Should There Be a Tax on Tampons and Sanitary Napkins?

I personally think that tampons and sanitary napkins should not have a tax on them. Tampons and sanitary napkins are a necessity for women all over the world. However, most states in the US view these items as a luxury.

I’m from Massachusetts, so there are specific things that we tax for and other things that we don’t. For those of you who don’t know, Massachusetts does not tax US flags. This is unusual, since flags aren’t a necessity for people, but it’s exempt! Thankfully, tampons and sanitary napkins are not taxed here in Massachusetts either. There are eleven states that do not place taxes on these essential products, but the rest of the states do.

I personally think that we shouldn’t place taxes on tampons and sanitary napkins because they are a necessity. I personally don’t think it is fair to tax these products. Women do not choose to have their periods. They don’t choose to have a menstrual cycle and suffer from stomach cramps and bloating each month. They don’t choose to bleed for days. They don’t choose to leak through their pants when they’re on their heavy days. They don’t choose to leak in general when their period comes to them by surprise and they don’t have a tampon or pad in reach. With that being said, tampons and sanitary napkins should be tax free.

Tampons and sanitary napkins are getting more and more expensive each year. I recently bought a box of 50 tampons for almost $10. The fact that we have to spend so much money on tampons and pads to make sure we don’t leak through our pants is absurd. Having to pay a tax on these items when we personally didn’t choose to have this lifestyle is absurd. Tampons and pads are expensive enough, so we shouldn’t be burdened with the stress of having to pay a tax for them as well.

As you all may know, there is already a wage gap between men and women. Women are purposely getting paid less just because they are a woman. Men do not have to go through menstrual cycles every month, so they do not have to pay for pads and tampons. It’s not fair that pads and tampons are already so expensive, and the prices are increasing every year, so why should there be a tax on them?

We can’t just pretend that our period doesn’t exist. We can’t ignore the cramps that we face. We literally have no choice but to buy these tampons and pads. We’re being taxed for a necessity simply because we’re women and didn’t choose to have our monthly menstrual cycle. Why should we be punished for being women?

There shouldn’t be a tax on tampons and sanitary items when they are already expensive enough. More importantly, however, we didn’t choose to have this necessity.