Factual Friday: The Pink Tax

 I usually buy men’s razors instead of women’s. For a period of time, I bought men’s deodorant too. Why am I telling you this? Why should you care? Picking up your normal toiletry items from CVS usually doesn’t warrant a second thought, right? Well, for those of us who buy items targeted towards women, it most certainly does warrant a lot of critical thought. This week’s edition of Factual Friday is all about the Pink Tax and ladies, you’re not gonna like this one.

(Photo from pexels.com)

    Bankrate.com defines the Pink Tax as, “not actually a tax but rather a system of discriminatory pricing on products and services that is based on gender. The Pink Tax costs the average woman over $1,300 a year and impacts all aspects of daily life from shopping to dry cleaning” (bankrate.com). What that means, is that women have to pay more money than men do for essentially the same items. You’re probably saying to yourself, “What? Why? That’s unfair and rude!” And I agree with you. As for the “why” part, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, vice president for the Brennan School of Justice at NYU School of Law, and co-founder of Period Equity, told healthline.com that since it’s an income generating situation, “the motivations around the pink tax come more explicitly from a classic capitalist stance: If you can make money off of it, you should” (healthline.com). While that’s probably, technically true, let’s call it what it is: sexism. 

So how much of our shopping does the Pink Tax impact? Well...a lot more than I initially thought. Before writing this, I thought the Pink Tax was only applicable to toiletry items but oh was I wrong. Get this, the Pink Tax is used on kids’ toys too! You heard me. Bankrate.com says that, “The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs study found that…’girl toys’ cost on average 2 percent to 13 percent more than ‘boy toys’ that are the same other than their color” (bankrate.com). In addition to toys, the Pink Tax also impacts clothes, shoes, dry cleaning and in some cases, auto maintenance.

Alright, let’s talk tampons. It is a common misconception that the Pink Tax affects our feminine hygiene products so I’ll give you the real tea. Most products in most states have sales tax applied to them. However, some states exempt certain items from having sales tax. In theory, those products exempt from sales tax are products that a lot of people need and benefit from but in reality, that’s not always the case. For example, in Florida, marshmallows are exempt from sales tax but feminine hygiene products are not. In Maine, snowmobiles are exempt from sales tax but feminine hygiene products are not. In Indiana, it’s sunflower seeds, rather than feminine hygiene products, that are exempt from sales tax. The issue with this, is that items that are merely “wants” not “needs” are being exempt from sales tax rather than items that are necessities for a lot of women. It seems like if we do have the ability to exempt items from sales tax, shouldn’t we be prioritizing the items that would make many people’s lives a lot easier? And let’s think about the message this sends to women. The idea that marshmallows, snowmobiles and sunflower seeds take precedence over something we need to buy, does not make me feel great, to say the least. The way that products are being taxed implies to women that our well-being is of very little importance.

The good news is, some states are on a mission to avenge us girlies! By that, I mean they’re changing up some legislature concerning taxes. Less than a year ago, “New York state began enforcing a ban on the Pink Tax by making it illegal to charge more for products that are ‘substantially similar’ yet marketed to different genders. The state plans to enforce this by requiring certain service providers to submit price lists ‘upon request’” (bankrate.com). In addition to that, “Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania had previously legislated on their own to remove sales tax from these items (pads and tampons)” (healthline.com). In my opinion, the whole country needs to follow suit but we’ll celebrate the little victories nonetheless.

This of course begs the question, is there any way to avoid paying the Pink Tax? You can avoid it here and there but it does depend on what you’re willing to give up/overlook. Like I said, I buy men’s disposable razors in lieu of women’s but when it comes to deodorant and body wash, I’d rather smell like fruit and flowers over smelling like cedar and whatever other things you find in a forest that men like to emulate the smell of. Ultimately, in the words of healthline.com, “making items cost more just because they are targeted towards women is discrimination” (healthline.com). And just like with any other form of discrimination, we gotta vote for the politicians committed to ending it. 

And with that, I wish you a Factual Friday and a fun weekend!

Xoxo,

Zoe

Sources

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/pink-tax-how-women-pay-more/

https://www.healthline.com/health/the-real-cost-of-pink-tax#The-pink-tax