Sophia Bush, 37, is not only an actress, director, and producer, but she’s also well known for her activism and raising awareness for critical issues across the board. The One Tree Hill star has also partnered up with Always on their campaign to end “period poverty” which is described as a lack of access to period products which leads to a staggering one in five American girls that have either left school early or missed school. HollywoodLife sat down EXCLUSIVELY with Sophia who explained how critical this issue is along with why she thinks the pink tax is “ridiculous.”
“This notion of a pink tax is ridiculous. It’s a very odd thing that just because products are designated to be for women they’re more expensive,” Sophia said. “Our razors cost more money, our products costs more money, and this is absurd. It’s more expensive to live as a woman in the world because of everything we’re expected to do. Why also are our products when the data also proves that women are paid less than men across the board? And that data gets worse and more disparaging for women of color.” Sophia’s mission with Always is to ensure access to period products never stands in the way of girls’ ability to pursue a brighter future.
“We have a lot of work to do in every arena in the application of gender parity in America,” Sophia continued. “We need to make sure when we’re looking at these big public spaces like corporate pay and healthcare that we’re not forgetting that our girls get left behind when they’re still in school. We need to make sure we’re carrying them through to be able to participate in those conversations as adults.”
The Chicago P.D. actress also explained why it’s “crucial” for young women to make sure and vote in the 2020 election. “It is the most crucial election of our lifetime thus far,” she began. “Everything is on the table, rights for all people are on the table. It’s a very scary time.” Sophia also shared a useful tool for those who may feel like there’s “a lot of pressure” when it comes to deciding who to vote for. “There’s a great resource online called I Side With,” she explained. “There’s a quiz you can take which takes you through your feelings about a variety of political issues and then it tells you on a percentage score which politician you actually stand with. It’s a great jumping off point and it’s a great place for young people to get acclimated with politics.”
Meanwhile, Sophia has been busy working on her campaign with Always who donated more than 20 million period products to girls in need last year alone. She discussed why this is such an important topic that needs to be addressed. “It’s a wildly prevalent issue and a lot of people assume that happens somewhere else in other countries and some say, ‘That only happens in the ‘developing world.’ But it’s happening here, in every neighborhood across the country. The fact that our natural biology is not supported by society in a way and then the ripple effect is that it affects girls being able to pursue their education. If girls end up dropping out of school or falling too far behind and getting held back then their secondary school opportunities are changing, their university opportunities are changing, it creates an ongoing ripple effect of disparity. Girls can actually fall so far behind in school that they drop out and their entire life changes, their opportunities change.”