A Daily Robbery

Imagine visiting a store to purchase something as basic as a razor and seeing that the ones you have been purchasing from the women’s aisle are a few cents or a dollar more expensive than the men’s razors. You then begin to wonder how much money you have been wasting by purchasing razors so frequently. You are now considering how many more items you have been purchasing at a higher price than the exact identical item marked for a man. Later on, you then leave the store with an estimated amount of money that you could have been saving if you knew beforehand that “Women Labeled” products, are more expensive than men products.

            I had interviewed a friend of mine, Elian, who had experienced a form of Pink Tax himself. Elian grew up in an all-female home, with 3 sisters and their mother. Being the only male in the house meant occasionally having to buy female hygiene products like pads, tampons, razors etc. He had always known that these products were not always cheap. One day he came across having to buy shaving cream, one for himself and one for his sister. He grabbed his own from the men section, and then grabbed his sisters from the female section, both from the same brand Up & Up in target. That’s when he noticed the price difference between the male and 

female shaving creams: the male version was $2.99, while the feminine version was $3.99. “Women already go through so much” Elian explains, “ Why have them pay more? Even if it is just a dollar difference, it is not fair”. 

            This “robbery” isn’t only seen when you buy women products. Alongside from already making our products more expensive, we get paid less than a male. An article posted on the Springer website by O. C. Ferrell, Dimitri Kapelianis, Linda Ferrell, and Lynzie Rowland, stated that “women made 78 cents for every dollar men made in 2013, and the pay gap varies from state to state”. Given that females already earn less than men, does it even make sense to make women’s items more expensive? There are brands who discriminate on gender making their prices higher for females only because it will  profit them. They do not think about the many women who work so hard solely to be able to afford these products. 

            On a better note, particularly when men and women use nearly the same product, a lot of countries have laws that forbid gender price discrimination. For New Yorkers, there is good news. Gender-based pricing was outlawed by New York Law just a few years ago on September 30^th, 2020. Governor Cuomo stated that “ By abolishing the pink tax, women and girls will no longer be subject to harmful and unfair price discrimination and any businesses who fail to put an end to this despicable practice will be held accountable”. With this law, things like personal care products, children’s toys and clothing, adult clothes, and haircuts etc., would be impacted. It’ll be more affordable and a step closer to change and justice, for women specifically. Although this news may sound great for New Yorkers, this may not be the case for women in other States. We still need to stand up for our rights as women and stand up for others who may not know that this is an ongoing injustice. 

            I can speak from experience when I tell that life is difficult here as a young lady. For some females, menstrual cycles occur every month; this is something we never asked for. Every cycle is unique; some may be short and light, while others may be lengthy and heavy. Many women have discovered that a tampon works better for them than a pad or menstrual cup. But the cost of each of these items has increased over time. Nothing gets simpler by raising the price of shaving cream, body wash, or razors. The majority of the time, I have to purchase these items from the men’s section because the women’s aisle is out of my price range. However, once I discover that these items are bad for my skin, I am forced to switch back to the women’s section. Many women have probably gone through the same thing and do not know that this is something that can change if we all speak up about it.

Change cannot be effected by one person alone. To even bring up Pink Tax more attention, it takes a community and a group of people. The lack of a group of people who decided to take action against pricing discrimination based on gender is the reason why no one truly knows about the pink tax. The younger population will likely take this more seriously, in my opinion. Millennials and Generation Z are the two generations that shop the most. Those two generations are the ones who would most likely consider the pink tax to be ludicrous. Women are being plundered in ways that wouldn’t even occur to us in the world we live in today. You would be amazed to learn how much money women lose when compared to men if you truly sat down and gave it some thought. History has a way of repeating itself. We’re in the twenty-first century and I believe it is time for us women to finally live the life that we’ve been fighting for, for years.

                                                 Works Cited

Ferrell, O. “Expectations and Attitudes Toward Gender-Based Price Discrimination.” SpringerLink, 25 Aug. 2016, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-016-3300-x

Helmer, Victoria. Gender-based Price Discrimination – Sound Economics. 11 May 2022, https://blogs.pugetsound.edu/econ/2022/05/11/gender-based-price-discrimination/

“Legislation.” NY State Senate, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GBS/391-U

“New York Law Forbids Gendered Pricing.” Crowell & Moring LLP, https://www.crowell.com/NewsEvents/AlertsNewsletters/all/New-York-Law-Forbids-Gendered-Pricing