March is recognized around the world as Women’s History Month, with Mar. 8 in particular recognized as International Women’s Day. The Holiday’s official website states that this is a day meant to celebrate women and their achievements, as well as to promote awareness for gender equality. According to the same website, “IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people.” What better time is there to hold an event that celebrates and explores the Feminine Experience?
The DiGiorgio Student Union presented this cultural event, entitled The Feminine Experience, on March 9, with options to attend either in-person or via Zoom. The event was moderated by Ms. Karin Evans, a former instructor at Winthrop who is currently pursuing her Ph.D., and also included a panel of female Winthrop students. The official description of this event said, “This will include women’s health, gender roles, hygiene and other topics that are typically viewed as taboo to discuss.”
The first topic to be discussed was the pay gap which, as Ms. Evans explained, doesn’t just mean men being paid more than women. It also includes the “pink tax”, which is when there is an upcharge on products intended for women’s use, such as razors or deodorants. According to an article written for Healthline, in studies done in recent years, researchers found that “women’s” products could be priced anywhere from seven to thirteen percent higher than what amounts to the same product for men.
Another aspect of the pay gap is the sales tax on feminine products, namely tampons, pads, and other products used during women’s menstrual cycles, commonly referred to as the “tampon tax.” In the same article, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a lawyer and vice president for the Brennan School of Justice at NYU School of Law, shared how she “went through every tax code in every state that didn’t exempt menstrual products to see what they did exempt, and the list is ridiculous.” Many items that are deemed necessary for life or hygiene are exempt from sales tax. Seeing as half the human population has a menstrual cycle, some question why feminine products aren’t included on the list.
Another topic that was discussed during the event was the stereotypes that women face as well as the roles that are expected of them. Ms. Evans talked about her own experience as both a working woman and a mother, and how she is expected to be able to do it all. One of the panelists explained how although she loved children, she could never picture herself as a mother. Women are certainly faced with many expectations from society, and this cultural event made it clear that not feeling called to any of these roles does not make one less of a woman.
The feminist movement is an inclusive movement that advocates for the equality of everyone regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Ms. Evans stressed how “We’re in this together. It is not an us versus them.” We still have a long way to go before everyone is truly equal, but change can start as simply as attending an event like this and learning about the issues we face.
