Every teen girl has experienced waking up in the morning and realizing her sheets are blotched with patches of blood. She then has to suffer a day full of mood swings or food cravings, in addition to the crippling cramps.

She didn’t ask for this or do anything to deserve it. However thanks to her uterus, she has to buy pads and tampons to keep manage her period in a hygienic way.

Sadly most girls do not know that these commodities are taxed way more than they should be. This tax is known as the Pink Tax.

The Pink Tax concerns the extra money women are charged for services or necessary products, that in many cases they cannot go without.

Products such as Viagra or condoms, however, are exempt from state taxes. The government has decided that a woman who is swimming in a pool of her own blood should be taxed to stay clean, but that a man should not be taxed for a condom for safe sex or Viagra for medical conditions. This is an inequality that we cannot accept.

Even products such as sunscreen, ChapStick, and anti-dandruff shampoo don’t get taxed as much as pads or tampons!

According to a study from New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs, in total women are charged 13% more for personal care products, 8% more for clothes, 7% more for toys and accessories, and 4% more for children’s clothing.

Since businesses and the government know women need to buy products, such as tampons, pads, or clothing, for hygiene and self care they seize the opportunity to take advantage and charge extra, being incredibly selfish.

In 2010, Consumer Reports found that women’s versions of the same product in drug stores could cost up to 50% more than men’s and a California study in the 90’s found out that gender-based pricing cost women approximately $1,300 extra annually.

Women are not just paying more than men, but also earning less since on average for every dollar a man makes a woman earns 79 cents. In 2017, this should still not be a problem. New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs has also discovered that women’s products are 13% more expensive than the same product sold to men and after surveying almost 800 products they found in 42% of cases, women paid more for the same items.

For instance, women are charged more for a pink razor than a duo pack of two blue razors simply because it is targeted towards women.

Take Walgreens, for example, they charged $14.99 for men’s razor cartridges and $18.49 for women’s cartridges which is 23% more expensive.

Products are not the only thing being marketed at higher prices because they are directed towards women. Vehicle maintenance, being a service offered to both genders, is also a part of the Pink Tax.

Northwestern University did a study where a clueless woman called a repair shop and got charged $406 for a job that originally cost $365. Then, they also had a man who was equally clueless call and got charged only $383. This service’s cost fluctuation depended on gender only, assuming that a women would not have the knowledge to know that she is being taken advantage of.

Today’s society has been taught that women are not only inferior, but also less intelligent, and can be manipulated. We cannot support this type of thinking and need to start teaching the upcoming generations to view women as unique individuals that are indeed able to accomplish as much as men.

Also, women never asked to get their period. The stereotype that women are afraid of blood is completely fake since once a month lady’s see it in their underwear, all over their clothes, and in the toilet. They suffer for almost a week and go through immense emotional feelings.

Experiencing a menstrual cycle is not a decision. It is simply a part of preparing for pregnancy and women should not be charged for it, they should be praised for it. Ladies are literally paying and suffering for the gift of life.