What do you do with a bloody tampon? It’s just dangling from the string, all damp, looking like a raw, baby, naked mole rat. There is no trash can on site, cause why would seamen (i.e. sailors) do that? I CANNOT flush it down the head (toilet), cause that would be a massive clog in the sewage system. I can’t just leave it there, or leave it on the floor, all raw like that, definitely gross. What do I do? I’ve already bled through my underwear, I’ve already gotten yelled at for using too much toilet paper. Covering up the mess with 50 thousand pieces of non absorbent toilet paper is not okay, especially when there’s a limited supply. Fuck me. 

There’s gotta be an easier way? Nope, okay, cool, I’ll just double down. Now, I almost always bleed from the top, and every 26 days for 7 days I bleed from the bottom, period. Luckily for me, my favorite color is pink. Not that pukey, baby pink, hot pink, shimmering blood red pink. My hair is pink, I love pink; but, you can miss me with the pink tax! 

The pink tax is anything but luxury, it’s the production of products specifically made for women. The pink tax is the extra amount of money that women pay for everyday products like razors, shampoos, conditioners, haircuts, clothes, especially “pink” color, dry cleaning, and more. Tampons/pads are considered “luxury”, therefore we pay more for something that is out of our control. This is the pink tax, and applies to items all woman and girls will need their entire lives.

Not only do women make 72% of what men make, and WOC make even less, but our entire lives we have extra costs for something biological. FUCKING BULLSHIT. Turns out tampons first appeared in ancient Egypt, some old white dude just happened to come up with the little cotton balls with applicators that eject into the vagina, and now are the most popular feminine hygiene product. He stole that idea, patented it, and boom, conglomerate with a big corporation, destroying the environment and leading to us paying for “THE PINK TAX”. 

Don’t be fooled, you don’t need tampons and you don’t need pads, they’re way more sustainable options. Tampons and pads destroy the environment: it takes a lot of natural resources to make, it contributes to the fossil fuel production, it becomes landfill, it then goes into the ocean, it leaches toxic chemicals, and contributes even more to climate change and further killing our planet. Corporations nowadays are pumping pesticides and toxic metals right into your tampons/ pads (and diapers for that matter) that go right inside of you. Tampons are known to give you toxic shock syndrome, so please stop giving these corporations your money, stop polluting the environment, stop putting toxic chemicals in your body. 

Yes, I need stuff for my period, but I use a diva cup, I can wear it for 12 hours at a time, I can go scuba diving, spear fish, run transects, get back to the dock, clean my gear, check the water tables, do some yoga, and still no leaks, and no changing. There’s no record of toxic shock syndrome, and yes, it’s pretty comfortable. Warning, TMI, be prepared for things to get messy, things can get pretty bloody sometimes, like you spilled a bright red sour merlot in the toilet bowl. Great news, blood flushes down great. Sometimes if you get it right you can measure the blood collected in the menstrual cup. What if you’re stuck in a stall and the sink is far away? Well I’ve definitely dried with toilet paper, and kept it pushing, but, I’ve always just walked to the sink, washed it and went back into the stall. Always remember to wash your hands, and wash your menstrual cup with soap and water before reinserting. 

If you’re not the inserter type, I really like to use THINX panties, they are reusable menstrual panties, and they hold up to 2 cups of fluid! I promise you, they don’t feel like diapers. I recommend getting 7 pieces. That’s how many I use lol. More unhygienic TMI, before I go to bed I use the cup and the menstrual panties together and I don’t change it till I take a shower the next evening 😜. I just wash them with water, rinse off in sink, and then place in the washer and dryer. Sometimes I don’t rinse them. They’re so comfortable, sometimes I get confused, and accidentally put them on when I’m not on my period. I no longer buy pads or tampons, and I feel good about being discrete, the longevity it holds, and the future of this planet, plus I’m saving my hard earned bucks. 

Just remember that anything that is targeted for females is considered a luxury and is part of the pink tax. Corporations can make you pay more for it. I’m done with that, and you should be too.