Way back in November 2014  (wait, a year and a half ago; is that possible?) I wrote about the shame of menstruation, the last worst taboo. (See that post here. If you haven’t read it, go back and do that now. I’ll wait.)

I have also spoken about the fact that sanitary hygiene products are taxed as luxury items in 40 states – unlike nearly all medications, Rogaine for men and, of course, viagra, all of which are untaxed ‘necessities.’ (See The Power of Love: Violence Against Women and What We Can Do About It.)

So it is utterly delightful when the taboo, and the costs, start to fall. Many fantastically enterprising, brave, and creative women have been working on chipping away at this stigma and, Voila! it’s starting to have an effect.

See, for example, the amazing work of Rupi Kaur, who posted a series of period photos which were taken down, twice, by Instagram. Read more about the #LetsFaceItPeriod campaign here.

Two recent articles tell us that yup, the issue has gone fully mainstream. They are definitely worth reading.

In the Business Section of Thursday’s New York Times, Hiroko Tabuchi writes about the new economy of menstruation (Menstruation Joins the Economic Conversation) and features the founders of LOLA, a delivery service featuring all-cotton tampons. (New York women, stay tuned: a tax rebate for tampons may be coming your way!)

And in this week’s Newsweek Magazine (is that still even a thing?), Abigail Jones covers the Fight to End Period Shaming. She even mentions the Menstrual Man, one of my personal favorites.

Progress? Progress!