I don’t think anyone likes to talk about menstruation. Men certainly don’t, and our sexual education teachers were gritting their teeth for the whole 20 minutes they discussed it. Women who get the joy of experiencing it may only venture to make an understandable grumble when Mother Nature makes her monthly appearance. But, on Nov. 9, Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, finally talked about menstruation.

In fact, she proposed requiring state buildings to offer feminine hygiene products such as tampons and pads for free. On the surface, this proposal probably seems silly to some and, frankly, in some ways it is rather superficial. But it is a step, however small, in the right direction for public policy surrounding “that time of the month.”

Bill to make tampons free in public restrooms faces opposition

Among her reasons for proposing the bill, Sargent argued feminine hygiene products are as necessary as toilet paper and paper towels. I have never seen a public restroom charge 25 cents per toilet paper square, and have yet to see anywhere offer free tampons. She also referenced that many women can unexpectedly have their periods while at work.

This is true and Sargent’s intentions are admirable. But if we’re trying to make these efforts effective, we should be discussing where most women stock up on feminine hygiene products — privately-owned stores.

It’s interesting Sargent argues feminine hygiene products are as necessary as toilet paper when the fact of the matter is Wisconsin law says both are non-essential and the government can therefore tax them.

Most states levy a sales tax on all “tangible personal property” but offer exemptions for necessary items such as healthy food and medical supplies. Wisconsin is one of 41 states which tax feminine hygiene products. Furthermore, only five states have taken an active stance in not taxing feminine hygiene products — four states simply don’t have a sales tax.

I’m going to go out on a very sturdy limb and say whoever wrote the tax code thinking feminine hygiene products weren’t necessary, was a man.

Yes, Wisconsin taxes other items that are definitely necessary (toilet paper and first aid products are also taxed) and I’m not a huge fan of those taxes either. But taxing tampons and pads is gendered — women are the main consumers of these products.

I’d also like to point out that my period is going to happen whether I want it to or not. There’s no choice involved. The so-called “tampon tax” places an additional silly financial burden on females for simply having a functioning reproductive system.

Sargent said she would “definitely consider” making feminine hygiene products tax exempt in the future. She also said she was “very concerned” that food stamp recipients are unable to use their benefits to purchase feminine hygiene products and other essential household items.

“I had an internal conflict as I was trying to figure out how to draft this bill. I could have taken on the tax code and that felt like a much larger conversation. I didn’t feel like I could take on that whole big topic,” Sargent said.

So first, let’s pass free feminine hygiene products in state bathrooms and then let’s take the next step and make them tax exempt. Maybe while we’re at it, we’ll just get crazy and stop taxing toilet paper too.

I’m tired of the government taxing me because I involuntarily bleed sometimes — dealing with my monthly period is terrible enough without the government making money off it. The government shouldn’t tax feminine hygiene products. Period.

Madeline Sweitzer ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science, history and journalism.