If you ever had any doubt that mansplaining is a thing, this viral Facebook post about how many tampons women should be using will remove any hint of doubt from your mind.
Twitter user @aisghiar shared a screenshot of a man’s comment on a Pink News Facebook post, as he attempted to shame women who complain about the cost of periods.
‘So the average period is 10 to 35ml of blood, each tampon holds about 5ml, so seven tampons per cycle,’ he wrote, and we’re already beginning to see where this is going.
‘Lets be generous and say 10 for those ladies with an extra-juicy uterine lining. Nine periods a year equals 90 tampons max.’
‘You can get a 64 pack on amazon for £7.90 plus shipping. Buy two packs, save on shipping and have 128 tampon [sic] for the year, that’s about £20 here or their [sic] for a year’s periods.’
‘Cut down on your starbucks venti frapps and stop whining. This isn’t a first world problem.’
While many were quick to point out the spelling mistakes and grammar errors there are also a number of wildly inaccurate claims here.
First of all, a quick Google will tell you that the average amount of blood women lose during their period if 80ml, not 10 to 35ml. Secondly, a ‘juicy uterine lining’ isn’t a thing, and also, gross. Thirdly, nine periods a year? Erm, women’s menstrual cycles don’t tend to follow academic calendars, pal.
More worrying than this, though, is the trend of men jumping to accuse women of being frivolous with money, without any evidence. There can’t possibly be a problem with the cost of tampons or sanitary towels, there must be a problem with the women buying them. Women don’t know how to budget, have never heard of bulk buying, and are just flinging their money away on frappaccinos and tampons every day.
Thankfully there is good news on the horizon for those of us who are charged the ‘pink tax’, a term used to describe products marketed towards women that aren’t any different to those marketed to men, but at a higher price, for example razors.
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine introduced the Gender-based Pricing (Prohibition) Bill in the House of Commons this week.