Whenever I’m faced with a difficult decision, I ask myself WWMID? You may not be up on that acronym, so I’ll help you out. What Would Ma Ingalls Do? Maybe I should change that to be What Would Caroline IngallsDo? Because, after all, Caroline was a lot more than just a mother, but alas, I learned of her as Ma Ingalls.
What does this have to do with the idea of menstrual leave? Well, let’s ask Ma.
Me: Mrs. Ingalls, when women menstruate they need extra time off work, don’t you think?
Caroline Ingalls: I’m sorry, I need to go hoe the garden, wash laundry by hand with soap that I made myself, make 3 meals over an open fire even though it’s 90 degrees out, and keep an eye on Grace who has an annoying habit of wandering off. Then I need to repair the chicken coop so that foxes don’t eat my chickens, because if they do, we lose out on eggs and I’m hoping to be able to have enough money from selling the eggs to send my blind daughter to college. I’m distracted by all this work I have to do, so what did you ask again?
Me: Menstrual leave. You know, paid time off to deal with cramps?
To keep reading, click here: Menstrual Leave is an Embarrassment to Women’s Success
I love this! WWMID!
Ma Ingalls is my hero.
Charles? He could have made some better choices.
Thank you.
You’re welcome. I’ve actually been avoiding this topic because it makes my blood pressure rise. Maybe I should just lie down on this fainting couch right here.
I agree. From a practical standpoint (as well as a human one!), it makes better sense to give all employees time to deal with whatever illnesses or ailments they have. If you’re not feeling well, whether you are a woman with cramps or a man with a migraine, it’s just a waste of time to sit there and try to do your job. Let them go home and rest!
This! Treat your employees like adults and let them manage their health.
I would never be able to call in and say I want the day off for my period. Your boss doesn’t ever need details for one day absences. But I think women have worked too hard for equal treatment to resort to period leave.
Can we instead make sure women have access to decent women’s health care options? Women need birth control pills or IUDs or ablasion or whatever. That should be our default not call in sick with cramps.
“But many other things are also awful. Chron’s disease. Migraines. Arthritis. Epilepsy. I could keep going. Why focus on one particular ailment?”
Thank you, x100. There is nothing “humane” about giving women time of for painful periods (or periods generally), but not making similar allowances for other issues.
In our employment, present or not, ill or not, the job continues. In practical terms, there are few if any allowances made over the course of growing our careers due to illnesses, aches and pains, family troubles, or any other reason. That is the way of the world. Is this situation unfair? Some might think so, but we are born into a fundamentally unfair world. It is up to us as individuals to deal with that fact or surrender to it. I never learned to surrender.