By Ella Stone
Have you ever been in Target shopping for a woman’s products and opted for the men’s product instead because it was cheaper? This is a common occurrence, where women’s products will be marked up purely because they are marketed towards women. This is called the pink tax.
For instance, womens razors cost more than mens razors. Along with Dulcolax, a laxative, putting the word pink across the front justifies it being a dollar more. Personal care products and other necessities tend to cost up to 13% more for women and clothing up about 8% more. This mark-up in prices also includes feminine products like tampons and pads.
Over a woman’s lifetime, the “pink tax” costs a woman thousands of dollars more than what an average man spends on personal hygiene products.
Women also tend to require long term care and submit disability insurance claims more often than men. Due to this, they have to pay higher premiums.
It seems that even children are not able to avoid the prevalent sexism of our society. Toys that are marketed towards girls also cost more. Bikes and scooters tend to cost more when they are marketed towards girls, with princesses and pink paint on the frame. Building blocks in blue, AKA “a boy’s color”, are set at 13 dollars while the exact same pink set of building blocks is 20 dollars.
In New York, there is a law that states hair salons cannot significantly price-up their womens haircuts.
Condoms, a contraceptive for men, cost significantly less than birth control, a contraceptive for women. While Plan B costs 50 dollars a pill, a box of 12 condoms cost around $8.99 making one condom less than a dollar.
Several states are passing laws against discriminatory gender based pricing, and there have been attempts to pass these laws at a federal level. Women are known to earn only 80% of a man’s income. Why should they also have to pay more on essential products?
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