In most states in the US, “necessity” items like basic foods and medicines are exempt from taxes. The theory is that the government should not profit from “non-luxury” items nor should these basic needs go unmet because a person might not be able to pay taxes to acquire an item. Yet every month, in my state (New York, generally a very progressive place) approximately 29% of the entire population pays a special tax, according to figures I pulled from the 2005 Census update. All 5,372,092 of these people are women of reproductive age (which I estimated to be from 10 – 54 years old).

How is New York, among other states, getting away with such blatant discrimination? It all has to do with tax law. Most people understandably find tax law incredibly boring and archaic and give up when they try and figure out what is subject to sales tax and why. I am one of those people. So imagine my surprise when my friend, who is a budget analyst for New York City’s Office of Management and Budget, recently told me that the sales tax charged on pads and tampons is of particular ire to one of her (male) co-workers. She explained that every year he works with the state legislature to sponsor legislation to abolish this ridiculous tax on being a woman of reproductive age. It never even occurred to me that I was paying for a product that I generally need on a monthly basis and being unfairly taxed on it. It certainly makes me see red.

“Tampon taxes” have been a huge issue in other countries, like Canada and Australia, as well. Actually, it seems to be a bigger issue abroad, as politicians recently proposed or implemented these taxes, and faced ginormous protests, complete with sympathetically angry mobs of women throwing “bloody” tampons and pads (dyed red) at the men who proposed such nonsense.

It seems that women in the US (myself included) either didn’t notice we were being taxed for being healthy women, or quietly accepted that it just costs more to be a woman, and aren’t we lucky we are also paid less than men any way? Traveling Chica from Wisconsin has a fantastic post about the cost of menstruating, including the sales tax. She asks: “What exactly do men have to spend that much money on that no one else benefits from?” An excellent question, indeed.

In this next year, I hope New York State will pass the laws we need to discontinue this obnoxious practice, leaving red and green where it belongs: as a color scheme for Christmas.

Suzanne also blogs at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants