The Pink Tax

It’s no secret that sexism influences most aspects of a person’s life. But nothing plays a greater role in the lifestyle of a woman than the absurdity that is ‘The Pink Tax’. 

When I first heard the word, I was under the impression it referenced something as lighthearted as a financial charge that belonged in ‘The Pink Panther’ show. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you did, too. But that’s not what this is. The Pink Tax is the tendency for products advertised for women to be more costly than products marketed for men. Yes, as surprising as it is, that’s an actual thing. An easy example is children’s toys. Toys that are marketed for young girls are fairly more expensive than toys marketed for boys. A woman getting a haircut is likely to spend more than a man getting a haircut. A woman spends more on denim jeans than what a man spends on the same. Like the name might suggest, it’s not a traditional tax– it’s a money-making scheme for companies that advertise products separately for men and women. Even if the product’s uses are the same for both. For example, a shaving razor is pointlessly packaged and priced differently for a man than it is for a woman– even though it is the same product. 

A government study in the US shows that in all industries women pay more 42% of the time and men pay more 18% of the time. The pricings are approximately equal only about 40% of the time. And this is significant in most industries that market products separately for men and women. 

Though there have been efforts made by the UN to get rid of The Pink Tax and to eliminate taxes on menstrual products, the difference in pricings still run rampant.