Red alert! Is everyone OVARY-reacting about this anti-tampon rant?

Have you seen what this self-proclaimed “meninist” has to say about the tampon tax? His explosive anti-tampon rant took the internet by storm, but which side of the argument do you fall on?

Let us know in the comments what side you fall on – do women need to suck it up or is this guy just an uneducated fool?

It all started when Ryan Williams tweeted this, causing Twitter to go into meltdown mode:

https://twitter.com/ryanwilliams97/status/787795198105554944

Understandably a lot of people were annoyed by what went down, including his subsequent tweets. Although many people argued back against tampons being taxed as “luxury items”, the majority of people were angered by his basic lack of knowledge on the subject.

Some users even sent him handy little diagrams to explain the actual female anatomy because, um, in case you didn’t know: period blood isn’t shed via your urethra. Duh. That bit’s kind of completely separate.

@ryanwilliams97 Period blood comes from the vagina not the urethra or bladder. Here is a diagram to show you the difference. #education pic.twitter.com/QdhONkM0WS

— Emily Colette Taylor (@EmilyColette) October 18, 2016

As if girls having to deal with the stigma of periods isn’t enough already, now we have to handle people who want to have an opinion on menstrual matters but 1) don’t menstruate and 2) don’t know the first thing about it anyway. In other words: opinion invalid.

Legit, if us girls could slow the flow we’re pretty sure we would. Periods are not fun.

And they’re also ridiculously expensive. Depending on what brand you buy, how long your periods are, how heavy your flow is and a bunch of other factors, you can be forking out a hefty sum every single month just to stop yourself from bleeding onto everything within a five foot radius.

For some guys to think we want to have periods and spend this kind of dollar is ridiculous. All we want is to get on with our lives as easily as possible.

https://twitter.com/ryanwilliams97/status/787954527848763392

What do you think – should tampons be free? Let us know in the comments.

Need a cure? Here’s our tried and tested methods – be warned though, there is no stopping this monthly curse

The only way you’ll survive your time of the month

At this point we were beginning to question whether this guy seriously believed what he was tweeting or was just trying to troll the internet and force a reaction. Whatever it was, things took a turn for the worst when he implied periods were unclean:

https://twitter.com/ryanwilliams97/status/787800699241390080

AND suggested women have the same surgery done as his dog to stop their periods in their tracks.

https://twitter.com/ryanwilliams97/status/788369256907878401

If the aim was to bait people into reacting then oh boy did he achieve it. We’re kind of fuming over here.

Period blood isn’t any “dirtier” than normal blood just because it’s come from the vagina. Fact. The stigma NEEDS to end, stat. Welcome to your latest dose of real talk girl talk because, seriously ladies, don’t let the shame other people try to pin on menstruating get you down.

Whether it’s a man, boy, adult or child (or even a fellow period-sufferer) trying to shame you, remember that no one else gets a say on what does or doesn’t go on with your lady parts.

Some people don’t have periods, some have extremely heavy and painful ones, and some are really light. The point is that everyone is different and no one else can pretend to understand what another person is going through.

Are people right to be angered over this Twitter users tweets, then? Potentially, yes. Periods cannot just be “held in” until you get to the bathroom, nor are they a walk in the park.

Periods are painful. They suck. And to make everything just that little bit worse, sufferers have to pay tax on 100% necessary items like tampons meanwhile things like jaffa cakes are tax free.

So why shouldn’t women demand tax free tampons? What would be so wrong with that? Condoms are being given out for free full stop to help prevent STIs and unwanted pregnancies but we know no such widespread government scheme to help those who cannot afford sanitary products.

On the other hand, by reacting, all we’re doing is feeding into exactly what this guy and all the other “meninists” around the interwebz want: attention.

Let us know your thoughts on this whole thing in the comments below – Should women should just suck it all up and get on with their lives?