Women's Bodies vs. Academia

What do the physical realities of being a woman—with breasts, a womb, and a vagina—mean in academia? A 21‐year‐old university student, Devika Mittal (now a sociology professor in India), had to write a letter to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development of India to request the installation of a vending machine for sanitary napkins and to improve the sanitary conditions of the washrooms at her university. This is not just a story about women in India. The New York Times recently reported how a girl, Alisa Nudar, at Bard High School Early College in New York City, had to rush to the bathroom in the middle of a math exam, only to find herself helpless with no period support. She had to ask each girl coming to the toilet for a tampon, but none had any. Fifteen minutes passed as she waited for her luck to change, and finally a girl came to her aid.