I’m sure by now you are painfully aware of the fact that should you need to buy any sanitary products in Britain today, you will be paying 5% VAT. Well of course, they’re not essential like crocodile steaks are, right? It’s not like women need these items monthly to remain hygienic and healthy; after all, there’s a reason that the traditional gift for a 75th wedding anniversary is a tampon instead of gold or silver.
Of course that last part is not entirely true. Yet it does beg the question: what on earth did the MPs who agreed to this think tampons are? Forged from crystal in the depths of a volcano by blind Belgian monks? Enlighten me please lads.
It reminds me of my final days of Sixth Form when the girls left heaps of sanitary towels (not tampons, they’re too valuable) littered around the common room. Stuck to the vending machine, the pool table and the chairs; our masterpiece was complete. Can you now guess how many guys used the vending machine, the pool table and the chairs before the period paraphernalia was removed? Yeah. Zero.
To me, that sums up the general male approach to periods. Historically, the pool table was permanently occupied and all it took was a clean bit of cotton and plastic left on the table and the effect was baffling; they couldn’t even go near it. My only assumption here was that they held some bizarre belief that if they touched these items then they may actually begin menstruating themselves. If only it were that easy, boys.
This perplexing reaction that most guys have towards periods has only made women themselves feel ashamed of something that is completely natural and normal. Considering the fact that Labour MP Stella Creasy had to force Tory MP Bill Cash to even say the word ‘tampon’ just reinforces the idea that women should be embarrassed to own a uterus.
So it is hardly a surprise that the very people who will never need these products are the ones to vote on the matter. Two thirds of the current UK parliament is made up of men, making this ludicrous luxury tax that even more insulting. Men have effectively decided that having your period isn’t something essential to life, despite it being something that is entirely out of a woman’s control.
The tax isn’t on tampons. It’s on women. There is not a single product on the luxury item list that is reserved for men only.
Aside from the gender bias that is the basis for current UK politics, on a purely practical level, sanitary items should be affordable to anyone who needs them. When women have to budget themselves purely so they can buy something that they should have a basic human right to, we’ve failed as a society. As Katheryn Ryan put it “I’m a single mother, not a King”.
A fundamental change in attitudes is needed. If we educate guys about periods and end the taboo of even daring to utter the word, maybe a more considered view would be taken on the tax. Maybe then perhaps asking for a tampon in the library won’t reward you with repulsed glares from nearby lads. Hey, a girl can dream…
Until that glorious day, there are several petitions at change.org that you can sign online to end the tax.
Edited by Sarah Holmes
Sources:
Image: https://sarahlouiselong.wordpress.com/tag/stop-tampon-tax/
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