In today's ugh-worthy news, PurseBlog has made a rather annoying discovery. After crunching some numbers, they found that women pay more than men for the same bags from certain luxury brands . We're not talking about the same exact bags, of course, but bags that are virtually the same in size, material and design. For example, three of Givenchy's women's bags look almost identical to the men's versions; however, all of the purses marketed towards women were noticeably more expensive than those under the male category.
You are probably thinking — how could they be getting away with something so blatant? But really, it's not that obvious. It all comes down to cubic inches. PurseBlog measured many men's bags and found that although they were typically larger (on average by 1,479.5 cubic inches vs. 1,1014.4 cubic inches for women's bags), male customers are asked to pay $2.17 per cubic inch while women are asked to pay $2.58 for basically the same bag. The average price disparity? Over $190.
PurseBlog concluded that it isn't just about the price of leather increasing over the years or the illusion that more time is spent perfecting the details of a women's purse. It has nothing to do with that at all. What it comes down to is that even when it comes to fashion, women are still paying the gender tax. Most luxury brands believe they can get away with hiking up the prices with their female customer base, while still believing they need to tread lightly when it comes to their male customers who aren't quite ready to spend as much on a backpack or bag. Either way, PurseBlog calls BS.
Just a friendly reminder: Bags aren't the only items women pay more for than men. Razor companies, shampoo brands, and dry cleaners are all guilty of imposing the so-called "gender tax." But hey, that makes sense, since women are still making anywhere between 70 and 96 percent less than men... oh, wait.
Regardless of your stance on the gender pay gap/tax, the biggest lesson we've all learned today? Before you make your next big handbag purchase, take a look at the men's department first.
Image: Giphy
