My D’s recently were laughing because they had “girl” bic pens at the store, same pens as the others but pastel colored, and they were $1.50 more expensive. I have noticed this a lot with scrapbook tools and other tools that are ridiculously priced because they have a cute design on them. The “male” version would cost half as much at least. And don’t get me started on the difference in prices between boys t-shirts and jeans and girls of similar quality. Even basic underwear and socks are twice as much.
It’s something that has always frustrated me, and is hard to explain to my daughters when they are shopping and comparing prices. I hope that the attention on the matter makes a change, but I doubt it.
The article says women pay an average of $291 more per year for the same basic products. I feel it’s much higher than that. If men used tampons, I bet they wouldn’t be anywhere the exorbitant prices they cost now because they are “pink”.
I’ve never really noticed it to be honest, except maybe with dry cleaning.
I do love my husband’s plain white Calvin Klein t-shirts and bought a pack for myself. They seem like a good value when I compare them to women’s t-shirts and their quality/price.
I notice. It’s why I generally buy products marketed towards men.
This is something that’s kinda been known for as long as I can remember but as long as there is a market for the “pink” stuff, nothing will change.
I haven’t bought feminine hygeniene products in so long that I’ve forgotten how much they cost. Even when I needed tampons I just bought the cheap generic ones.
A lot of products “marketed to men” emit unbearable musky stench. That’s why Mr. B loves my lemon-and papaya-scented body washes and shampoos. Frankly, when I comparison-shop at Costco, there is not a whole lot of difference in price. Above certain price point, the price differences are minuscule. When it comes to clothing, I prefer my shirts to be tailored (to accommodate certain body topography), and I have yet to find a dress marketed to men, lol.
Years ago Ralph Nader’s group wrote a book called “why women pay more”. It is pretty astonishing how this stuff is still going on. The tampon tax is just insulting. Tampons are expensive enough to begin with!
I think any menstruating woman should just stop buying them and any other related product and see how long it takes our lawmakers to take the products off of the ‘luxury’ items list!
I can’t wait until more women realize that they don’t have to have periods. I’ll pop some popcorn while I happily watch the feminine hygeniene industry collapse.
Romani, it is not as simple as you think. Not every female can take the meds that would eliminate her periods. These meds are not sugar pills - these compounds are potent hormones with some known and some unknown functions (I type this while staring at a screen full of steroid compounds). Sorry to rain on your parade, but pads and tampons are here to stay.
I’m definitely aware that there are contraceptive methods that allow one not to menstruate but I’m still not convinced its the best thing for a woman’s body. Time will tell, I suppose, but I tend to be pretty hands off when it comes to drugs and such. Plus, there are costs involved in going that route, too.
“I can’t wait until more women realize that they don’t have to have periods. I’ll pop some popcorn while I happily watch the feminine hygeniene industry collapse.”
I did the continuous-pill thing for many years myself (so only had 4 periods a year), but I don’t see any glee in having the feminine hygiene industry “collapse.” What’s wrong with a manufacturer making stuff people need? It’s still not remotely “expensive” by any stretch of the imagination, for a personal hygiene product.
Why not teach your D that the basic scrapbook or blue/black pen works just as well as the “cute” ones? (Don’t blame the marketers for pricing policy; they can only take advantage of you if you let them.)
Again, personal choice; women could easily purchase less expensive hair care products, and if they are targeted towards men, so be it. There is no “tax”.
Sure they could, bluebayou, but it could work the other way too. If men’s shaving gear were colored pink, men would buy something more expensive to avoid the girlie color. But they don’t have to. Why is that?
Sometimes a personal choice can be made such as choosing a plain blue pen over a pink sparkly one. Sometimes not. I think men’s clothing is better quality for the price. If I am buying a plain shirt for myself, I don’t have a choice to buy a man’s shirt, it won’t fit.
“I can’t wait until more women realize that they don’t have to have periods.”
I am 54 and take high bold pressure medication. I’m pretty sure that the pill is not a good fit for me. However I will be glad when I don’t have to keep buying tampons every month. I really think tampons are over priced.
Well, I am glad I don’t have to buy tampons any longer, but there was a bizarre shortage of the brand I used , as well as my daughters about 4 years ago. We called it the Tampon-colypse . What we went trough to buy them was comical…going to stores in an area that is largely seasonal and buying all that they had , and also my husband bought them in quantity while visiting his family in Sweden …he got picked from the crowd while going through security at the airport. Chocolate ( a very common thing to bring to the USA from Scandinavia ) was also in his bag in a lesser quantity , but still a lot. He got a lot of laughs aimed at him on that journey
I have heard about a brand of razors that are gender neutral …I like my female oriented scented products. It is a small luxury for me to indulge in high quality shampoo and some body lotions. They cost more than a drug store brand , but less harsh and drying on my hair , so I will not deny myself.
I used to but some clothing and shoes in either child sizes to save money …like sandals that are unisex or Uggs that were marketed in an odd way.
What used to annoy me was nt the price of tampons per se, but the fact that some states classed them as eligible for a sales tax on “non-essential” or luxury items. Really???
“I’ve never really noticed it to be honest, except maybe with dry cleaning.”
With dry cleaning , at least with shirts, I have been told that men’s shirts fit an auto iron machine and that hand ironing ladies shirts is the cause for the price difference. I have also read that more buttons are broken in said auto iron machines which accounts for their clientele needing to sew on buttons much more often than the rest of us.
Frankly, when I comparison-shop at Costco, there is not a whole lot of difference in price. Above certain price point, the price differences are minuscule. When it comes to clothing, I prefer my shirts to be tailored (to accommodate certain body topography), and I have yet to find a dress marketed to men, lol. 