I'm trying to raise my knowledge of feminist issues this year, and when I saw this on Netgalley it caught my attention. I guess I've never really thought about menstruation other than, you know, having one. It's not something people talk about, or want to read about. But maybe we should.

The biggest political issue surrounding periods I've heard about recently has been the campaign in the UK to scrap the so-called 'tampon tax', whereby the sale of sanitary products shouldn't also be additionally charged. At the time of the campaign I remember feeling indignant that women had to even pay for something deemed essential, let alone pay tax on it as well. This book expanded this argument, but also included issues I hadn't even considered. Homelessness and menstruation. Menstruation and poverty. Periods in the non-Western world (the brief note about a New York article regarding a young girl using rags infested with lizard eggs particularly struck a chord).

The book itself is organised in a loose pattern of following the author as she traversed a year in the political landscape of menstruation, and includes her travels around the globe helping to educate and distribute sanitary products, as well as simply listening to women's stories. All women's stories. Teenagers, prisoners, the homeless, from all different cultures and societies. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf did a lot of research here, and a lot of ground is covered with a diverse set of women. The author excels at bringing together a large range of stories, with so many different issues. My other concern was that a lot of her arguments are very American (understandably, as she's American), but I would have liked to have read more from a European perspective and in particular what the NHS is doing about these issues (the sentence about Boots being described as a 'swanky pharmacist' made me chuckle). At times I also felt the story were getting heavily bogged down in facts - I wanted to read more about the authors journey, and more importantly the people that she meets and their stories, rather than facts and figures.

My favourite section in the book was the chapter about menstruation and homelessness. The women's stories were so hard hitting and relatable - and I felt a little ashamed of myself for never thinking about the kinds of problems that these women face on a daily basis. Such as the inability to fit a box of tampons in your rucksack, your only way of transporting your things with you. Having no access to sanitary public bathrooms, resulting in infections. Or that tampons are so expensive they're seen as a luxury, and one of the things most likely to be stolen when living on the streets.

Collectively, I thought this was an extremely thoughtful piece of work and has certainly opened my mind to the greater issues women still face with regards to menstruation in the modern age. It's something that women shouldn't be hiding - it isn't a taboo, and we should be bringing it to the forefront of the media.