Voices of Dignity: Miranda Hitchings

Kia ora Miranda, what are your pronouns and can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Miranda, and my pronouns are she/her. I’m one of the Co-Founders of Dignity. We started Dignity five and a half years ago, and it's been awesome to see the impact that it has had over the past five and a half years as part of this period advocacy journey.

What does the word “dignity” mean to you?

When we founded the company it was based on the premise that we wanted the people who had been impacted by period poverty to retain the ability to live their lives to the fullest, and to not be embarrassed or ashamed. I think it’s a double edged sword in that it’s about providing products but about the de-stigmatisation too.

Is there anything you wish you had known when you first got your period?

Yeah! I was so embarrassed by it, I think lots of people weren’t but I was. I just thought it was so scary, I didn’t want to tell my mum! It was such a scary thing and signified such a massive deal. It is important and it’s an important part of people’s lives, but it shouldn’t be embarrassing and it shouldn't be shameful – and it’s not! And I’m really stoked now that I’m part of a company that freely uses the word “period” every day, and helps people with periods – it’s just so awesome.

What was a meaningful experience related to your period that you would like to share?

The first time I used a mooncup, that was really cool. It made me think that there are so many options and ways to have a period that don’t involve constantly having to manage it throughout the day. For me it was cool to realise that there are lots of options, and I can use what I need when I need it.

Finding out about the moon cup was awesome, and also period underwear – sometimes I still use pads and tampons, but I think it’s empowering to be like, I can do whatever I want, I can go tramping, I can go swimming, and I don’t have to live my life by it.

Why is using organic period products so important? 

We deeply care about the environment, we are coming up to a crisis that’s going to affect people, particularly those who are facing inequality, so by reducing carbon emissions, by not having products that create more carbon emissions through production and through the breakdown of the product, it means we can try and reduce the overall effect that the greenhouse gases will have, which inevitably are linked to reducing inequality, because it’s people that are hard off now that will continue to be worse off through the climate crisis. I think it’s the same mission actually, at the end of the day, environmentalism and period equity.