Discrimination against and repression of women is a global problem. In authoritarian states, it is also intertwined with regime survival. Take recent events in Iran, where women-led protests against strict hijab laws are challenging the country’s ruling powers. Nearly 3,000 miles away in China, a different feminist debate is taking hold, over whether sanitary pads should be sold on high-speed trains.
This debate was kindled on September 16 2022 on the Chinese social media site Weibo. A woman posted about her irritation at not being able to purchase period products while travelling on the country’s high-speed rail network: “I don’t want more women to feel embarrassed, so I’m bringing this up in the hope that it may be addressed”.
