As you stand in the health and hygiene aisle, browsing the essentials that we all need for everyday use: deodorants, toothbrushes, razors and fragrances, a paint spill of blue and pink consumes your eyes as the meticulously branded products draw you into their traps. You reach for the products you are told are made for you, products that are marketed for you and you blindly carry on your day. Do you question what the difference is between the ‘For Men’ and ‘For Women’ toothbrushes, or the difference between male and female razors? Stating the obvious, the ‘For Him’ products are often cased in dark, navy or black packaging with strong, masculine names, or a darker and more earthy scent. Whereas ‘For Her’ products are infamous for their headache-inducing floral scents, flower or glitter patterns and explosions of pink and purple colours. Obviously different in their presentation, we tend to grab and go, overlooking the other main difference between these products: the price.
The Cost of Gender
The disparity between the pricing of gender marketed products has been colloquially termed, “Pink Tax.” Products marketed to and for women are often priced at higher costs than their male product counterparts. There are rarely any functional differences between the products branded for men and for women apart from their appearance and aesthetics, yet the cost of the products differs dramatically. In a 2024 study conducted by The Co-operative Bank, they compared the average cost of women’s and men’s everyday items. Their findings revealed that women pay 34% more for deodorant (men’s deodorant costing 73p compared to women’s 98p) and 428% more for their shower and body wash (men’s costing £1.04 and women’s costing £5.49). There are plenty of studies that all report the same results, as SOUK’s 2024 study confirmed women pay almost 137% more for their shaving foam (men’s costing £1.50 and women’s costing £3.55).
It can be argued that these products are priced differently because there is a difference in female and male needs, that the products are catered to the certain requirements of each gender. Whilst a slight cost disparity can be explained due to a difference in ingredients or material use, these small differences are not a good enough explanation for the inflated charge simply for being a woman.
Patriarchal Pricing
There are many theories as to why “Pink Tax” exists, and a lot of these explanations are grounded in archaic and fixed misogynistic beliefs used to structure women into roles. One of the most popular theories to explain this price discrepancy is price elasticity; producers can raise the costs of their products due to an increase in demand. The packaging of products reflects the way in which society views and categorises each gender – in the fixed patriarchal view of societal roles, women are meant to be attractive, gentle and delicate, whereas men are supposed to be strong, dominant and powerful – manufacturers prey on these expectations and insecurities. There are growing pressures on women to look or act a certain way, with the rise of ‘influencing’, social media and cosmetic procedures, it is argued that women will pay more to look more attractive and keep up with the trends of the time, hence why producers can increase their pricing to combat demand.
The Pink Tax is a mere reflection of the deeper systemic issues we as a society face regarding imposed gender roles, expectations and discrimination in consumer markets. There are historically rooted issues that may not be black and white, clear to see – but when put in pink and blue, they are almost impossible to miss.
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