Women have been fighting against gender inequality for ages. Yet again, we always stumble on something newly introduced or hidden, which the majority of the world isn't aware of—ever wondered why that vanilla-scented deodorant of yours is a couple of bucks more than that men’s deodorant? That's where the pink tax stands.
The pink tax is a phenomenon that charges women comparatively more than men on hygiene products as well as services, even when the products are equally the same. The name is derived by observing the items that the brands mainly design for women, associating it with the color pink. It includes razors, sanitary napkins, makeup, grooming services, girls’ toys, and clothes. It's not just the pink tax alone but also the tariffs on imported products that the big corporations adopt as a marketing strategy.
It dates back to the 1990s when the term was first popularized due to the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995 passed in California. This act talked about gender-based price discrimination in services.
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs 2015 study found that women are paying 48 percent more for self care products such as shampoos and conditioners and 15 percent more on apparel. Another study conducted in 2020 explains how menstrual products are taxed from 4.70% to 9.90% in various states and how it affects women. The difference on male and female products could be two bucks or so, but in the future it costs women up to $2000 more on goods and services.
Women are generally earning less because of the gender pay gap when compared to men and are further asked to spend more on products that are necessities. If you are wondering what more it could cost, women of color and various ethnicities earn even less compared to white men, and then some women have excessive bleeding and require more hygiene products. Not to forget the declining mental health and period poverty, this results in poor quality of life.
Over the time, 20 states have passed laws that try to limit the pink tax and tampon tax by reducing prices of certain services. Countries like Scotland, New Zealand, South Korea and more have taken certain steps to cover up the period of poverty, i.e., by limiting taxes and making period products free for the people who menstruate.
Even so there is no national law introduced. The most we can do today is get more people in politics that are ready to stand for gender inequity. If we ever come across products that practice pink tax we can try reporting it to the local government services and even reach out to the organizations that solely stand to demolish gender injustice.
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