Chelsie Arnold

Eastern New Mexico University

UC Berkeley students held a #TamponRally Wednesday to express their wish for menstrual products on campus to be free -- and to challenge the stigma surrounding menstruation too.

The Free the Tampon Rally, organized by YWCA Berkeley/Oakland, was created to demonstrate displeasure with the cost of tampons and pads, which can be difficult for college students to afford.

"Menstrual products, such as tampons and pads, are a medical necessity for normal bodily functions. Toilet paper fulfills a similar role, and this is provided in all campus bathrooms. Tampons and pads should be made available throughout Cal and relieve students of the financial burden these essentials can create," the event's Facebook page states. "In some countries, vasectomies are tax deductible. Tampons are not," the cover photo reads.

"Today, even the inclusive bathrooms on campus fail to provide proper waste baskets for feminine hygiene products upon first opening. It is time to remember the importance of menstrual hygiene and that the university can accomidate this need, as they once did. Access to menstrual hygeine products matters because dignity matters," an organizer of the rally, Julie Mendoza, said when speaking to the crowd.

Mendoza is a college senior and president of Happy Period. The organization's mission is "to provide menstrual hygiene kits to the homeless who would otherwise go without. Our initiative supports everyone that has a monthly flow, including teenagers, non-binary, and the LGBT community."

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One student, Megha Bindal, compared the necessity of feminine hygiene products to both toilet paper and condoms.

Students across the country have been making efforts to bring free feminine products to their campuses, as well, which protesters pointed out.

UC Berkeley isn't alone here. Students on other campuses have agitated for free menstrual products.

One example is Brown University, which installed free tampon and pad dispensaries in bathrooms on campus after students expressed their displeasure with the way the products were treated. The products can be found in all restrooms, as an effort to include the transgender community.

Brown's president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, Viet Nguyen, told The Guardian in 2016: “Why aren’t these products treated the same way as other products we hand out, like toilet paper?” Nguyen added, "It’s a necessity, rather than a luxury, so Brown and other universities should treat them as such.”

And a recent student petition at Boston University displayed student support for a proposal by the campus's student government to give free tampons to students on campus.

Chelsie Arnold is a student at Eastern New Mexico University and a USA TODAY College digital producer.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.