Pink Tax series 2021

The gender-based price discrimination known as the ‘pink tax’ refers to the broad tendency for products marketed specifically toward women to be more expensive than those marketed for men, roughly 7% more, without any reasonable cause. The name stems from the observation that many of the affected products are literally pink *facepalm*.

The pink tax contributes to the economic inequality between men and women. The gender-based pay gap already puts women at a disadvantage with women in Australia already earning 18.8% less than men, so... women are being paid less at work and then paying more on goods and services!?

Fun fact - women's personal care products don’t just cost more, there are more products to buy. The societal pressure on women to maintain a youthful appearance and look beautiful at all times is no joke. And yes, calm down my dude, there are beauty products geared towards men, but really, looking tidy for men is still accepted as optional as opposed to the actual expectation that women be attractive and in fact 'anti-age'.

Another kick to the vagina is the cost of feminine hygiene products. In Australia in 2019, after an 18-year battle, sanitary products were recognised as an essential product and the GST tax on sanitary products was finally removed. Unfortunately, that's not the case in many other countries where women continue to pay the #tampontax. And period poverty is real. Some women and girls miss school and work while menstruating, using toilet paper, socks or other unsuitable alternatives to manage their periods because they can’t afford pads or tampons.

The dollars add up and time is money! On average, women spend more time on preparing their appearance than men. That’s time spent beautifying in the morning instead of tending to health, sleeping, exercising and time not being at work earning those big gender pay gap bucks!