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    "Tampons"

    They should be free, shouldn't they? We are in a first world country in the 21st century and we are experiencing “period poverty” (amongst other sorts).

    I say "we", of course.....

    #2
    Proof if any were needed that gender inequality is alive and well. If men had periods, tampons would have been free for decades (and the stigma attached to periods would not exist).

    Tampons could not even by advertised on British TV until 1988 (in the US, 1972).
    Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 14-09-2018, 22:17.

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      #3
      When I worked at the Co-op in the mid-1980s, we weren't allowed to say "tampons" on the shop floor (and probably elsewhere as well). It was "STs" (sanitary towels).

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        #4
        Yes, they should be free. Non-taxable would, at the very least, be a move in the right direction.

        My football club always kept a box in the first aid bag, for instances of burst noses. I have had more than one instance of tampon up the nose.

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          #5
          We have a box in the Ladies at the hut. It has to be refilled very often, because ladies nick them (which I think is out of order, but who am I to have an opinion? I'm just the bloke who pays for them.) Tampon solidarity would be good, for everybody.

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            #6
            Originally posted by treibeis View Post
            When I worked at the Co-op in the mid-1980s, we weren't allowed to say "tampons" on the shop floor (and probably elsewhere as well). It was "STs" (sanitary towels).
            That's two completely different things though.

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              #7
              I was going to say that, but you have more credibility in doing so.

              The US insistence on "sanitary napkin" is even more embarrassing than it is ridiculous.

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                #8
                Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post
                Yes, they should be free. Non-taxable would, at the very least, be a move in the right direction.
                George Osborne blamed the EU for not being able to remove the tax.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                  Proof if any were needed that gender inequality is alive and well. If men had periods, tampons would have been free for decades (and the stigma attached to periods would not exist.
                  I'm totally in favour of sanitary products being made freely available (as would be any right-thinking individual) - but I never understand why people make sweeping claims like the above.

                  Apart from the small matter of its being a biological impossibility, nobody can make such a statement with any level of certainty. In an ideal world, these things would be issued free as a matter of course, but the companies that manufacture such products are, after all, in business to make a profit - and have been so for decades. They, however, should all be looking at undercutting their own profit margins en masse to help those who aren't in a position to afford or access their products.

                  I just don't agree with the 'if men...' argument which I've heard many times but makes little sense to me. (It's not a direct equivalent, obviously, but I don't see shaving products having been made free at any point for such an argument to work.) This situation might gain more traction if it weren't dealt with so much as a 'male/female' debate as one of human need and compassion.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                    I'm totally in favour of sanitary products being made freely available (as would be any right-thinking individual)
                    Hold your horses. What comparable products are currently free?

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Fussbudget View Post
                      That's two completely different things though.
                      Yes, even I know that. It was my interpretation of "Codeword ST". I never found out the official etymology.

                      Once, some bloke who'd been sent to buy "ST"s by his wife/daughter/whomever couldn't bring himself to say the word "tampon".

                      "Year, mate, where you got the ... the ... them ... you know ... them period-blocker jobbies?"
                      Last edited by treibeis; 15-09-2018, 12:00.

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                        #12
                        Some men do have periods, of course, and they need the products as well.

                        If you're donating to food banks or homeless charities, tampons and other sanitary products are extremely welcome. Periods can be a nightmare for homeless people.

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                          #13
                          This question comes up a lot, for some reason. And I think it's uniquely (and quite oddly) political. Why should tampons be free? The usual answer is 'they're a necessity...women can't help but need them'. So, okay, but lots of other things are a necessity...and we charge for them. Toilet paper for starters. And, you know, food. And water. Medicines. Shoes, even. But to say 'of course you should charge for tampons' is like the third rail of some conversations. If you say 'yes, of course' then you - for some reason I can't quite understand - apparently just don't get it.

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                            #14
                            One of the saddest parts of I, Daniel Blake is when the young mum goes to the food bank but they don't have any sanitary products. She ends up stealing them from a shop, which indirectly leads to her being recruited into prostitution.

                            On our work campus there are collecting bins for donated sanitary products, which are given to students.

                            I can see that for people on benefits various products should be provided for free.

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                              #15
                              Agreed. We might even regulate the price of them. A nickel apiece, or whatever the U.K. non-union equivalent is. Enough to cover their costs, for sure. Which, you know, is probably a cent.

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                                #16
                                To be honest, after the question of products that men need as well coming up, it did occur to me that toilet paper was an essential that all needed and could possibly be free as well. There is, of course, the other issue that many people pay for their prescriptions as well. I pay Ł8.80 every couple of months for my happy pills and many thousands pay for much more essential items. Having said that, the very cheapest tampons are 5p each so you are easily getting up to Ł8.80 every couple of months just for the very basics every month for, at least, 40 years. Also, as mentioned, while you can get prescriptions for free if you are poor, you can't get tampons and rely upon those that donate to foodbanks.

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                                  #17
                                  Much of the problem around protection is the stigma - if we weren't socialised to be mortified at any slight leakage, and to be "discreet", we wouldn't need quite so much fancy packaging etc. I found mooncups painful, but would use something equally eco-friendly (washable rags or something) if people generally weren't so squeamish and uptight about it.

                                  Our need for tampons/towels/other products varies enormously. I am awaiting a hysterectomy, as I literally lose pints of blood at a time. An operation didn't sort it, and my body refuses menopause. So, 46.5 years of periods so far. Go me.

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                                    #18
                                    Well, indeed, in saying that the cheapest tampons are 5p each, that is assuming that tampons are the only thing used whereas, of course, they aren't so the costs just carry on increasing.

                                    As far as the social stigma is concerned, I wonder whether it comes mainly from men, women or both genders. My assumption is that, as with most social taboos around women (see, for example, burquas or breastfeeding in public), it is men that constructed this particular one.

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                                      #19
                                      Both (all?) keep it going, and I see some women boasting that they have "easy" periods and don't know what all the fuss is about, the rest of us must be incompetent whiners.

                                      My mother didn't prepare me for periods or show any sympathy, not that unusual.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                                        Hold your horses. What comparable products are currently free?
                                        Sorry, you've lost me there.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by WOM View Post
                                          This question comes up a lot, for some reason. And I think it's uniquely (and quite oddly) political. Why should tampons be free? The usual answer is 'they're a necessity...women can't help but need them'. So, okay, but lots of other things are a necessity...and we charge for them. Toilet paper for starters. And, you know, food. And water. Medicines. Shoes, even. But to say 'of course you should charge for tampons' is like the third rail of some conversations. If you say 'yes, of course' then you - for some reason I can't quite understand - apparently just don't get it.
                                          Isn't most of the world's toilet paper made by the Koch Brothers?

                                          I think that the traditional argument is "Women have to bear about 99% of the burden of the furtherance of the species, and when we're not making fucking humans we have to deal with this. And you want us to fucking pay for it as well?"

                                          I find that a convincing argument. Then again my sister has a black belt in karate, I find many of her arguments convincing.

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                            Sorry, you've lost me there.
                                            Toilet paper isn't free; neither are nappies. What makes tampons special?

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                                              #23
                                              I don't pay for toilet paper at work, or out and about, in shopping centres, at the GPs, visiting other offices, wherever.

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                                                #24
                                                Yeah, see...you shit with abandon just coz it’s free.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                                  I just don't agree with the 'if men...' argument which I've heard many times but makes little sense to me. (It's not a direct equivalent, obviously, but I don't see shaving products having been made free at any point for such an argument to work.) This situation might gain more traction if it weren't dealt with so much as a 'male/female' debate as one of human need and compassion.
                                                  Shaving isn't really something that you have to do though, which is where this comparison disintegrates.

                                                  If men had to have mammograms, I promise you that we would universally be using an MRI-type scanner instead of having our tits smashed between two cold metal plates.

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