,0:11:54.435
to the girls all throughout Africa,

0:11:54.435,0:11:57.660
who drop out of school

0:11:57.662,0:12:00.372
at drastically different[br]rates than the boys,

0:12:00.382,0:12:04.722
as soon as they hit puberty[br]because they don't have supplies.

0:12:06.092,0:12:08.915
These costs extend to Nepal,

0:12:08.915,0:12:12.761
to the women who are sent[br]outside their community

0:12:12.771,0:12:16.222
to sit in a menstrual hut[br]and wait out their week

0:12:16.222,0:12:20.052
until they are clean[br]and can rejoin community again.

0:12:20.895,0:12:23.402
These are the costs.

0:12:24.323,0:12:25.915
Celeste Mergens said,

0:12:25.915,0:12:30.553
"This planet is never going to reach[br]its fullest potential,

0:12:30.553,0:12:33.262
if half of its population[br]is being held back

0:12:33.262,0:12:37.014
by their very own biological nature."

0:12:38.482,0:12:41.576
There's a cost to the shame and silence.

0:12:42.561,0:12:44.483
In the past, maybe you thought[br]

0:12:44.485,0:12:48.546
the silence around menstruation[br]was just discretion.

0:12:49.213,0:12:51.063
After all, we don't openly discuss

0:12:51.074,0:12:53.951
everything that goes on[br]in the bathroom, right?

0:12:54.835,0:12:57.610
But there's a difference between silence,

0:12:57.610,0:12:59.094
shame,

0:12:59.094,0:13:00.885
and discretion.

0:13:01.189,0:13:04.699
For example, we can buy toilet paper[br]without any embarrassment,

0:13:04.700,0:13:07.594
and we openly display it in the bathroom.

0:13:08.302,0:13:12.975
But people are really humiliated[br]to buy feminine supplies,

0:13:12.975,0:13:15.143
especially if it's a male checker,

0:13:15.143,0:13:18.948
and we tuck those away[br]so nobody gets to see those.

0:13:20.469,0:13:25.754
Discretion looks like me not openly[br]discussing my period at the dinner table.

0:13:27.735,0:13:33.692
And shame looks like tampon manufacturers[br]that make rustle-free packaging!

0:13:35.556,0:13:39.975
So the woman in the stall next to me[br]doesn't know that I'm bleeding?

0:13:40.613,0:13:45.326
We've been taught to be ashamed[br]about menstruation even among other women.

0:13:47.674,0:13:53.486
There is a global effort taking place[br]to end the stigma behind the period.

0:13:53.781,0:13:56.395
It takes on many different forms.

0:13:56.587,0:13:59.519
It looks like a woman from England

0:13:59.519,0:14:04.215
who ran a marathon while freely bleeding[br]without any products,

0:14:05.456,0:14:07.609
or an American artist,

0:14:07.609,0:14:12.045
who designs pictures[br]using her captured menstrual blood.

0:14:13.785,0:14:15.876
I think they're beautiful.

0:14:15.896,0:14:19.504
Now to some, these things[br]might seem like extremes,

0:14:19.504,0:14:23.475
but I want to remind you[br]that on the other end of that pendulum

0:14:23.495,0:14:28.776
is the woman who walks through her village[br]freely bleeding without products,

0:14:28.786,0:14:31.849
not out of choice, but out of necessity.

0:14:32.727,0:14:34.816
And that woman in Nepal,

0:14:36.266,0:14:41.165
who dies alone[br]in her menstrual hut, from exposure.

0:14:43.864,0:14:46.183
Regardless of what has been passed to us,

0:14:46.183,0:14:50.727
we have an obligation to the women[br]and girls around the world

0:14:50.727,0:14:53.737
and for the generations that follow us,

0:14:53.737,0:14:57.268
to set a new tone around menstruation,

0:14:57.268,0:15:00.023
to change it from shame and silence,

0:15:00.023,0:15:02.928
to acceptance and education.

0:15:03.782,0:15:06.105
And how we do that

0:15:06.105,0:15:09.728
is how any good idea [br]worth spreading starts.

0:15:11.229,0:15:13.700
It's with a conversation.

0:15:14.528,0:15:16.268
Congratulations!

0:15:16.268,0:15:18.828
Some of you just had your first one!

0:15:18.828,0:15:20.288
(Laughter)

0:15:20.288,0:15:21.995
And for all of you,

0:15:21.995,0:15:25.588
I'm encouraging you to go out[br]and have more.

0:15:25.817,0:15:29.056
Maybe try your own tampon experiment.

0:15:29.628,0:15:34.535
Or it could look something like this:[br]maybe you can go today and ask somebody,

0:15:34.728,0:15:39.519
"Did you know there are women[br]on this planet that don't have supplies?"

0:15:40.649,0:15:42.408
You can ask questions like:

0:15:42.408,0:15:46.070
"What would you want me to know[br]about menstruation?"

0:15:46.809,0:15:49.778
"What was your first period like?"

0:15:50.429,0:15:54.120
We can start here[br]and maybe expand to questions like:

0:15:54.120,0:15:57.899
"What toxins are in our tampons exactly?"

0:15:58.520,0:16:02.429
"Should there be a luxury tax[br]on feminine supplies?"

0:16:03.468,0:16:04.800
And we can ask,

0:16:04.800,0:16:08.850
"Who needs feminine supplies[br]and who should provide those?"

0:16:10.045,0:16:13.495
And will you, no matter[br]what your efforts look like,

0:16:13.495,0:16:18.663
locally and globally, will you ask[br]the women and girls that they serve,

0:16:18.667,0:16:21.981
if they have the supplies that they need?

0:16:22.807,0:16:25.370
We need to start talking[br]about menstruation

0:16:25.370,0:16:28.951
and asking questions about the period.

0:16:29.410,0:16:31.745
Now, if you were to ask me,

0:16:31.745,0:16:33.674
I would tell you,

0:16:33.674,0:16:38.271
I no longer think that women everywhere[br]should put an end to the period.

0:16:39.459,0:16:43.181
But I do believe that brave men and women

0:16:43.181,0:16:48.535
have the ability to put an end[br]to the shame and the silence.

0:16:49.641,0:16:53.911
This whole planet was peopled by periods.

0:16:53.921,0:16:55.451
(Laughter)

0:16:55.451,0:16:57.481
And there is no shame in that.

0:16:57.481,0:17:00.168
(Applause) (Cheers)