Don't mind me, just chilling with my LUXURY ITEMS!!!!!! Don't worry though, if I ever can't afford them I'll just decide to stop having my period. Since, you know, I don't NEED sanitary items. I know what you're thinking, £1.50 doesn't seem like a lot, but let's do the maths, shall we?
People with vaginas are advised to change sanitary products at a MAXIMUM every 4 hours. 24/4=6, that's a minimum of 6 pads/tampons a day - some people change them more frequently but we'll call that the average. So, on average, 6 pads/tampons a day - this is a pack of 12 for £1.50. It will last max 2 days. The average period lasts around 5 days. That's 30 pads or tampons, which remember, is AT A MINUMUM. This costs £3.75 per period. Don't forget that this is just this particular brand, others will be more expensive so we're still saying minimum. We have to pay this every month. 3.75x12=45. £45 a year on sanitary items. So how much in a lifetime?
On average, people with vaginas will have their period between 12 and 51. That's 39 years, which is an average. 39x45=1755.
So at a MINIMUM people with vaginas will spend £1,755 on a product for a bodily function WE CANNOT HELP!!! So what do we do? Do we just free bleed when we can't afford it? Nope, because then people will complain that we're unsanitary - you won't see anyone calling them a luxury when we're bleeding all over the place.
Why is it that the vote on the tampon tax is left to a parliament full of people who will mostly never experience it? Where is our vote on this?
Basic sanitation is literally a human right. People who live in poverty are currently being denied this right because sanitary products are still being unnecessarily taxed. This is fucking madness that in this day and age, we are essentially being taxed for having vaginas.
