upworthy

tampon tax

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students returned from spring break this week to a find a new safety precaution in place: mandatory clear backpacks.

To many students, the move — implemented after a shooter killed 17 people on their campus in February — fails to address the real root cause of gun violence: a lack of gun control.

"They’re just an illusion of security,"senior Kyra Parrow said, blasting the backpacks.

"My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRA’s agenda," student Lauren Hogg mocked on Twitter. "I feel sooo safe now."



(Of course, policies like this are nothing new to students in primarily black and brown schools.)


There's one aspect about the clear backpacks, however, that might do some actual good, according to some students.

The see-through backpacks may shine a light on the fact that, yes, many students need to bring menstrual hygiene products like tampons or sanitary pads to school. And no one should feel ashamed for doing so.

"I remember the humiliation I felt if I started my period unexpectedly and had to whisper to classmates asking for a pad," Ayana Lage recently wrote for Bustle. "I eventually started going to the nurse's office instead of telling people I was menstruating."

The stigma is real. But hopefully not for much longer at Stoneman Douglas.

"The only positive about these backpacks is that maybe, hopefully, the stigma around periods will be removed," wrote student Delaney Tarr. "Also, that Cameron now knows how expensive tampons are."

The "Cameron" that Tarr is referring to is her classmate Cameron Kasky.

On April 3, Kasky shared a photo of himself carrying a clear backpack stocked with tampons. The gesture was Kasky's way of standing in solidarity with those who may feel embarrassed that now would be revealing when they needed to use the products to their classmates.

His smiling photo — captioned simply with #MSDStrong — quickly went viral. As of publication, Kasky's pic garnered over 60,000 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets.

"Every damn time I think I can’t love these young people more than I do, they do something to leave me even more in awe," Twitter user Kathleen Smith wrote.

"Yass Cameron," one classmate replied to Kasky's photo. "If only I had the confidence to do that." Kasky responded, "Here for you if you need anything... tampons and beyond."

And as it turned out, Kasky did learn about how expensive tampons are, just as Tarr had hoped.

I mean, seriously — for those of us who don't use menstrual hygiene products, they really can get pricey. It doesn't help that they're often taxed as though they're a luxury item — and not a basic necessity — too.

According to California assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, folks in her state who get periods spend, on average, $84 a year on tampons and pads. For those working hard just to make ends meet, that's a costly burden.

In a follow-up tweet, Kasky explained purchasing tampons was certainly an eye-opening experience. "This stuff is expensive," he wrote. "Steps must be taken to make these health products easier to access."

Things may seem scary nowadays — for a million different reasons.

But if the articulate, determined, big-hearted teens in Parkland, Florida are any indication, the future looks surprisingly bright.

"It started with gun control," Lage wrote for Bustle. "But students have made powerful statements about media representation and now period stigma. It's clear that these kids are smarter and more sensitive to current events than some adults."

When I think of luxury items, I think of video games, cars, maybe even Cheetos. Something I (and most people) would never put on that list? Tampons.

But apparently I should start.


Currently 40 states in the United States impose a tax — either a regular sales or gross receipts tax or a luxury tax — on tampons and other menstrual products.

Is your state one of them? Map via Fusion and this great article by Taryn Hillin, used with permission.

People with uteruses are paying a monthly toll, getting taxed extra for something they can't control: their periods.

Sanitary products in the varying states' tax laws sometimes fall under the "luxury tax," which applies to products or services deemed unnecessary or nonessential. To make things more uncomfortable, the tax is also sometimes referred to as the "sin tax."

In what world is dealing with a period nonessential and luxurious? Not ours.

As anyone who menstruates knows to be true, sanitary products are an essential and expected part of life. At work, at school, or pretty much anywhere, it's not an option to go without caring for your health and hygiene. And making sure you're covered every month really adds up: If tampons are your go-to, you could be spending almost $2,000 on those alone in your lifetime. Putting an extra tax on them only adds to that financial burden.

Taxes can be confusing, sure, especially since they're all state-level. But certain conditions do make you wonder. For example, most states don't tax on essential items like groceries, which often includes candy and sugary drinks.

No matter your sweet tooth, it's hard to argue that candy is essential. But you'd be hard pressed to find someone who could say that it's not essential to deal with a non-optional part of life every month.

One of them is taxed and the other sometimes isn't. Image via Brad Cerenzia/Flickr.

Activist Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Cosmopolitan have teamed up to demand legislators in 40 states drop the tampon tax.

Their petition has already garnered over 30,000 signatures.

As the first to really shine a light on the tampon tax in the United States, they're hoping that states will follow the lead of the those that have said "no" to it: Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The tampon tax is not just happening in the United States. Canada eliminated its tampon tax earlier this year.

A demonstration in Paris on Nov. 11, 2015. Photo by Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images

In the summer of 2015, a successful public campaign helped convince the Canadian Parliament to vote unanimously on eliminating the national tampon tax in Canada. A big victory!

Other campaigns can be found from Australia to parts of Europe, with women protesting the tampon tax on social media and even free-bleeding (which is exactly what you think it is) to make a point in public spaces. Women from all over are demanding that their governments eliminate this unnecessary tax.

If we want to live in a more equal world, this is a good start.

The menstruation taboo still stands strong today, whether a girl's period becomes the butt of a joke in a movie or it forces a girl to actually drop out of school in a developing country. This stigmatization especially affects disadvantaged communities, where resources and education aren't as readily available to start conversations and shift perceptions.

A topic like menstruation should be accessible everywhere. Image via Scott Forster/Flickr.

Access to sanitary products is a right, not a luxury.

When our periods are used against us, it sends a message that we are being punished just for existing. That's not the world we want to live in. As Canadians can attest, this tax can be defeated. We might as well try.

You can start by signing the petition here.

You can tax me for my Cheetos, but leave my already-expensive tampons alone, please. I'm trying to kick ass in this world and that's one more thing that unfairly gets in the way.