Have you ever noticed how products marketed towards women usually cost more than the male equivalent? It can be something as simple as shaving razors: a pack of women’s razors costing a dollar more than a pack of men’s razors. Well, does it mean that the women’s razors are better quality than the men’s? Most of the time, it’s simply because it’s pink or has more girly packaging, and sometimes the men’s razors work a lot better and are safer than women’s razors! This is because of the pink tax, which makes us spend extra on basic necessities and services.
What is the Pink Tax?
The pink tax refers to the extra money we often pay for products and services marketed towards women, like clothes, personal hygiene, haircuts, and, of course, razors. Even if a product marketed towards men is similar to a product marketed towards women, the women’s version costs more. Of course, this expands beyond razor colors and girly packaging. When shopping for clothes, you might notice that a woman’s plain white T-shirt costs $15, while a man’s plain white shirt costs $8. However, the male version is of better quality, while the female version is made of cheaper material. This means women are spending extra money on something that may wear out faster or need to be replaced sooner. The same idea can apply to other personal care products like body wash, where higher prices don’t always mean better ingredients, performance, or results.
On top of the pink tax, we also deal with the tampon tax, which refers to sales tax applied to menstrual products in some states. While most states do not have a tampon tax, period products are still a huge expense for us, as they are very necessary for us to have on us every month and are already really expensive. What’s more annoying is that periods are a natural function that we never asked to deal with, but we are burdened with both the complications that may come with periods AND spending the extra money to manage our periods. Having to regularly purchase period products can become especially difficult for women who already struggle with their finances or are dealing with period poverty, leaving them to have to choose between spending on tampons or another necessity.
How Else Does the Pink Tax Affect Women?
Another problem with the pink tax is that many women are already at a financial disadvantage in many areas. Women earn less on average than men, yet they may also have to spend more on everyday necessities. According to a 2015 New York City study, personal care products marketed toward women were 13% more expensive than comparable products marketed toward men. When these price differences happen across multiple products and services, the extra expenses can add up over time. Money that could be used for savings, education, or other necessities instead goes toward products that should not cost more simply because they are marketed toward women.
Gender Inequality?!
The pink tax reflects a larger issue of gender inequality because it shows how women can face financial disadvantages. Companies often use gender-specific coloring, packaging, and marketing to sell similar products at different prices. The differences in ingredients or materials usually do not justify the higher cost. This causes an unfair situation where a woman has to spend more for something that has the same purpose.
What Can We Do About It?
We would have to question and dismantle the patriarchy while also pushing corporations to stop unfair practices, which is a lot, but that doesn’t mean nothing can be done about it! We as consumers can compare prices between products and analyze which products and services are truly better and cheaper. Companies should also be held accountable for charging different prices when products or services are essentially the same. They should also be held accountable for essentially creating more financial and personal problems for women. We should also question why we, as women, are expected to spend lots of money on vanity products marketed towards us when they’re not always necessary. Addressing the pink tax is important because consumers should be paying for the actual product or service rather than paying more based on who it is marketed toward.