Tampon Tax: Revisited

242 days ago, our first post on Adam and Even was about the tampon tax, the tax which forces everybody who menstruates to pay 5% tax on sanitary products as they are deemed ‘unnecessary’ by the 70% male British parliament. 

This, by its nature, is a female only tax and an example of plain discrimination based on gender. It seems ridiculous that we are forced to pay 5% extra on tampons and sanitary towels when betting shops are VAT exempt.

Last night there was a vote in the House of Commons which voted AGAINST the proposal which would abolish the 5% tax which half the population are forced to pay, with their 30% lower wages, for a good part of their lives. Perhaps I was naïve, but I really hoped that the 191 female MPs would vote for this proposal, showing female solidarity. 

But no. A number of Conservative female MPs incomprehensibly voted to continue this unfair tax. 

One of these MPs was my local MP, Maria Miller. I was shocked that she had given in to the powerful men who are willing to publicly persecute every women in this country. The reason that I am so shocked is that on the 20th April this year, I went with a number of other members of GirlGuiding UK to an evening called ‘Girls Matter’ which was organised by Maria Miller to encourage brownies and guides aged from 7 to get their voices heard, to try and put across what they believed was right and to believe in themselves. Over the course of the evening we spoke about everything from cyber bullying to the representation of females in the media. I was genuinely blown away and I went to college the next day raving about this tory, expenses cheating woman to my left wing feminist friends. Miller personally told me that she would try everything in her power to reduce the tax on these sanitary products and her personal aim was to get David Cameron to say 'tampon' yet it turns out that she is just another liar. 

However politics aside, it confuses me that the few women who actually have the power to change things all bow down to what the men want, even when it will NEVER affect the men. At this moment, the change.org petition to stop the tampon tax has 257,368 supporters, yet out of the 191 female MPs who make up 30% of our government, over 60 of them voted for this tax which they will have to pay every month. It is just another example of how women are silenced in their places of work because I genuinely don’t believe that these women are happy paying this sexist tax.

Written by Georgina

Picture credit: Lili

HeforShe

In amongst the free dominoes and endless flyers promising discounted nights out, it was a pleasant surprise to have the presence of the HeforShe campaign at this university societies fair.

The big black and pink tour bus was surrounded by students, men and women alike. It was so encouraging to see crowds of people gathering to sign up to the campaign, and then to listen to a very inspiring speech from .........

The HeforShe campaign aims to encourage men to get involved in the fight for gender equality. So many people believe that to be a feminist you must be a woman, but in fact feminism is an issue which affects all of us in our daily lives. For this reason it is essential that we continue to encourage men to join in, because without this vital cooperation from half the population it will be very difficult to change society's attitudes and beliefs.

Furthermore, especially in developing countries, men still have the majority of power and therefore are in some cases the only people able to influence others and make a positive change. Even here in the UK David Cameron only has 7 women in his 22 member cabinet. Admittedly this is a marked improvement on previous cabinets but it still leaves women in a minority such that they make up less than a third of this group. However, although some may argue (perhaps correctly) that we do indeed need the help of men when striving for equality, it is also worth noting that the HeforShe campaign is not about weak women seeking help from their more powerful counterparts, nor about helpless women being saved by men. Instead it focuses on the fact that to achieve equality we need to engage society as a whole, men included, and therefore it is very positive that so many male university students signed up to the campaign yesterday.

It is also worth mentioning that HeforShe is very much a global movement, and therefore it often encourages people in developed countries to work to improve the terrible situations many women in poorer countries find themselves in. There is a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of educating young women and girls, which perhaps is the most relevant thing for university students to relate to. In some ways one could argue that by starting at this fundamental foundation of society, education, we can open doors to women and girls, giving them more opportunities in life.

Regardless, HeforShe is an amazing organisation improving women's lives worldwide, and the university tours are certainly a good way to get more people involved.



Written by Lili

Picture credit: Lili

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/heforshe-campaign-makes-tour-of-10-university-campuses 
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2015/september/un-women-launches-heforshe-getfree-tour-at-university-of-leicester

Ballet shoes

For those who did not already know, the attire and appearance of ballet dancers is of great importance. For this reason ballet shoes should be skin colour so as not to interrupt the line of the dancer's legs. 

Why then are pointe shoes (ballet shoes) only available in the traditional shades of pink? 

It seems absurd that in this day and age black ballerinas are at a disadvantage. Cira Robinson is a senior artist at the Ballet Black dance company, and she, like so many other black ballet dancers, uses foundation to 'pancake' her points shoes so that they match her skin colour. It seems strange that she should have to apply foundation to every pair of shoes she wears, and it is unclear as to why pointe shoes are not available in more skin colours. The fact that they are not is obvious discrimination. 

Although this is a very small, niche detail that clearly does not affect the majority of people, it nevertheless demonstrates that we have not yet reached complete equality with regards to ethic minorities in our society.

Perhaps what I am trying to say is that the battle is not over, of course progress in regards to equality has been rapid and largely successful, but problems remain ingrained in our culture. It is essential that this does not go unnoticed. 

Written by Lili 

Picture credit: Lili

Kiran Gandhi

Periods aren’t fun. Running 26.2 miles doesn’t strike me as much fun either. So when your period falls on a marathon for which you’ve been training for nearly a year, it’s easy to imagine the difficult position you are put in. Do you keep taking your pill to skip a period and face the consequences of being pumped with hormones? Do you give up and not run, waste the last year of incredible sacrifice and hard work just because your womb has decided to shed its lining? Do you run wearing a tampon, which could cause severe discomfort and worry about finding toilets along the way?

Kiran Gandhi decided to literally stick it to man when she got her period the day before she ran the London Marathon for breast cancer without any form of sanitary protection. She states a number of reasons including raising awareness for those women who do not have access to protection and the fact that it would be inconvenient for her. The response to her selfless 26.2 miles has shocked me, the media has branded her a ‘egotistical’ ‘unhygienic’ and ‘disgusting’. Everything that Kiran did for this marathon has been for women. She raised money for breast cancer, a disease where 99% of the sufferers are female [national breast cancer] and she raised awareness about periods. She has stated that she wants women to be able to talk about the pain they feel with their monthly periods because many women feel that their periods affect their careers, one in four stating that it affects how well they concentrate in the work place [daily mail], by talking about it, it may lead to a better understanding, less stigma and less shame.

Kiran has succeeded in bringing the topic of periods back into the media. She shocked people and she made a very awkward male radio 2 presenter say the word ‘tampon’. Yet there is a lot more to be done, we need to banish the idea that periods are disgusting, this only adds to the fear that young girls experience whilst growing up. They become use to the idea that periods are unnatural and something to be hidden away, which could cause them to be ashamed of their bodies. We are punished for having periods, we are taxed for having periods, we are losing out at work because of out periods. When in actual fact, periods are a part of everybody’s life. They are necessary. We need to normalise periods, my own mum who has had periods for 30 plus years and two children was horrified when she first heard about Kiran on the radio. But once Kiran explained why she did it and what she hoped the consequences would be, my mum began to understand it and by the end of the radio interview actually supported her. This shows that we need talk about periods and be honest about how they affect us, instead of hiding them out of embarrassment. This doesn’t mean we need to necessarily ruin our favourite jeans by not wearing protection if we don’t want to, but it means we need to speak up about periods and not make horrible comments about Kiran and what she’s bravely done. 

Written by Georgina

Picture Credit: Ellen

https://medium.com/absurdist/going-with-the-flow-blood-sisterhood-at-the-london-marathon-
f719b98713e7http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/male-breast-cancerhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-358454/Period-pain-cripples-womens-careers.html 

The JK culture

All over the world millions of young girls and women are viewed as sexual objects by men and society. But the situation in Japan, a country which has been called the most misogynistic in the whole developed world, seems far worse than some others.

In Japan, schoolgirls line the streets, dressed in uniform, selling services to older men such as a 30 minute chat or a walk around the block. They are very popular amongst Japanese men, but the creepiest fact is that older, middle aged men, frequently seem more interested. The age of consent in Japan is only 13, and if you type 'school girl' into google, the first hit is sexy school girl costumes, so it is undoubtedly an issue.

Whilst on the face of it many of the services being sold appear to be fairly innocent, unfortunately young girls are often offered more money to perform 'additional services', such as sexual acts including sexual intercourse itself. Seeing as almost all of these girls are underage, the fact that they are finding themselves in these compromising situations is very saddening.

The 'schoolgirl' (or 'JK' in Japanese) culture started in the 90's, and every year more and more young girls find themselves on the street, working for male bosses, selling themselves in this way. Many of these girls come from broken families, or have run away from home, so in such an isolated environment they have nobody to turn to for help.

There do exist some aid workers, and the Japanese authorities have performed some raids on the places where these young girls work, but it does not appear that enough is being done to combat this extremely inappropriate behaviour. Many people blame the girls for agreeing to this job in the first place, but it seems clear to me that they are the victims.

The very fact that there is such an obsession with young girls dressed in school uniform is sickening, and in a country which has agreed to the UN requirements for equality between men and women it surely must be stopped.

Written by Lili

Picture credit: Ellen




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NcIGBKXMOE

Career vs Children

In light of the recent moves by parliament to close the gender pay gap once and for all (it is now necessary for all companies with over 250 employees to reveal the difference between the average salaries paid to men and women, in an attempt to shame them into paying men and women equally), the real question for me is whether or not this policy addresses the root of the issue.

Shamefully British women continue to earn less than their male counterparts in spite of legislation intended to prevent this. However this is no longer due to open discrimination but instead it seems that, once again, womens' ability to reproduce is impeding their advances in the work place.

The problem appears to lie in the period of time during and after childbirth. For every new Mother, regardless of her ambitions, it is necessary to take time off from her job. Even with changes to paternity leave allowing men to share this burden the vast majority of Mothers end up taking a sizable break from their careers. This effectively means that many Mothers fall behind their male counterparts whilst having children, something that is near impossible to recover from, this great disadvantage prevents countless women from progressing in their careers and therefore they are less likely to be earning as much as men, simply due to the fact that they have not climbed as high up the career ladder.

Unfortunately there is a fair amount of evidence to support this, if we look at the most influential female politicians, many are childless. Nicola Sturgeon, Angela Merkel, Theresa May and Liz Kendall to name but a few, are all women who have sacrificed having a family for the sake of their jobs. Obviously this was a personal choice on their parts, and there are women who have succeeded whilst raising children, but the problem is that this remains far less likely. Therefore it is unsurprising that so few politicians are female.

With young women today facing a choice between children and a high powered job, undoubtedly something needs to change, but how make this change is the real question.

Already there have been alterations made to employment laws in order to break the glass ceiling, but it is impossible to escape the facts of biology. Women are ultimately more suited to nursing babies soon after childbirth, and therefore, even when Fathers want to take the lion's share of childcare, this is far harder during early childhood without being at the expense of the children, for example depriving them of breast milk. 

Part time work is a solution, and although this is satisfactory for many Mothers, it is impossible to progress at the same speed as men without working the same hours as them and therefore there is only so high up these women can get.

To conclude, somehow women need to be able to pursue their own careers without this being at the expense of their children and family life, however this complex issue in not one easily solved. And perhaps it will never be possible for women to be successful in the work place and devoted Mothers, meaning that the best we can hope for is to give all women a choice between their career and family.


Written by Lili

Picture Credit: Ellen

The Week Magazine: "Motherhood: a political conundrum" (25th July 2015)

Are we forcing our students into sex work?

So the recent budget revealed that the Conservatives will be scrapping grants given to students from less well-off backgrounds helping them with their maintenance costs throughout University. Seeing as these grants will be largely replaced with loans, many argue that this won't negatively effect British students, after all they will still have access to the money the only difference being that they have to pay it back now. However, there is a curious link with sex work being done by students in order to earn money and reduce their debts.

In a recent study carried out by Swansea University, 22% of British students admitted to considering working in the sex industry, while 5% of students actually did. They also found that 45% of these students were entering into the sex industry in order to avoid debt. 

With the typical university student finishing their studies with around £44,000 of debt, the new plans put in place by the Tory government are likely to aggravate this situation. Perhaps with rising debts more and more students will be driven into sex work as a quick way to make money. 

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the study that was carried out, was the fact that more men than women admitted to working in the sex industry. This is a significant finding as it is stereotypically thought that women are more likely to enter into this industry, however this study suggested otherwise. This could either show the fact that this issue is becoming evermore widespread, and that men are suffering more, or it could be due to the fact that men felt more able to admit to being involved in this particular industry. Either way this definitely shows that this is something which effects both male and female students and therefore an issue which needs addressing.  

The fact that 49% of those involved in direct sex work had a fear of violence also demonstrates the severity of the issue, and the necessity to better protect those involved. It is important that universities take measures to educate students about sex work and hopefully the recent cuts to grants won't exacerbate the problem. But ultimately the our current method regarding university fees is clearly not ideal if so many young people are being forced into sex work. 

Written by Lili

Picture credit: Ellen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-32068673

https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=krulVLWkD4aB7Qby14HYCg#q=average+uk+student+debt

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-33667829