The Brandeis Period Activists at ’Deis (PAD) club recently hosted their annual open mic night where members of the Brandeis community were able to listen to and share stories regarding menstruation. PAD president Kyla Speizer ’23 and the PAD team shared their thoughts on the event and their club’s mission in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot.
PAD sought to create a safe environment for sharing a range of stories about menstruation during their open mic night. Speizer explained, “The purpose of creating this kind of space is to destigmatize menstruation by making it something fun and lighthearted that can be shared in front of a crowd as opposed to something private and shameful.” Ultimately, the club hoped to convey that menstruation is not a shameful process, but rather something that people “can (and should!) talk about,” Speizer added in an email with The Hoot.
Speizer cited issues regarding menstruation that affect menstruators both nationally and at Brandeis, saying, “There are many equity issues related to menstruation, such as period poverty (the inability to access or afford menstrual products) and the ramifications of inaccessible period products (such as missing class or work).” PAD seeks to combat these issues by illuminating how they affect menstruators and implementing better menstrual access on campus.
The club is currently planning an initiative in collaboration with the Brandeis Student Union to provide free menstrual products in first year residence halls. Eventually, the club plans to expand this initiative to other buildings on campus. Additionally, PAD’s Advocacy Chair Savannah Jackson ’22 published a report on the state of menstrual product access at Brandeis. Monthly newsletters can be found on the PAD website.
The club was founded during the spring of 2019 by Brandeis alumni Linzy Rosen (Rosen graduated from Colby College in 2022) and Cassady Adams ’22, who realized the need for a menstrual justice club that would provide the campus community with vetted information about menstruation and strive for menstrual product access and menstrual equity on campus. PAD has been hosting their Open Mic Night event for the past four years. “It was originally started by one of our founders Linzy Rosen who wanted to host an event for a larger audience that focused on stigma-breaking. It was super successful and everyone loved it, so it became an annual stigma-breaking event,” Speizer described.
Members of PAD shared what prompted them to join the club and why they continue to be involved in it. PAD Media and Outreach Chair Sarah Schiffman ’25 said, “I was drawn to the club because I wanted to learn more about period poverty and menstrual justice. But what made me stay was realizing it was one of the only spaces I had to talk about menstruation without feeling any stigma or shame. It’s just a totally open and welcoming environment and a good time!” PAD E-Board member Grace Lassila ’25 added, “I had seen PAD at the involvement fair and really loved their message as a club. After attending a PAD general meeting, I was blown away with how inclusive the space was. I had never been in such a safe space where I felt so seen as a menstruator. After attending a few more of PAD’s events, including the Open Mic Night, I knew that PAD was an organization I wanted to be more involved in their executive board, and their mission as a group.” Speizer shared, “I initially joined PAD as a first-year because I found the enthusiasm and passion for menstrual justice to be inspiring, and I was excited at the opportunity to fight for this movement on and off of Brandeis’ campus.”
Moving forward PAD will be hosting a painting and stigma-breaking event in collaboration with the campus group Liquid Latex on Nov. 13 and a movie screening of the film “Period. End of Sentence.” in collaboration with Brandeis’ South Asian Student Association on Dec. 1.
