[Backup] Reflecting on the Sanitary Napkin Mutual Aid Box: What are the effects of the "deviation" at the level of mass awareness?

At the end of October last year, the news of the "bathroom mutual aid box" in the Neihua Zhengmingfa Building of East China University of Political Science and Law inspired many college students to spontaneously install mutual aid boxes with sanitary napkins and other physiological products in the women's bathroom. The author organized and participated in the mutual aid box project of our school, and strived to promote it in the author's school by means of official funding and private volunteer management. Although we have skipped the process of striving for the officialization of the Folk Box, the whole event has not been smooth sailing, and the event is still in the stage of partial pilot. This article is both a summary of our work experience in the next phase of rolling out to all campus restrooms, a re-examination of the program's positioning, a discussion of the difficulties we faced, and how as a feminist with a student identity can help yourself in this event. reflections.

When I started the Mutual Aid Box in the name of the Feminism and Future Society, the student affairs office was planning a public health project in the public area under the responsibility of students. So we were arranged to work with the "Health Ambassador" sub-project team to complete the placement of the mutual aid box. So from the very beginning, this event was officially funded, officially designated, and officially restricted.

We plan to pilot and then promote the method, first place boxes in the women's bathroom near the dormitory area, canteen and teaching building area where student activities are frequent. And a pilot period of two to three months is preset, where members (volunteers) of the community regularly replenish materials (sanitary napkins, tampons, and wet wipes). During the pilot phase, we distributed electronic questionnaires to the whole school. While receiving feedback on various issues, we first discovered the "positioning deviation" of the mutual aid box project in the minds of the broad audience (mostly women of biological sex).

"feedback"

The feedback we received was mainly on the idea of the mutual aid box and the placement of the mutual aid box. There was a lot of good feedback, such as praising the idea of the mutual aid box, and the convenience it brings. But in this article, we would like to share some "biases" that we believe are potentially hindering the future benign development of this project.

• Suggestions for the box itself (besides moisture and hygiene considerations) (eg, set a password, be more refined)

• Suggestions on the location of the box (in order to achieve the publicity effect of "no shame", it is recommended to place the box "generously" outside the women's toilet

• Advice on box maintenance (hope to have a "person" for regular maintenance)

• Suggestions for mutual aids (hopefully "official" to add warmers, ibuprofen, wipes, and other specific brands of sanitary pads)

It should be noted that the quotation marks in the above four summaries are not out-of-context, ironic or dissatisfied enumerations, but rather the characteristics we have summarized from multiple pieces of feedback that are more common. The summary of "positioning deviation" is also drawn from the above four types of feedback. Let's talk about why I think these feedbacks (accounting for nearly half of the feedback suggestions) have "deviations" from our wishes at the beginning of the design project. .

"Positioning Bias"

This part of the feedback with "deviations" is not incomprehensible, and these "deviations" caused by unfamiliarity with "mutual aid" projects are completely understandable. Just from the perspective of the project organizer, we can't help but feel that the above suggestions, or requirements, sound like instructing waiters in high-end restaurants. Nothing in common. But the reason why we don't think it is more appropriate to call feedback on brands, styles, and categories as "requests" rather than "suggestions" is because Mutual Aid Box, a public welfare project, also has a characteristic: mutual assistance. The slogan and purpose of eradicating menstrual stigma is not achieved only by moving feminine hygiene products out of their little drawer pockets and into public areas . Although the location of taking is directly related to the habit of taking it, which in turn affects the ideological evaluation of "menstruation" behind the habit, after all, "menstrual shame" is largely caused by being ashamed to take it out in public or hide it in a tuck of.

When the box first appeared in everyone's field of vision, it appeared with a "considerate" and "thoughtful" appearance. Because there were volunteers to replenish the supplies, this "caring look" lasted for about a month. We placed two medium-flow sanitary napkins, one low-flow pad, one medium-flow tampon and one yin-cleansing wipe, all of which are relatively common brands of the same product on the market. Considering that it will take some time for the new concept to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, we have adopted a method of gradually reducing the frequency of material replenishment. However, when the activity was going on for a month, we found that without the passive replenishment of volunteers, the box could not form an active circulation of materials. . This phenomenon, in conjunction with the four types of advice we received at the same time, made our members begin to realize whether there was a cognitive "bias" in the positioning of mutual aid boxes between us and the wider audience.

This "deviation" simply means that, as the organizer, we think we are trying to guide everyone to realize that the premise of being able to enjoy the convenience brought by this public service is that individuals must first take the initiative to devote themselves to this service, because ta is also a The service provider is also the one who enjoys the service, and only when the individual realizes and refers to his practice, the mutual aid box will automatically circulate ; and when the "biased" opinion person puts himself only in the position of enjoying the service, it is preconceived that It is the "other" that provides the service, and the project will be difficult to run. If the "biased" commenters can also look at this project from the perspective of service providers, they probably won't be picky about the brand, because if they want this brand instead of that brand, they can make their own satisfied products. Actively put it in the box.

This lack of awareness of actively participating in "providing services" first led to "picky", and then brought about the problem of empty boxes where supplies could not be replenished. This leads us to reflect, have we underestimated the stubbornness of ideology? Not only did we have this problem, but other schools had similar problems with mutual aid boxes.

We have considered adding incentive mechanisms, accepting social donations, and recruiting volunteers for a long time, but we have always been stuck at the ideological level. That is to say, there is no shortage of people who are willing to donate materials and those who are willing to show up for the public good. What is lacking is the conscious awareness of the general public that the mutual aid box needs at the level of active circulation, that is, there is no shortage of sanitary napkins, nor is there a lack of willingness to replenish regularly. Sanitary napkins, but there is a lack of people who use the sanitary napkins in the box and put them back, and we think this is the essence of the mutual aid box project that needs to be maintained.

"Worth the wait"

Despite the many issues, thankfully we were aware of the issue before covering every women's room. In the next promotion, we plan to do some gender workshops at the same time, bring relevant articles about women's spontaneous protection of rights and interests, and strengthen ideological propaganda while strengthening the improvement of hardware facilities such as sanitary protection.

From spontaneously learning and paying attention to women's topics, to entering the feminist campus society, this is the first time that we, as students and feminists, have been involved in a real activity to safeguard women's rights and interests. For a long time, most of the non-profit women's projects that we have come into contact with are initiated by social figures or intellectuals or NGO organizations (in these organizations, college student volunteers are indeed a minority). So in a way, as "students" we have been enjoying service for a long time, and have not made any substantial contribution to the practice of feminism. The importance of this event to us, first of all, is a breakthrough at the ideological level, from enjoying the achievements of our predecessors to being a member of creating benefits for other female compatriots.

After reflection, we still believe that the problems exposed during the operation of the mutual aid box can be an opportunity for change. The campus is a large community that nurtures ideas and actions, and is naturally the best place to nurture feminist consciousness.