Tampon Tax; Texas Teens Are Fired Up And Fighting To Eliminate It

Get our free mobile app

Texas Teens Are Fired Up Over The Ridiculous Tampon Tax

Yep, we wrote the word tampon right in the headline.

If we don't start talking more about topics like feminine hygiene products, we might continue to pay taxes for things like pads and tampons, taxes that contribute to what's referred to as 'period poverty'.

Paying tax for menstrual care is just another way women get the short end of the stick.

In a pinch, women have admitted they've been in situations where they used toilet paper, paper towels, and hand towels, in order to curb the flow of their cycles in an emergency. Now imagine you can't afford the proper feminine hygiene products every month and you're forced to use whatever's on hand at the time. That's period poverty.

Period poverty is not a topic we discuss often but the next generation of young Texas women are fired up over the conversation, offering that if we don't fight to make period products more affordable we will continue to perpetuate unsanitary alternatives for those who experience period poverty. The argument is that menstrual products should be considered, "wound care" and not taxed.

Sales tax on menstrual products is one of many issues that contribute to period poverty, a serious problem among the underserved exists in not just our state but worldwide

Sahar Punjwani, a University of Chicago student from Houston is one of many teens who are taking their fight to our Texas Comptroller after the recent decline to remove the sales tax on menstrual products.

In a riveting article from Click2Houston which you can read in detail here, Punjwani offers," “I have two younger sisters and they know now that this isn’t something you have to be quiet about or use code words for,” she said.

If you are fired up over unfair taxes on feminine products, take some time to check out Texas Menstrual Equity Coalition whose manta speaks volumes, " Free the Period."