The Tampon Tax: A Conversation with Nadya Okamoto

Interview by Suhanee Mitragotri

HHPR Associate Editor Suhanee Mitragotri interviewed Nadya Okamoto, founder and former executive director of Period Inc. and CEO and co-founder of August. Okamoto has been an active voice in menstrual activism for years, striving to end period poverty and stigma. Her efforts and achievements in the field of menstrual equity have been recognized internationally, including being listed on “Forbes 30 under 30”, “People Magazine’s Women Changing the World,” and “Bloomberg 50 ‘Ones to Watch’”.

Suhanee Mitragotri (SM): You are the founder of Period Inc., a youth-led nonprofit organization that aims to eliminate period poverty and the stigma surrounding menstruation. What inspired you to found this nonprofit and how has the nonprofit grown from its founding to now?

Nadya Okamoto (NO): I’m not involved with Period Inc. anymore, because I’m fully focused on “August”, which is a period care brand. I was inspired to start “August” when I was 16 and learned about period poverty and the tampon tax. I think the tampon tax was a huge part of what really inspired me to get involved and learn about period poverty. I think that this to me is like when you hear about an issue and see that it is a very obvious problem. Like, why is this still an issue? Why are we still afraid to talk about periods? I think that it was just something that I couldn’t stop thinking about. It was really just about the gravity of period poverty and the tampon tax.

SM: The tampon tax is a sales tax that is charged on tampons and other menstrual products. This tax has limited the access of menstrual products to many menstruators across the country. What are your thoughts on the tampon tax and why do you think many states still have the tampon tax, despite a continuous push to eliminate it?

NO: I think that it is purely based on revenue. I think that period products are a source of revenue for state governments and it’s not insignificant. l think that the last number pulled from California, when the tampon tax was in effect, was over $20 million dollars of revenue, and while that isn’t a lot in comparison to the overall state yearly budget, it is significant, and if there is a decrease in tax revenue from this one area, it is a question of where it is going to be increased in other areas. Obviously, I think other consumer industries will absolutely push back on that. I’ve been in conservations over the last several years where the proposal has been to make up that revenue from the tobacco and fast food industry, both of which have a much stronger lobbying poll and a much more well-funded lobbying stance than menstrual movement activists do. So, I think that there are a number of reasons why it still exists. I think another part of it is that there are still so many state legislators that don’t know about the tampon tax. I’m very much thinking about this every day and I’m in the world of it, and everybody I talk to knows that the tampon tax exists because I’ll either talk to them about it or they have also been passionate about it, but when I branch outside of the period space, most people don’t know that the tampon tax exists, and I think because of that, there is a lack of public pressure to actually get state legislators to make that change.

SM: In the US, states do not tax objects labeled as non-luxury “basic necessities”. Even though most menstruators would agree that menstrual products are a basic necessity, why do you think that they are not listed under the “basic necessities” category in many states?

NO: Patriarchy, misogyny, you know I think it really is a lot of things, including just the fact that we live in a society that still does not consider menstruation as a natural process. It’s considered as something bad.

SM: Among the states that have removed the tampon tax, some of them being Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, why do you think these states succeeded in removing the tax while other states are failing?

NO: I think a lot of it is public pressure. California has had a hold on the tampon tax for two years, and Ohio and Florida had it come down, but these are a lot of places where there has been so much organizing and activism around it. Even in Ohio, across the aisle, on both Democrat and Republican sides, there has been advocacy, lobbying, and activists organizing to get the tampon tax taken down. So I think that in instances where that has been a thing, you’re seeing a lot more people being actively involved in trying to get the tampon tax taken down. The reality is that any policy change takes a really long time to make any progress. So, a lot of this is trying to find the right people who have the time and the resources to put in volunteer work to do as much organizing as they possibly can to change public opinion, and to bring this to the forefront of people’s minds, and then ideally to bring it all the way up to the governor’s office at the highest level of state legislature to take down the tampon tax. This is not just a situation where the governor wakes up one day and takes down the tampon tax. I know organizers who were working on taking it down for years in Ohio before it came down. This definitely isn’t out of the blue. It takes so much work and so much organizing and a lot of meetings with legislatures over the course of years to make sure that it goes through.

SM: The tampon tax affects all menstruators, but it affects some more than others, especially those living in low-income communities, homeless shelters, or prisons. Are there ways to support these communities as the tampon tax continues to exist?

NO: Absolutely. I think that the tampon tax doesn’t primarily affect the marginalized communities in the US because the tampon tax is specifically affecting people who can afford to buy period products in the first place. I think there are so many other ways to address period poverty, whether that be getting period products in schools, shelters, and prisons or having programs like food stamps cover the tampon tax. There’s a bill that was introduced by Congresswoman Grace Meng of New York, the Menstrual Equity For All Act, which I think is, to date, the most comprehensive piece of legislation that would fight for more menstrual equity and access to period care. But again, the tampon tax, to me, is not a direct addressing of period poverty. The tampon tax, to me, is symbolic of the narrative change that needs to happen to end period poverty. By taking down the tampon tax, we are making a national statement that period products are necessities, in which case that sets the precedent for needing period products in other places for marginalized communities that don’t already have access to it. Whether that be through food stamp programs or women and children funding aids, a lot of these things have been very much in the works.

SM: Do you think the tampon tax propagates the stigma surrounding menstruation, and if so, in what ways?

NO: The tampon tax, by definition, exists because period products are considered non-essential goods and I think that the stigma very much encapsulates not considering period products to be necessities.

SM: There are so many activists who are voicing their anger regarding the tampon tax. However, sometimes it feels like no matter what they do, the ultimate decision is in the hands of government officials who don’t always listen to us. What advice would you give to young activists who are frustrated with the current state of matters on this issue?

NO: Get involved! There’s so many organizations and period.org is one of many, many organizations. The one that August works with is No More Secrets, which is based in Philadelphia. I think a lot of it is about organizing, being an active voter, and being someone who is a civically engaged person so that when you see this on the voting block, you vote for it and mobilize for it. I think a lot of it is raising awareness.