Hey! Are you a woman? Do you know that you have been taxed for that? Are you still not aware of the corporate conspiracy of patriarchy in action about the latent tax on the women’s products that make them more expensive than men’s (the same products)?
Well, quite naturally these words must have attracted your attention and intentionally or not you may want to know more about this, that’s good, but folks the reality is pretty exposing.
The Story so far…
It has been said that Capitalism uses gender inequality to create a specific platform where they can sell products for more money. For instance, it has been argued that daily routine products like a razor, shaving gel, body wash, hand brushes, deodorants, etc. have extra tax on them. This is commonly known as the Pink Tax. This tax is found on many items as these are the products specifically meant for women. A lot of times these items are also pink, hence the name. Because pink symbolizes women and instilling the idea of pink is feminine.
Also, the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a study that concludes that women’s products are typically more expensive than men’s products. Products marketed specifically towards women cost at an average of 7% more than product marketed towards men for the nearly same product. Not only in India but the US, women’s apparel costs 4% extra than men’s. Not only that, women’s daily care products cost 13% more than men’s.
It was also debated that a company charged extra for plus-sized clothing while men’s plus size clothing has no extra cost. Also, the dry cleaning of a woman’s shirt costs more than that of men. To add on, it was discovered that a pain killer named Excedrin Menstrual Complete costs more than Excedrin Extra Strength despite both the medicines have the same active ingredients.
The economics behind this disparity…
To maximize profits firms uses a variety of techniques to charge prices close to the highest price consumers are willing to pay. Men are willing to pay more for shaving gel but not for perfume. Besides business against women would require every manufacturer to deceive them by displaying inflated rates. Think about it for a second, since we live in a free market economy if Company A decides to overcharge women for no good reason, Company B will come in at a lower price to steal the business.
According to the survey conducted by the Government Accountability Office, out of the 10 items they studied, half had significantly higher prices for women. Two had higher prices for men, and the others showed no difference. Women paid higher for things like designer perfume, deodorants, and body sprays. Men paid higher prices for shaving gel but GAO said it couldn’t find any evidence that gender bias played a role in these differences, and said it was nothing but free-market economics.
The products are different for men and women because they are. They are ‘told’ to be similar but they are not perfect substitutes. As claimed by Adam Smith Institute, nobody gets to decide if a product is equivalent to another or not, for example, a pink disposable razor may have a similar function as a blue razor but they are actually not the same product. Apart from anything else, they are designed to be optimized for leg shaving and another for the face, quite before we get into their colors.
Also charging extra for plus-sized clothing accounts to the fact that for women, styles are not just larger sizes of other women’s items, they are created by a team of designers who are experts in creating the on-trend plus styles, which includes curve-enhancing and curve-flattering elements such as four-way stretch materials and contoured waistbands which most men’s garments do not include. An analogous is the reason for extra charges for dry cleaning.
So what can be done? …
The pink tax hoax like any other victimhood myths relies on a bad presumption about women; that we are ignorant and we can’t help ourselves and get duped at the sight of pink packaging in the toiletry aisle. Hold on people, we ladies understand where the difference lies, our preferences are different and so are our needs. Women pay more for toiletry items, but this isn’t a sexist conspiracy rather a reflection of the bountiful choices our competitive market has to offer. It’s good that we have so many options tailored to various audiences.
Let’s not make this hoax the ‘indispensable’ issue and appreciate the diversity in disguise.
Vaibhavi Rajput
Economics Hons.
Gargi College
Literary Sources- investors.com, groundswell.org, adamsmith.org