In the honor of Women’s History Month, I have decided to write about something that infuriates me: the tampon tax. Throughout her lifetime, a woman has an average of 450 periods. That means if she buys a box of tampons every month for $7, then she is paying an average of $100 each year for something she cannot ignore. Throughout her lifetime, a woman can spend up to $5,000 on tampons and other sanitary products. However, this amount does not include the price of birth control, menstrual medications, heating pads, new underwear, acne medicine or the occasional chocolate bar. By the time a woman stops menstruating, she will have spent about $1,000 from the tax that is added when purchasing sanitary products.
Yes, society has made sanitary products quite expensive, however, that is a whole another ordeal that we will not get into today. What frustrates me is that there are many states in the United States that exempt medical necessity purchases from the additional sales tax. The problem is that in the majority of these states, tampons and other menstrual products are not considered medical necessities. Therefore, women in these states are still paying the added sales tax when purchasing sanitary products.
Is this same tax on tampons called the pink tax? Technically, no. Yes, the pink tax exists. However, it describes how the women’s equivalent of a product is more expensive than the men’s equivalent. For example, take hair razors, if it’s pink, then you know for a fact that it will be $2 more expensive than the “male-orientated” blue razor. The tax I am talking about in this article is the regular sales tax you pay when purchasing any item. The problem is when states who do not tax medical necessities still tax tampons, it sends the message that tampons and other sanitary products are not considered medical necessities. There are 39 states that do not tax medical necessities, however, of those 39 states, only 10 of them cite sanitary products as a medical necessity.
The big reason why there has been no progress with states considering tampons medical necessities stems from the misconceptions of a woman’s menstrual cycle made by a man. According to the YouGov survey that polled over 2,000 American adults in 2017, 54% of the men surveyed believe that women shouldn’t have a right to affordable menstrual hygiene products because they are not necessary. This attitude is the prominent reason why tampons and menstrual products are often cited as luxuries and taxed. It seems like men think that feminine hygiene products are luxurious and unnecessary. However, the ability to cite tampons and other menstrual products as medical necessities should be seen as a fair action because I believe that most women will attest to that there is nothing luxurious about fatigue, cramps and acne.
Another aspect of the tampon tax includes the wage gap. Not only are women paid less than their male equivalent, but they also have to pay for sanitary products that are necessary for them to stay hygienic. So, women already suffer from being at the bottom of the wage gap, and then they have to pay for something they can’t disregard. The average sales tax in most states is about 6-7%, which does not seem like a lot. However, over the years, the amount can add up. So, not only are women earning less, but they are paying for something that is not necessary for men. So, it makes sense to consider menstrual products as medical necessities and exempt them from taxes.
If tampons and other menstrual products are exempt from taxes, then women would save about $1,000 in their lifetime. It may not seem like a lot, but to those in lower socioeconomic classes, $1,000 can be used for other basic necessities. Additionally, the tax exemption would also pave the way for more discussions about menstrual products and government policies regarding women’s health. As we come into this new era where women are becoming more open about talking about their health and bodies, it makes sense to reevaluate policies about women’s health. The first step in this direction includes citing menstrual products as medical necessities and exempting them from taxes.