Fu Yuanhui's Olympic Achievement(s)

Amanda Brief and Jacob McEntire are cofounders of my.Flow, a startup developing the world’s first tampon monitor that aims to solve the issues of period stigma, shame, anxiety, leakage, and risk of infection.
 
We’ve all heard the horror stories of how menstruation is handled in other (usually ‘developing’) countries. And yes, there is absolutely truth behind them. Women in Nepal are sometimes consigned to cow sheds during their periods, and menstruators in Kenya (and other parts of the world) rely on rags, leaves, and other cheaper alternatives to too-expensive sanitary pads. Having lived in China for four months, working on a menstrual product, we were just as excited as by Fu Yuanhui’s comments on her period as everyone else, and we celebrated (along with many menstruators in China) what seemed like a cultural milestone in the period-shy country. And we wish that everyone, US citizens included, could be as comfortable discussing their bodies.

When my.Flow was born, an NCAA triathlete friend of Amanda’s told us how her team monitors everything from heart rate to diet to sleep, tracking their effects on athletic prowess. Why not the period? Because as a lot of women, Fu Yuanhui included, can attest to, the menstrual cycle can affect physical performance. It’s time that we start accepting this, and accepting the period as a normal part of the body, here at home. As two people who have spent time in China developing an innovative menstrual product, we think it’s important to take a look at ourselves and our own country and ask: aren’t we also at fault?

We have pitched our idea dozens of times in various cities across the US and in China, garnering every reaction you can imagine from intrigue to laughter; from awe to disgust. When we pitched to Chinese, Japanese, and Hong Kongese investors at our Asia Demo Day, there indeed was some confusion that extended beyond the language barrier to the cultural barrier. We had to explain to a few investors (in some very interesting conversations), what a tampon was. But those who were mystified or uninterested simply smiled, nodded, thanked us for our time, and went on their way. Pitching back in the Western World, the range of reactions is much wider. We’ve gotten dozens of questions of “Are you serious?” Amanda had a Swiss woman burst out in cacophonous laughter at the thought of my.Flow. “The government has something to say about how long you should keep your tampons in? [This refers to FDA-mandated Toxic Shock Syndrome warnings in all tampon boxes sold in the US.] American women are seriously too stupid to figure out when to change a tampon!?” Not to mention countless jibes from non-menstruators (mostly directed at Jacob) which essentially boil down to “Haha, women have periods.”

Remember a few weeks ago, when a woman in Kentucky was taken to court pantsless after being denied access to feminine hygiene products for days while in jail? Or when Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee with a legitimate shot at the White House, responded to aggressive questioning during a debate by deriding the moderator as having “blood coming out of her… wherever.” Or the fact that 39 out 50 states still tax tampons as “luxury goods.” At this time, we are not prepared to laud any one region for their acceptance of the period as ubiquitous, inevitable, and worthy of innovation, as is warranted.

Women everywhere, including right here at home, are routinely and almost subconsciously discriminated against, disparaged, and made to feel ashamed of their bodies. We applaud Fu Yuanhui’s words, and the impact that they have on her country, as well as the progress that they show. But we encourage our country, before we pat ourselves too hard on the back, to take a look at the state of our own house, and think about what we can do to improve it.