I personally love the color pink but absolutely loathe the pink tax. If you don’t know what the pink tax is, I’ll give you an example: if I wanted to buy a razor at a pharmacy and I check out both the women’s and men’s razors, the women’s razor is likely to be more expensive. Both razors will do the job(actually, I’d argue that a men’s razor will do a better job), and yet the pink, feminine-looking razor meant for women will actually cost me more. That makes no sense to me. Being a woman is hard in so many ways, but the financial burden of being one needs to be spoken up about more often. I gave you the razor example, but the pink tax doesn’t just apply to that; it applies to so many other routine things like towels, calculators, pens, etc. Women already get paid 21.8% less than men, according to a 2024 study, and yet we incur more financial costs just for existing.
Another reason it is more expensive to be a woman is that society expects us to indulge in whatever is necessary in order to look good. An example of this is the new trend of taking an “everything shower,” where a woman will oil her hair, exfoliate, apply a hair mask, shave, do skin care, style her hair, etc. While it definitely feels good to look put together and be clean, the cost of all those products and devices does add up. It is not to say that men don’t incur these costs, but women are conditioned to put more effort into their appearance and, therefore, will be spending more on things related to their appearance, which can get expensive. For example, how many men do we know who get their nails done versus women? So not only do women have to incur extra costs as is on products and services, coupled with the pink tax, they end up spending more overall.
While you could argue that incurring these extra costs associated with your appearance is a choice and that you can indulge in products, devices, and services on a budget, there are costs women incur that are out of their control: menstrual products. Most women spend money on pads, tampons, pain relief medication, and birth control as a part of their monthly expenses. Unfortunately, period products are not always provided for free by schools and workplaces and are often taxed as they are seen as “luxury items” despite them being a necessity. This is absurd, as women cannot control their medical needs and should have access to the proper resources to manage their monthly cycles without the extra cost.
While I have discussed the pink tax and the tampon tax, I’ll throw in one more tax: the safety tax. As a girl, I have been told not to walk around late at night or to make sure I have my pepper spray with me. While it is incredibly daunting to be told of all the things I shouldn’t do for my own safety and the ways in which I should take precautions, that, too, comes at a price. If I were traveling back from an event late at night, I would not dare take public transportation. I would just pay for an Uber. The costs of getting an Uber over time really do add up, but like many other girls, I would not risk my well-being for it.
Since I have already discussed some of the ways women are forced to spend more than men, I do not understand why women cannot get paid the same for their work. Unfortunately, the reason behind this is that due to their perceived role as caretakers, women do not get raises or promotions as easily as men. While many women would prioritize a family over their career, that does not mean they aren’t putting in the same amount of effort as their male counterparts in their careers. Additionally, men with families can absolutely prioritize their families over their jobs, and no one would comment about that. In short, one of the struggles of being a woman is a financial one, resulting in women spending more and earning less, and the easiest solution I can propose is paying women equal wages.
