If you've ever been to the drugstore and shopped for deodorant, body wash, or razors, you know how clearly divided the gender markers between the products are; Women's are pink and flowery and men's are dark and edgy. But, these products don't come at the same price — which, as Liz Plank's Flip the Script video on the pink tax points out, is incredibly unfair. Hi there, everyday sexism!
If you've never heard of the pink tax, the term refers to the extra money paid on products that are marketed specifically to women. Otherwise known as gendered pricing, this price gap costs women an extra $1,355 a year for the exact same products used by men. So not only do you have to worry about being stiffed on the job because of the pay gap, but now you also have to deal with being charged extra by retailers for buying products marketed to women.
And in case you aren't already pissed off about the whole thing, get a load of this: According to Plank, the pink tax could cause you to shell out as much as $100,000 more over your lifetime than men will pay for the same products and services. Imagine what you could do with 100g's of cash: Buy a sports car, make a downpayment on a house, send your kids to college or pay off your own student loan debt... the possibilities are endless.
Then video, which Plank created with Mic, employs a social experiment to see how these findings hold up in actual life. Check out what Plank found out:
The Setup:
Plank recruits a man to help her embark on the pink tax experiment, a gentleman named Alex. She then asks him if he thinks products at the pharmacy marketed to women cost more than those marketed to men, to which he responds, "I'd imagine they're the same price per ounce."
The Experiment:
They then head to a pharmacy and each find five personal care products that are marketed to their gender. To ensure it's a fair fight, Plank and Alex each find products that are the same size, are from the same brands, and feature the same active ingredients. This way, the only difference that could be present in the price is who it's marketed to.
The Findings:
They both head back to the Mic's offices to compare their findings and prices. Plank and Alex each purchased body wash, a razor, deodorant, shaving cream, and wrinkle cream. The differences in prices were astounding: The total for all five products for Plank was $42.69, while for Alex, it was only $37.42 — a difference of over $5. In case any of you out there doubted this pink tax was real, this is living proof that you're paying more for shopping as a woman.
Plank and Alex then decided to conduct a follow-up experiment, to see if using the products marketed to the opposite sex actually made a difference in how they smelled and appeared. So, Plank used the men's products Alex purchased and vice-versa, for a week. In order to see the results of this part of the experiment, make sure to watch the full video below:
Images: Mic/YouTube (3)
