The Cost Of A Uterus

Completed by Hannah Jackson at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“The Cost Of A Uterus” explores in three parts the injustices that students with uteruses face during college, ranging from financial burdens to emotional tolls. In Part I, I delved into the university’s expensive menstrual hygiene products and studied the correlation between gendered products and their pricing. For Parts II and III, I investigated instances of slut-shaming at the university’s Student Health center — a violation of the UC Office of the President’s sexual harassment policy — as well as more general, socially accepted forms of humiliation perpetuated by peers and other non-medical professionals. 

I would like to thank professors Nomi Morris and Ljiljana Cocklin for their unwavering support and to the UCSB Writing Department for believing in the validity of these stories. Thank you to Diana Raab for your continued generous support of young writers. Most of all, thank you to the courageous women who shared their experiences with me. This is for you.

All writing, photography, and graphs were produced by Hannah Jackson during the 2019-2020 academic year.