Just imagine upon entry to a bathroom or public restroom anywhere, you are charged 25 cents to pay for your toilet paper, unheard of. That’s because toilet paper happens to be a basic necessity when using a restroom..but tampons and pads aren’t?.
Spending over $4,000 in their lifetime on period products financially struggles when it comes to women’s rights. It should be considered a human right to have free access to simple pieces of hygiene.
“Already, more women live under the poverty line than men, and the sales tax on menstrual products is an unnecessary obstacle for people seeking healthcare products that they need.”
Writers for the Huffington Post, Rachel, and Helen Lee point out: Women-specific hygiene products need to be accounted for, especially in public places. In the world we live in that isn’t so black and white.
There’s a strong belief that this could have a lot to do with the little to no conversation being had in our world about periods. We must normalize the conversation and end the toxic stigmatism that says that periods are wrong to talk about or not lady-like. How can something only involving women not be ladylike?
How is it right to consider shampoo and conditioner a health necessity and not menstrual cycle products? It isn’t. There’s a fine line that’s been crossed here between the effort our society has put into products like soap v.s products that are avoiding many different health crises, like blood transferring or toxic syndrome from bacteria growth that could lead to severe health damage and even possible death in women.
Former justice associate of the supreme court, Justice Scalia writes about this taxing.
Scalia wrote “A tax on wearing yarmulkes is a tax on Jews,” the women write in the lawsuit. “A tax on tampons and sanitary pads is a tax on women. The Tampon Tax is irrational.”
The idea that we women deal with these issues and the government has never believed in supporting it is true mistreatment of young women everywhere. The government could help alleviate this problem by ending the stigma and supporting the fact that menstrual products are a basic need for females.
When things like chapstick, shampoo, and conditioner are untaxed before feminine products like tampons and pads it shows a lot about our societal values. Here before you take care of that immediate health issue can I interest you in some untaxed lube or condoms?
Leaving women helpless in most public restrooms is a known fact in this country, we must have the responsibility of bringing our own products just in case we don’t keep a spare change on us.
So the next time you pack your toilet paper for your night out, just remember that some of your essential needs in bathrooms aren’t provided; if you forget it you’ve got many other resources in a bathroom like a wall.