The Cost of Belonging to the team "Pink"

The author of this blog is Ritika Sharma. She is the Founder of the blog, HUMAN.DROITS, and is also an LL.M. Graduate from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She can be reached at ritika4523@gmail.com.                       

                                    

Women and men, as consumers incur different expenses, and that difference is based on the sex of a person, where women have to pay more than men.

Well, it is not at all related to the conception that girls don’t like to wear the same dresses again and that the need to buy new clothes very often adds up to the expenses as many of us don’t really shy away from wearing the same cute and comfortable clothes over and over again.

There is a long list of expenses (major/ minor, essential/ less essential) in which differences have been observed and the first and major expense is the menstrual hygiene products, which of course are to be purchased by women only. Every month women have to bear the expenses of pads, tampons or menstrual cups, which are essential products that cannot be negated unless we choose to compromise our reproductive health or hygiene. Shockingly, these products which should be provided to each and every woman free of cost in the hospitals or pharmacies are expensive, as if we can choose not to have periods.

After the introduction of GST in India, high taxes were imposed on sanitary products reflecting that either the concerned authorities were not aware of the inevitability of menstruation (which does not sound probable) or opined that Indian women are used to the unhygienic, alternate means of tackling their menstrual cycles. The taxes, however, were removed in July 2018 as a consequence of the emergence of multifarious campaigns and petitions, of which two aspects are worth mentioning. Firstly, a campaign with the hashtag #LahukaLagaan was initiated by a non-profit organisation in the year 2017 to raise their voice against 12% tax rates on sanitary products which were giving these essentials the status of "luxury items". Secondly, a PIL (Zarmina Israr Khan v. Union of India & Anr.) was filed which challenged the application of GST on these products. One of the most powerful contentions was that on one hand, exemptions from GST have been granted to ensure affordability to the consumers for some products (such as kajal, bindi, sindoor, etc) owing to their importance for the consumers and on the other, sanitary products have been taxed as luxury items. This, distinctly, undermined the health and reproductive rights of the women, rendering more importance to the symbols of marriage (i.e. sindoor and other products) than to the products which are actually a basic necessity for them.

Undoubtedly, the motive behind the movements against the imposition of GST on menstrual products was completely reasonable as the taxation disdained an intrinsic part of a woman's life, labeling it a "luxury", however, it is difficult to deduce that it has made menstrual products more accessible to the Indian women. A family whose adult members do not give importance to or are themselves unaware of the hygiene and comfort that menstrual products would provide to their daughters and women of the family, will not buy them at any cost. Conversely, the taboo around menstruation makes it a hushed conversation in Indian households. Thus, the keys to achieving success in this movement are (i) awareness at grass-root levels; and (ii) making these products free of cost to the underprivileged sections of the society. Instead of depositing amounts in the bank accounts of women with which they would never care to buy sanitary napkins, these should be made available to them in products for free. Although several campaigns by the government (eg, Menstrual Hygiene Scheme "MHS"), NGOs, and student-run initiatives are functioning admirably in this area, there is still a lot to achieve. According to the recent reports of P&G's Whisper, "out of a total of 40 crore menstruating women in India, less than 20% use sanitary pads. In urban areas, this number only goes up to 52%".

Another angle that highlights that women have to incur more expenses can be explained with the help of the pink tax. Pink tax, in reality, is not a tax and this terminology is used to hint towards the extra expenses that women (as consumers) have to pay on account of gender-based pricing of goods and services. There is always a difference in the price of the products common to both males and females such as clothes, toys, perfumes, cosmetics, razors, etc. According to various studies, this difference in prices ranges from mere a few rupees to even thousands. The advocates who support these differences in pricing state reasons such as products for men and women have different formulations. But what about the products which are identical and yet their prices vary? Additionally, there are differences in prices in the services such as that of a salon for men and women. For instance, exactly similar toys (in nature, durability, size, etc) have distinct prices, with girls' toys being more expensive than those of boys. Where's the difference? In the colour? Pink is expensive!

Ironically, the section of society whose constant struggle to eliminate the gender pay gap never ceases is bound to pay higher prices and taxes as consumers than the other. Admittedly, it's not that only women have to bear the extra expenses as the earning members of the family (irrespective of their gender) pay for all the expenditures but we cannot overlook the fact that it is upon women that these charges are discriminatorily inflicted, making it expensive to raise a daughter than a son (thus, leading to another social issue). So, where's the solution to this global problem? Ignoring the beauty standards so piously embedded in our minds by the movies and advertisements? Spreading awareness against societal norms so as not to force and fit one in that already designed picture of a "perfect lovely woman"? Introducing laws against gender-based pricing? Purchasing generic or unisex products (wherever it is possible)? Campaigns? Various solutions could be found followed by endless discussions.