Fair Warning: If discussion of feminine hygiene and the products involved in aforementioned hygiene at all disturb you, you should probably stop reading now.

For the rest of you: It is time we talk about tampons. Or pads, depending on your preference. If you are a woman who has reproductive organs and you experience menstruation, you will most likely buy and use sanitary products.

Well, I will tell you (on a low average) how much women spend on tampons or pads in their lifetime:

On average, women spend close to $7 on sanitary products a month for about 40 years. That is close to $4,000 a woman will spend in a lifetime on sanitary napkins.

So why am I talking about this? To shock and awe?

Tampons should not cost that much. They have an incredible tax placed on them that causes the government to raise close to a $20 million every year in taxes. Here is a brief discussion of taxing from an expert, Taryn Hill:

"For those uninitiated in the country’s tax codes (lucky you!), most states tax all 'tangible personal property' but make exemptions for select 'necessities' (non-luxury items). Things that are considered necessities usually include groceries, food stamp purchases, medical purchases (prescriptions, prosthetics, some over-the-counter drugs), clothes (in some states), and agriculture supplies. The lists of exemptions vary from state to state."

So, tampons are viewed by most states (excluding Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Montana, Maine and New Hampshire ) as non-exclusive and hold both a sales tax and a luxury item tax. I don't know about you, but there is nothing luxurious about periods.

Another thing: A recent study has shown that some tampons can actually be quite dangerous to a woman's health. Eighty-five percent of feminine hygiene products were found to contain glyphosate, which is likely to cause cancer. Not only are women being charged more money than necessary, they are getting sick while doing it.

As of late, there has been a push through petitions in government throughout the world to remove the tampon tax. Canada's tax was lifted this past year. France rejected several petitions to remove the tax. The U.K. had many petitions, one including women "free bleeding" in front of parliament. People were uncomfortable to say the least. Many men tried to validate the tax saying they had to pay for things as well; things like Band-Aids. And trousers.

OK.

Here's the thing - if women have to validate their right to a necessity by equating it to a male necessity, we have a whole other batch of issues that I will abstain from at the moment. Feminine products are a necessity. It is unsafe, unsanitary and uncomfortable to not use a sanitary product while on your time of the month. Menstruation is a natural, biological function that is entirely out of the control of a woman.

Obviously this is a complicated issue, and I am not claiming to be an economist. I am only asserting that if we as a country are going to continue to tax women for being women, we need to come up with a better reason than tampons being non-essential. I don't know anything about the implications on our tax income, or the impact on GDP, but tampons are essential.

So in short - We should be making movements to at least reduce the tampon tax and stop taxing women for being women.