Israeli Bar Offers Discount To Women On Their Periods

Image by iStock

By Jenny Singer October 30, 2017

Women spend roughly 25% of their time menstruating, a fact which alone should be enough to grant them monthly financial reparations from their governments. Never mind the fact that women are encouraged to pretend their periods don’t exist (the equivalent of pretending you don’t have a heavy, week-long bloody nose, if your nose could gestate human life). Never mind the fact that in America, tampons and pads are taxed as a “luxury product” which means that a person who menstruates may spend several thousand dollars in her life to silently fund her luxuriously contracting uterus. If 5-8 days of shedding uterine lining onto an arcane paper-based technology is less than pleasant, the culture around periods makes things even worse.

And yet, when times are dark and innovation necessary, Israel is there.

Image by Facebook Screenshot

“We are proud and excited to launch ‘Happy Hour’s’ new, lively sister — Bloody Hour! A happy hour for days of menstruation” proclaimed Tel Aviv’s Anna Loulou bar last week. The bar will offer thirsty menstruaters a 25% discount on their bill four nights a week. “How does it work? It’s based on trust. Just like that,” proclaims the Anna Loulou Facebook page. “We believe you! You come to the bar, say you are on your period/flow/cycle —(every one with their own definition —- and….that’s it!”

The idea was the brainchild (bloodchild) of Moran Barir and Dana Etgar. “There is no platform for addressing the subject of menstruation and there’s no legitimacy in the public sphere for discussing it without people immediately going, ‘Ick, why are you talking about that?’” Barir told Haaretz.

The Facebook post announcing the promotion has received many shares, likes, and comments. “Manstruation counts?” wrote one man.

So far, no response.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO