Author connects the dots between menstrual well-being and mental wellness
Kadian Snow wants to end ‘period poverty’ in 2022
Published:Wednesday | January 5, 2022 | 12:08 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
In the middle of a divorce, illness and unemployment, Kadian Snow was often left to wonder how she would afford basic necessities. During this time, she recognised that conversations became awkward when it led to menstruation and her struggles with pain, both physical and emotional, and acquiring sanitary products.
Many persons, fathers and even some mothers of young girls are uncomfortable speaking about their menstrual well-being. Not so for Snow, an independent author who has recounted her experience with period poverty in her book The Silent “P”. The book is almost two years old. However, the topic is still very important and relevant to any girl or woman’s overall health and wellness, she said.
“I have just highlighted a hidden or constantly overlooked problem in our society. It has been coined as period poverty. Divorce was a very difficult period of my life – my husband filed for it in 2018, two years after we were married – having been established in a new country, I was without a job and had minimal support. My own friends asked how I was going to pay for sanitary napkins,” Snow told The Gleaner.
“It reminded me of when I was in college; I walked around with a huge bag because I wanted to make sure I always had the things I needed in case of emergency, sanitary napkins being one of those things. They would tease me, even though I walked with extra too, so [that] I could help a sister out.”
Period poverty is often described as the lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints. While this is an accurate understanding of the term, it also covers the broader issues of the stigma and lack of education on female reproductive health. Women are period-shaming other women causing embarrassment when there should be greater support, shared Snow.
Snow, who was raised in St Elizabeth, attended the Convent of Mercy Academy, and studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and management studies. Inspired by the HerFlow Foundation’s #EndPeriodPoverty campaign in Jamaica, The Silent “P” was one of three books she wrote over a two-month period, she said. The other, F Him and Keep It Moving, is another book inspired by her divorce and is like a journal of Snow navigating through it all. Black Woman is Queen: Pamper Up celebrates the strength of black women and encourages self-love. She saw an opportunity to share not only her story in three books but “ways in which women could take care of the mind, body and soul”, as well as learn how to be financially smart and “develop a habit to budget for monthly expenses, including periods”.
“In F Him and Keep It Moving, I speak on how I set my goals by creating a vision board and [moving] towards accomplishing each small goal I set out to execute. Essentially, the entire book encompasses moving on with your life after a divorce or break-up by refocusing your mindset on pursuing your goals. It’s for the mature audience. The Silent “P” is actually a great children’s book. We need to ensure we change our attitudes towards period poverty; this is not just a woman issue, but a man’s issue as fathers have daughters, and to better understand their daughters and women, they must become educated on the effects the period have on them, that includes the impact on their mental health and wellness,” she said.
“We should not be condescending and judge another woman for things like a bloodstain on her dress; who knows, maybe she only had one pad and can’t afford to use up her resources. Young girls are missing school as a result of not having sanitary products; there are so many examples of period poverty staring us in our faces. When we go through a period, which for the average female is a monthly cycle, it costs us. Across the world, people have cried out to end period poverty – one of my main goals in life is to help uplift women and help them to be more educated – and this is an issue I am familiar with.”
It is a monthly cycle, and girls and women, once they have matured to the age when periods become a normal part of their lives, will spend an average of 2,400 days of their life menstruating. She aims to have The Silent “P” in schools, and that she will garner enough from sales to be able to make donations of sanitary products “and help eradicate period poverty”.
“I’d love if I could get enough proceeds from the book to put it towards a worthy cause to end period poverty in the coming year (2022). As a young woman’s life can be extremely challenging, and we don’t want our young girls and women who are homeless or displaced due to domestic disputes and have lost their source of income. We should not be held back because we can’t afford sanitary napkins. Even at work, they issue condoms freely, but we still have to purchase pads. I found my solace and a way of expression in writing these books, and I want them to have a purpose,” Snow shared.