It’s A Man’s World, yet Women are Paying for It – The Controversy and Debate Surrounding the Pink Tax

By Austin Price, Staff Writer

Women have always been underestimated and devalued. When we do succeed and beat the odds, we are harassed or ridiculed. Because of this, I sadly say that this world is indeed a man’s world. One of the main things that makes our world a man’s world and not an equal human world is the blatant disregard for women’s personal needs in both a physical and mental sense.

There’s a lot of contributing factors leading to the inequality of women, but one of the main ones is demonstrated in commercialized retail items made in bulk, specifically targeting towards women. By rejecting women’s needs and increasing stress on their personal financial struggles, large corporations are bleeding women dry. This phenomenon is known as the pink tax.

What is the Pink Tax?

The pink tax is not a tax in the literal sense. It refers to how women pay more for the same, or similar, products and services than men. This phenomenon is often attributed to gender-based price discrimination, whose name stems from the observation that many of the affected products are pink. Gender-based price disparities are prevalent in several sectors, but one of the most visible is personal care products. These include, for example, soaps, lotions, razor blades and deodorants that are marketed specifically to either women or men.

The pink tax also affects women’s clothing, shoes, haircuts, and other related services. Women are introduced to the pink tax at a very young age, in their early childhood. This introduction occurs even before they have learned to be self-conscious and judgmental of themselves. Oftentimes, children’s toys marketed to girls are more expensive than toys marketed to boys, even if the product is identical between the two marketed genders.

The purpose of the pink tax is a simple marketing technique relying on gender-based discrimination. It is to entice certain people to buy certain products over others. When a company manufactures or sells a product, it may choose to price it a bit higher because it’s for women. In most cases, the difference between these products and comparable products for men is very minor. It may simply be the color or package design. The pink tax makes it more expensive for women to buy what they need to live their everyday lives.

The pink tax can be applied to various products and services, with beauty- and health-related products or services being the most common. For example, at the drugstore, you may notice that some razors may be pink in color and have a woman on the package, yet they are essentially the same as those that are blue with a man on the package. This marketing tactic is to entice certain people to buy certain products over others. And in that, the ones that are marketed toward women tend to cost more.

According to investment bank JPMorgan Chase, by many estimates, the pink tax costs women an average of $1,300 per year. The average women will live to be 81 years old. Including infancy, adolescence, teenage, young adult, middle age, and senior years, the burden of the pink tax is staggeringly high at over $100,000 in total spent.

In a 2015 study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), researchers surveyed 35 product categories that may upcharge women. Across the sample, DCA found that women's products cost more 42% of the time, while men’s products cost more 18% of the time.

The pink tax can also be seen in products and services marketed toward girls, not just adult women. According to the New York City DCA report, on average, children’s clothing marketed toward females costs an average of 4% more than male children’s clothing, and toys and accessories cost an average of 7% more.

History of the Pink Tax

The pink tax first made its debut in the 1990s when a report from California’s Assembly Office of Research found that 64% of stores in several major cities charged more to wash and dry-clean a woman’s blouse than a man’s button-up shirt. In 1991, Yale Law professor Ian Ayres found that car dealerships were systematically offering better prices on identical cars to white men than they were for black or women shoppers.

Before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010 and prohibited the practice, health insurers routinely charged women higher monthly premiums than men. The rationale for charging women more for health insurance was that women have more health, specifically, reproductive costs than men.   The subject gained national attention and had since spurred various attempts at instituting regulation to remove the pink tax. As the years have gone by, the pink tax remains in nearly every state in the USA. The only state that has made headway in eliminating the pink tax is New York.

Legislation

New York state is the only state that placed a ban on the pink tax. In April 2020, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a proposal to ban the pink tax, and it went into effect on Sept. 30, 2020. The measure requires certain service providers to provide price lists for standard services and notifies them that gender-based price discrimination is prohibited under state law. If businesses violate the law, they are subject to civil penalties.

Despite this small start, there is hope for more progress towards the eventual elimination of the pink tax throughout the entire country. The Pink Tax Repeal Act is an attempt to ban it. Introduced in April 2019 as H.R. 2048 by Rep. Jackie Speier and again in June 2021, the Pink Tax Repeal Act would make it illegal for companies to charge higher prices based on gender for products and services.

Since the Pink Tax Repeal Act does have supporters, and New York has put an end to the pink tax, there is a chance the pink tax will eventually become illegal in every state. California has been the second state to support this long overdue and progressive movement. As of Jan. 1, 2023, California instituted a pink tax ban like that of New York.

According to Rocket HQ, attempts have been made to legislate against the pink tax at a federal level as well. In April 2019, the Pink Tax Repeal Act was re-introduced to Congress – following two earlier versions from 2016 and 2018 – by Rep. Jackie Speier of California’s 14th district. Speier was responsible for introducing California’s law that banned gender-based pricing for services, the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995. The proposed federal legislation would make it illegal for companies to charge women and men different prices for similar products or services.

Cultural Contributions to the Pink Tax

The central question of this debate is why does the pink tax even exist? Liz Grauerholz, a professor of sociology at University of Central Florida and co-author of “The Cost of Doing Femininity: Gendered Disparities in Pricing of Personal Care Products and Services,” believes that this gender price gap is most likely due to both economic and cultural influences.

“Economic issues that may factor in include supply-and-demand dynamics, differential tariffs on imported goods, marketing costs, and so on. But these factors are not likely to explain all the cost differences across a wide range of products and services. Cultural factors certainly play a role here,” Grauerholz said.

In other words, the pink tax issue is not one based around the actual exchange of money, but instead is based on the societal differences in how we raise boys against how we raise girls. Girls are raised in a way that promotes submissive behavior, obedient attitudes, and minimal self-confidence. Girls are raised to believe they are less than boys and therefore, in order to make up for that inequality, must present their best selves and place value on their physical appearance in a way that is pleasing to the male gaze.

“Culturally speaking, women are under far greater pressure to conform to appearance norms – to look ‘put together,’ wear make-up, wear certain types of clothes, and so on. Corporations know this and market heavily to women, especially around personal care products and services, which may drive up costs and demand for these products,” Grauerholz said.

Through primal instinct and natural tendencies, men believe they are better, stronger, more successful and ultimately, more powerful. Therefore, even without realizing it, men create a dilemma for women that discounts their humanity as they struggle to afford personal care products while making 17% less than their male counterparts and colleagues.

“Despite the fact that, as human beings, men and women are far more similar than different, our culture overemphasizes differences and even creates difference when it doesn’t exist (e.g., creating different soaps for the female and male bodies). Because gender is so central to our identities and cultural roles, most of us are invested in perpetuating the myth of difference to justify differential treatment, and therefore purchase without question products marketed to our sex,” Grauerholz said.

How to Make a Difference

Independent organizations and volunteer-built movements have also taken a stand against the outrageous cost of the pink tax. Blue Tax Body and Care is an organization centered on distributing products that include a 13% blue tax which is paid each month to an organization working on gender equity issues for all gender identities. Their work and profits have benefited organizations such as the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, Trans Plus, Soul Sisters Leadership Collective, Men as Peace Makers, and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

To support this growing movement and long-overdue demand for change, visit:                    https://mybluetax.com/

Other ways to support the end of the Pink Tax are through sites like Ax the Pink Tax, Tax-Free Period, and Girl Power Marketing are working hard to spread awareness about the issue. Accessing information on their sites goes a long way to supporting their initiatives. Additionally, promoting awareness of the issue is also a huge step. When consumers are more informed, they can make better decisions.

Using the hashtags #axthepinktax and #pinktax on social media can let your friends, family, and social media followers know that gender-based pricing is real.

To visit and support these initiatives, visit:

https://axthepinktax.com/#calculator

https://www.taxfreeperiod.com/

https://girlpowermarketing.com/

Another main way to support the ending of the pink tax is to shop strategically. More and more companies are beginning to act in ending the pink tax. Here are some companies that have demolished the pink tax and offer products of equal quality and price to everyone, no matter how you identify:

https://www.boxed.com/

https://mybillie.com/

https://snowehome.com/blogs/magazine/reverse-pink-tax

https://www.americanspa.com/news/european-wax-center-and-refinery29-team-ax-pink-tax

https://brandless.com/

In conclusion, the pink tax is not fair. However, there are ways to support the end of the pink tax as consumers and as humans fighting for gender equality. All it takes is a little research for some eye-opening results.

Getting the Best Price for College Textbooks

By Morgan Jacobus, Editor in Chief

Not only can college be really expensive, but on top of tuition there is the additional expense of course materials. However, for the 2022-23 academic year, textbook acquisition looks different for Regis students. Earlier this summer, Regis students received an email regarding the new endeavor to make textbooks more affordable through Regis’ partnership with their bookstore vendor, Follett.

Through this new program, Regis students are charged a flat $35 per credit hour fee, and in return will receive their course materials through mail or bundled and ready at the Ranger Station Bookstore. It is worth noting that this program may not include all academic programs, such as nursing. Further, there is the option to opt out of the program, which may be in the best interest of many Regis students.

For me and my chosen path of study, I was hesitant about the program since the fee for my credits was over $500, when my textbooks have never costed me more than $200 in past semesters. As a result, I chose to pursue the opt out path. I would recommend doing a little bit of research to see what prices your textbooks are going for. If it would cost less to buy your textbooks on your own, then opting out would save you money. Alternatively, if the cost would be more than the fee, saying in the program would save you money.

After sending a couple emails, I was informed that to opt out of the program, all I needed to visit the portal, register with my Regis email, and opt out from there. However, the fee will not be removed until after the add/ drop date. Access the portal here: https://accessportal.follett.com/0269

For those who wish to bargain shop for their textbooks, I have some recommendations to aid your search. I will usually start my search by simply googling the ISBN of the required textbook, to get an overview of the prices and sources I can buy from. However, I do have a few websites I usually end up buying from (with some bonus deals).

Thriftbooks.com

This is my all time favorite website to buy books from. It is a used book site that you can buy based on the condition of the used book, ranked from acceptable to like new. This site also has a great rewards program in which you are granted points based on your purchases that you can redeem for FREE BOOKS! And, the more you buy the more points you get per dollar spent. Since these are used books, quantities are often limited or not available, but I would recommend starting here!

Rakuten deals

You can get cashback on purchases from particular stores through Rakuten, including Textbooks.com (2% cashback), Follett (2% cashback), Barnes and Noble (1.5% cashback), Better World Books (2.5% cashback), and Ecampus (3.5% cashback). All you need to do is create an account with Rakuten, then go through their app to the website, or add the Rakuten shortcut to your computer!

Chegg

I know a lot of students use Chegg, but I just haven’t had a lot of luck finding the best deal on this site. However, UNiDAYS, a discount website with student deals, has a coupon for Chegg for 10% off! I also recommend getting an account with them to take advantage of student deals and discounts while you are still enrolled.

Additional tips & tricks

Try to find eBooks to buy or rent, which can be cheaper with the additional benefit of digital highlighting and notes, and my favorite feature, the search option. With a physical book, you have to flip through countless pages to find something you are looking for, but with an eBook you can simply search a key word. 

If you buy a physical book, you have the option to pursue sellback options. I have sold back to the Ranger Station Bookstore before, as well as to websites like Textbooks.com for some extra cash!

Ultimately, it’s up to you how you want your textbooks! You have to weigh the options of cost, time, and convenience to see what the best option would be for you.