Online campaign for cheaper menstrual products emerges in China

A conversation about period poverty, the inability for low-income women and girls to purchase safe sanitary products, has erupted on Chinese social media this week, igniting an online campaign calling for a lower sales tax on feminine hygiene products in the country.

The sudden rise of public awareness about the issue stemmed from a Weibo post (in Chinese) on August 28, by user Shàngwǎng Hàirén 上网害人, showing two screenshots of a product page on Taobao, China’s biggest ecommerce site. Featured in the pictures is a packet of 100 brandless and package-free sanitary pads sold at 21.99 yuan ($3.20), a price much lower than that of well-known manufacturers.

In a screenshot showing an exchange in the product’s review section, a person alerts potential buyers that the pads’ “incredibly cheap price” might be an indication of their low quality. “I suggest buying pads of famous bands because they will be used in your private areas,” the person wrote, to which a woman replied, “Life is tough.”

The Weibo post quickly received thousands of replies, many from women who regrettably admitted that their easy access to high-quality sanitary pads had blinded them from acknowledging the fact that some low-income people couldn’t afford safe menstrual supplies. “Before reading the post, I had never questioned the cost of tampons and menstrual pads. Now I know they can be out of reach for women in poverty,” a Weibo user commented (in Chinese).

In a string of follow-up messages, Shangwang Hairen turned her post’s virality into an educational opportunity for people unfamiliar with the issue of period poverty, an underreported problem faced by women and girls who lack access to safe sanitary products. “Not everyone can afford the lifestyle of drinking milk tea or eating hotpot on a regular basis. If you are trying to rationalize the cost of sanitary products by saying that everyone can buy a ton of pads if they drink less milk tea, you should check your privilege,” she wrote (in Chinese).

The passionate responses triggered by the original post also snowballed into an online campaign calling for a reduction to sales tax on feminine hygiene products. In China, menstrual products are subject to a 13% sales tax, the same as for most consumer items, but advocates demanding changes argued that pads and tampons should be tax exempt because they are necessities for women.

As of today, the hashtag “package-free sanitary pads” (#散装卫生巾#) has racked up more than 830 million views on Weibo, with most posts about the topic being calls for the government to make menstrual products more affordable through reducing and eliminating sales tax on them. “When someone can’t afford a basic necessity, something is wrong. Lowering the price or offering subsidies to low-income women. There are plenty of measures that the government can take. All in all, period poverty is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed,” a Weibo user wrote.

While menstrual equality is essentially a women’s issue that doesn’t spark men’s interest, the peaceful and uplifting conversation about period poverty inevitably turned contentious when some men decided to weigh in, writing in some responses to the campaign that women could avoid the issue by “simply using fewer pads” or “creating something on their own to staunch flows.” Appalled by what some critics called “ignorant and misogynistic comments about women’s bodies,” Lliángyù-stacey (梁钰stacey), an outspoken feminist on Weibo, said that the movement should take a more progressive direction to force change. “Let’s ask for free pads!” she wrote (in Chinese).