Ever since I started needing razors, tampons, and other feminine hygiene products, my dad has always been the one buy them. He always takes care of the shopping... I don't know, something about coupons and saving money.
I never really thought about the cost of these products because my dad would buy them, come home, and give them to me to put away. I never questioned how much they cost. All I knew is that they were expensive.
It wasn't until recently that I discovered "Pink Tax," I promise it's not as fun as it sounds. Pink tax is an extra amount of money women have to pay for similar products and services that men pay less for.
Statistically speaking, with pink tax, women pay roughly $1,000 more a year in extra cost according to Listen Money Matters. Women are paid approximately 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. So women earn less to pay more is what this says.
Pink tax isn't just limited to hygiene products. Other things like getting haircuts and dry cleaning also fall under the Pink tax. For whatever reason, women are charged more for products we literally need.
The biggest issue about pink tax, aside from there being no logical reason women are paying more for very similar products as men, is the fact that things like tampons and pads fall under this taxing system. Men don't need these items but it doesn't stop them from being taxed. I'm sorry, why is something women literally need, taxed and so expensive? It's not my fault I have a period. I didn't ask of this. In a perfect world, tampons and pads would be free. They're a necessity for women. But since we don't live in a perfect world, I think we'll take the no tax thing.
Pink tax is just another thing that exists to undermines women. I'm pretty sure none of us girls, asked to be girls. Having things like "his and hers" is just another way to widen the gap of equality.
At this point, to put my own jab at this absurd system, I've been having my dad buy men's razors and men's deodorant for me. While this fixes the issue for me on a personal level, it does not do so on a national level. I don't understand why women should have to pay more for the exact same things as men.
Why does it need to be "his and hers?" Why not just "theirs?"
