During my daily skim through my Facebook feed, I came across a rather disturbing, disappointing and unfortunate article which highlights the passionately ignorant opinions of 19-year-old Ryan Williams. Here is the article in case you would desire to read the whole story to which I will be referring throughout my article.

To give you a briefing on what was discussed, this article highlights Williams' opinion on taxing feminine hygiene products — tampons, pads, diva cups, etc. — and his somewhat viral tweet on the matter. I won't bore you with the pesky details so let me just pull some of my favorite quotes from good ol' Ryan himself:

The original tweet which inspired the article:

Moment of silence for our failing education system please

Trust me, Ryan. If I could somehow hold my deteriorating uterus which allows you to have the possibility of reproducing, I would. But seeing as that a menstrual cycle involves a woman's reproductive system and has absolutely no relation to the bladder whatsoever, I'm afraid I can't "hold it in" for you. Please return to sexual education class. Or better yet, Google ought to do the trick here.

My next favorite quote:

"If you make tampons free where do you draw the line? They'll be going about petitioning for toilet roll to be free next."

*insert rolling eye emoji*

Good thing we have never discussed making feminine hygiene products "free" and we have only been petitioning a removal of the tax because we're sick of the government taking money we do not have a choice but to spend. Seeing as that a woman physically cannot control the waterfall of blood coming from her vagina each month, let's break down how much money women spend in a desperate attempt to at least manage their menstrual cycle. This isn't even including other products under the "pink tax," but let's focus here.

The Huffington Post published a fantastic article which breaks down all of the expenses which come from a woman's menstrual cycle. I encourage all of you to read this if you are doubting anything I've said, or are just itching to call me out in the comments section.

However, to highlight some key information from the article:

"On average a woman has her period from three to seven days and the average woman menstruates from age 13 until age 51. That means the average woman endures some 456 total periods over 38 years, or roughly 2,280 days with her period--6.25 years of her life."

That's right friends. I spend six and a quarter years of my life just bleeding uncontrollably. Yay.

If we add the amount we spend on necessities: Midol, tampons, panty liners or pads, and new underwear to replace the stained ones. This would be the bare minimum of essential products during a menstrual cycle (for me). Some people absolutely need a heating pad or have gone on birth control in order to relieve some of the cramping. I've been lucky.

So, using the numbers from the article, I will be spending roughly $5,726.49 in my life solely on managing my menstrual cycle. This isn't including other products I have often used to make it bearable. That's $2,216.66 on tampons and pads alone. The least the government could do--which is mostly run by men, by the way-- is take the tax off of feminine hygiene products.

I understand that it's considered a "luxury" item because it's not food or water and it's manmade. However, honestly, if you're not a woman who experiences periods, I'm not really interested in your pitiful excuses for why they should still be taxed because you physically don't understand how not luxurious these products are.

Remember this protest?

Yeah, still applicable.

We live in a society which teaches women their menstrual cycle--the natural bodily function that is mandatory when having a uterus--is gross and should remain private for the sake of respecting those around you who might find it "offensive." I cannot tell you how many times I've pulled a tampon out of my bag before running to the bathroom and a guy friend immaturely cringes or even makes some comment like "ew why are you putting that where everyone can see it?" Or the skeptical looks like they're seeing an alien from another planet. Or now, having people like Ryan Williams saying we should learn to "hold our bladder" essentially downgrading us to children who aren't potty trained yet.

Women should be taught to embrace the exact cycle that makes them a woman.