On Jan. 15, 2016, YouTuber Ingrid Nilsen shocked President Barack Obama when she asked him about what has become known as the “Tampon Tax.”

40 out of the 50 U.S. states impose some kind of tax on tampons, pads and other menstrual products, taxing them as luxury items rather than necessities.

There’s just a small (actually, big) problem with that: periods are not exactly a luxury.

As Nilsen pointed out to President Obama, “I don’t know anyone who has a period that thinks it’s a luxury, because it’s part of our everyday lives.”

And it’s not just tampons. According to a Washington Post article released in December, “Women, on average, paid 48 percent more for goods like shampoo, conditioner and gel.”

Women pay an average of “13 percent more for personal care products” that are similar to men’s.

In addition to paying extra for these so-called “luxury” items, women continue to make 79 cents for every dollar that men make.

California Assembly member Cristina Garcia recently introduced a measure to kill the tax on feminine hygiene products in the state of California.

According to Garcia's press release, “Women in California pay over $20 million annually in taxes on tampons and sanitary napkins.”

Garcia said, “Women have no choice but to buy these products, so the economic effect is only felt by woman and women of color are particularly hard hit by this tax.”

In response to the tax, several petitions have popped up around the Internet, including one put out by activist Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Cosmopolitan magazine.

The Tampon Tax cannot be ignored. There has to be something done about it. We cannot ignore our periods, so how can we ignore the tax?

Regardless of when the taxes were imposed, or who made them, it's time for them to come to an end. How can this continue? Women are making less than men. They are paying more than men for a necessary, everyday item.

The only person who can dictate what a woman does with her body, or what is deemed "necessary" to her everyday life, is the individual herself.

Tampons are not a luxury item. Periods are not an option or something we can choose to forgo. Periods are part of every woman’s life and are a crucial part to our health.