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A comment on Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School. Parent comment

Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by vixen99 on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @02:58AM (#19726221)
It's inconsistent tax rates which are crazy. Isn't toilet tissue 'essential' in the same way? Should that be exempt from sales tax? In many EU countries foodstuffs (difficult to 'make do' in its absence) and pharmaceutical products attract VAT albeit at a reduced rate.
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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by JauntyHatAngle on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @03:34AM (#19726368)
Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I think the concern is more that Women have to pay money for essential hygiene products than Men due to their gender - which can be seen as inequitable.

Toilet paper is an essential for both genders.

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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by rahoulb on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @07:14AM (#19727405)
I agree with your main point - it's the inequity that's the point.

In the UK tampons and pads have VAT charged on them (as they count as a luxury); there is a campaign to remove this and it has been reduced to 5%, but it's still there (due to EU regulations I believe).

As a side point, in many parts of the world, toilet paper is not an essential; it's regarded as a dirty and unclean western practice.

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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by lixtra on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @05:13AM (#19726770)
What is the tax status of razor blades in your state?
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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by robin_reala on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @06:12AM (#19727081)
Shaving is both not a necessity and something people of every gender do equally.
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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by gknoy on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @12:26PM (#19730127)
Razor blades are also substantially cheaper than feminine hygiene products. One number I saw was that the average woman spends $150 - $300 per year on pads.

In contrast, I can spend an order of magnitude less on razor blades, as a pack of Harry's blades end up being something like $2/each, and that's basically about a dollar or two a month (or less).

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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by tropo on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @05:30PM (#19733095)
None of that is essential.

For menstruation, you can do free bleeding.

For defecation, you can use a bidet, or go old-style with corn cobs. You can use an odd number of stones, as specified by Muhammad.

The same goes for shampoo (don't need it), deodorant (don't need it), and many other things.

What this all boils down to is a fear of having other people think you are weird, defective, dirty, gross, etc.

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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by smileysteve on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @10:06AM (#19728694)
> Toilet paper is an essential for both genders.

In walked the bidet.

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Re:Menstrual Cups Help Keep Kenyan Girls in School by tomp on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @04:26AM (#19726569)
Well, they don't need to. Maybe pads should be taxed more so that more women would use menstrual caps? Pads seem to be quite environmentally harmful as well, they produce a lot of non-recyclable waste (unlike toilet paper).
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