I am a woman who gets her period. I go to CVS monthly, swipe my card for pads and tampons, and end up spending over $240 a year on period products. And that isn’t counting the birth control I’m on to help subside my painful cramps or the doctor’s appointments I’ve gone to for period-related concerns. That isn’t including the price I pay for the physical pain I go through for six days straight. But I do this monthly, and I pay for it? How are women still having to pay for period products?
Period products should be government-sponsored. I’m serious. It’s not cheap, and it’s not something we can control. Now, you may say the same about someone having bad eyesight or bad health, but this only affects women who get their periods. It’s unfair that we have to suffer the consequences physically and financially, especially when the “tampon tax” exists.
You might be saying, What’s the big deal? Everything is taxed. Nope, not everything. In fact, many states have tax-exempt items such as marshmallows in Florida, cooking wine in California, and gun club memberships in Wisconsin. None of these items are necessary for daily life. Period products are, yet 36 states still apply taxes to them.
If this short and somewhat soap-boxy article hasn’t convinced you that women shouldn’t pay for period products, I would do more research on just how much of a burden this is to us. I have already done some for you down below.
Cited Sources:
Wakeman, Jessica. “Pink Tax: The Real Cost of Gender-Based Pricing”
Additional Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/11/free-tampons-cost-feminine-hygiene-products
https://www.periodequity.org/issues
https://nypost.com/2019/12/03/should-feminine-hygiene-products-be-free/
https://www.freethetampons.org/the-price-young-girls-pay-when-tampons-arent-free.html