4 ms·

This "life tax" is hardly a surprise when most governments and boards of directors are made of mostly men, who have been taught not to ever speak about these is

This "life tax" is hardly a surprise when most governments and boards of directors are made of mostly men, who have been taught not to ever speak about these issues (a taboo due to religious or social beliefs). Now if there's a way to make money, suddenly it becomes an attractive subject for some, but the liberation of women with reusable products (menstrual cup, washable pads and period pants) will always come second to potential wealth increase with single-use solutions, especially for someone who does now experience the "problem" in the first place. Worse than all that, the people in charge of pushing single-use products genuinely believe they are helping out women, when in reality we see cases of toxic shock syndrome due to chemicals in tampons, and the ecological impact of such single-use products. My wife has been using reusable solutions for a few years now, the cup and period pants being the most liberating according to her.

shard972 8y ago
I know right, my deodorant life tax is really weighing on me these days, can't wait till we unshake the bonds of oppression put on us young males by lynx.
- franky47 8y ago
  The issue of advertising and marketing pressure towards a conforming image of what "young males" should be/look/smell like is a similar one to that of females. Not conforming to this image is often seen as a rebellious act, and depicted with shame for not following the holy rule of capitalism. Yet when such products are partly responsible for the destruction of our ecosystem (single-use products, greenhouse gas emissions from aerosol deodorants), it becomes a moral duty to rebel.
  - ghda 8y ago
    We all have our own “life taxes” to pay. Here’s one: since men are larger and headboard than women, we need more food just to stay alive! A few hundred extra calories a day over a lifetime, the cost must be substantial — almost certainly greater than the cost of tampons. Life is unfair to all of us, both sexes.
    - Moru 8y ago
      How much more is a man making in salary compared to a woman doing the same job? In any country? You can't compare the small ammount of less food needed in calories compared to the large difference in salary for a man, the extra food does not warrant the difference. You as a man can choose not to east as much as you need. You grow a bit less and need less food. A woman can't choose not to leave the house 5 days per month if she want's to keep a job. Yes, we can keep arguing over this but I though we were done with this already 50 years ago. I'm a bit surpriced to see it to be honest. We talked about this in school when I was 12, 30+ years ago. (Sweden) Last year one county here started with free menstruation protection for 12-23 year olds [0] (swedish...) Apparently Scotland was first in the world 2017 [1] [0] https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/gratis-mensskydd-till-flickor-i-akersberga https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/gratis-mensskydd... [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-first-country-free-sanitary-products-tampon-tax-low-income-women-aberdeen-a7836441.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-fir...
      - madshiva 8y ago
        How much women take the money of the man that work hard? 99%? Come on, stop with this trend of equity we don't and never will have the same life.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - SolaceQuantum 8y ago
      Between tampons/pads, bras, thinner/less quality clothing for as much or more $$$, and socially pressured skincare/makeup/hair product, the overall cost I would guess would be equivalent or more than the nutrition for a few hundred calories per day. There are a lot of factors forcing or pressuring women to spend more money or recieve social reprimand, lowered job prospects, etc. (As in the article! Keeping girls in school!) Men also get pressured in other ways, but very rarely are they directly monetary/consumptive the way women are in my opinion.
      - 8y ago
- sctb 8y ago
  > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: I see we've asked you many times not to post like this, and saying that we'd ban you if you did it again, so we have. If you'd like to be unbanned you can email hn@ycombinator.com.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
who have been taught not to ever speak about these issues (a taboo due to religious or social beliefs). More basically, men simply won't know or the importance won't cross their mind, even if they do kind of know. I do my best to leave informative comments on HN with details men are unlikely to know, such as this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19594977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19594977 I will add that the high cost of feminine hygiene products is a problem for a lot of poor American women. It isn't covered by Food Stamps. Homeless services have limited quantities of such things. Etc.
bastardchild 8y ago
Admittedly, the majority of women around me sticks to non-reusable solutions not because they don't know, but because they feel more comfortable with things they can just throw away when dirty. That being said, I'm on the fence about believing this is more than a question of habit vs an actual thing that will bug you. After all, the average US woman seems to be completely thrown about how you can use a tampon without an applicator. In Europe if you ask for them, most people won't even know what you mean and I don't see what their appeal is, but if that is what you grew up with.... (edit) Just to clarify, I also use a cup and it has upsides and downsides, but overall to me it is a net win.

shard972 8y ago

I know right, my deodorant life tax is really weighing on me these days, can't wait till we unshake the bonds of oppression put on us young males by lynx.

franky47 8y ago
The issue of advertising and marketing pressure towards a conforming image of what "young males" should be/look/smell like is a similar one to that of females. Not conforming to this image is often seen as a rebellious act, and depicted with shame for not following the holy rule of capitalism. Yet when such products are partly responsible for the destruction of our ecosystem (single-use products, greenhouse gas emissions from aerosol deodorants), it becomes a moral duty to rebel.
- ghda 8y ago
  We all have our own “life taxes” to pay. Here’s one: since men are larger and headboard than women, we need more food just to stay alive! A few hundred extra calories a day over a lifetime, the cost must be substantial — almost certainly greater than the cost of tampons. Life is unfair to all of us, both sexes.
  - Moru 8y ago
    How much more is a man making in salary compared to a woman doing the same job? In any country? You can't compare the small ammount of less food needed in calories compared to the large difference in salary for a man, the extra food does not warrant the difference. You as a man can choose not to east as much as you need. You grow a bit less and need less food. A woman can't choose not to leave the house 5 days per month if she want's to keep a job. Yes, we can keep arguing over this but I though we were done with this already 50 years ago. I'm a bit surpriced to see it to be honest. We talked about this in school when I was 12, 30+ years ago. (Sweden) Last year one county here started with free menstruation protection for 12-23 year olds [0] (swedish...) Apparently Scotland was first in the world 2017 [1] [0] https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/gratis-mensskydd-till-flickor-i-akersberga https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/gratis-mensskydd... [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-first-country-free-sanitary-products-tampon-tax-low-income-women-aberdeen-a7836441.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-fir...
    - madshiva 8y ago
      How much women take the money of the man that work hard? 99%? Come on, stop with this trend of equity we don't and never will have the same life.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - SolaceQuantum 8y ago
    Between tampons/pads, bras, thinner/less quality clothing for as much or more $$$, and socially pressured skincare/makeup/hair product, the overall cost I would guess would be equivalent or more than the nutrition for a few hundred calories per day. There are a lot of factors forcing or pressuring women to spend more money or recieve social reprimand, lowered job prospects, etc. (As in the article! Keeping girls in school!) Men also get pressured in other ways, but very rarely are they directly monetary/consumptive the way women are in my opinion.
    - 8y ago
sctb 8y ago
> Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: I see we've asked you many times not to post like this, and saying that we'd ban you if you did it again, so we have. If you'd like to be unbanned you can email hn@ycombinator.com.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

who have been taught not to ever speak about these issues (a taboo due to religious or social beliefs). More basically, men simply won't know or the importance won't cross their mind, even if they do kind of know. I do my best to leave informative comments on HN with details men are unlikely to know, such as this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19594977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19594977 I will add that the high cost of feminine hygiene products is a problem for a lot of poor American women. It isn't covered by Food Stamps. Homeless services have limited quantities of such things. Etc.

bastardchild 8y ago

Admittedly, the majority of women around me sticks to non-reusable solutions not because they don't know, but because they feel more comfortable with things they can just throw away when dirty. That being said, I'm on the fence about believing this is more than a question of habit vs an actual thing that will bug you. After all, the average US woman seems to be completely thrown about how you can use a tampon without an applicator. In Europe if you ask for them, most people won't even know what you mean and I don't see what their appeal is, but if that is what you grew up with.... (edit) Just to clarify, I also use a cup and it has upsides and downsides, but overall to me it is a net win.