A Study in Pink
Did you know that a female consumer pays $1,351 more than her male counterparts every year? Dry cleaning services, clothing, and personal care products are some items for which you could pay this unfair toll. We may think that the world is moving in the direction of gender equality, but we often witness daily instances that contradict this belief.
The “pink tax” is a term used for the extra amount of money that women pay for certain products and services, specifically marketed toward them. A pink tax is not literally a tax, but gender-based discriminatory pricing that requires women to pay more than their contemporaries. The pink tax is applied to various products and services, with beauty and health products or services being the most common. The issue was first highlighted years ago when the New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs concluded that products marketed specifically toward women cost on average 7% more than products marketed toward men. Although the pink tax is not a real tax, it still exists. Though a few state and local authorities have laws to prohibit price discrimination based on gender, the federal government does not seem to have any.
There is unambiguous evidence of gender price discrimination, even if there is room to discuss why it exists or how serious or costly a problem it is. While women are still battling the gender pay gap, it is bizarre to compel women to pay more than men for comparable products. Women face the simultaneous battles of dealing with the wage gap and having to pay more than men for products of everyday use. This malicious pink tax practice should be called out and scrutinized as soon as possible.
There are a few root causes behind this phenomenon. There is a common perception that women can be easily brainwashed by dealers to buy more expensive products and that women are more prepared to pay higher prices for their purchases than men. Sometimes, women have no choice but to buy certain products that they need like sanitary napkins and tampons. Due to the high demand for such products, they are often sold at high prices. Men’s and women’s razors are essentially the same, but they are distinguished using marketing strategy. A pink razor is often priced high than a black razor. Society-built beauty norms are also a reason for this discrimination. Imposing the colour pink for girls and blue for boys, limits their choices. This leads to women and men both being conserved in their own circle of products, creating a gender division and an idea of beauty that can harm peoples’ mental health.
Reducing pink tax is an important step that must be taken toward gender equality. Cautious steps need to be taken by individuals, companies, and the government. Individuals can avoid the pink tax by buying gender-neutral products and avoiding those targeted at women. For instance, pink scooters or bicycles tend to cost more than red ones) and women can buy store or local brands as most do not apply the pink tax. However, the most important step that individuals can take is to spread awareness about the existence of the pink tax and the brands that charge extra for women’s products, because most women are not aware that they pay more for the exact same products. Most people are under the impression that the products they are paying for, come with special features tailored to them, which is not true in a majority of cases. This can be done primarily through social media and community circles.
Laws to decrease the pink tax have been slightly effective, however, none have been able to equalise the price of the same men’s and women’s products. In 2016, the Pink Tax Repeal Act was introduced in the United States Congress, with the goal of ending gender-based price discrimination. However, the bill was not passed. Several proposals have also been made globally, to minimise or remove taxes on menstrual products and subsidise prices for low-income women. Despite this, global governments’ efforts to recognise and remove the pink tax continue to be inadequate at best. It is necessary to raise awareness about the issue to ensure active legal action and efforts towards abolishing the gender-discriminatory price gap.
Written by Vibhawari Wursika, Sakshi Lele and Aleen Veronica
