Our current system supports and favors men, leading to women experiencing many inequalities, from unequal pay in the workforce to the pink tax. Imagine a young woman who earns a minimum wage and budgets carefully. Then each month, having to face the decision of buying hygiene products or groceries. The pink tax forces her to pay $2 more for her shampoo and $3 more for her deodorant compared to similar men’s products. This struggle highlights the unfair financial burden the pink tax puts on women, making women’s daily lives more challenging. The pink tax refers to the higher price for women’s products, such as tampons, pads, razors, shampoos, etc. This tax is applied to products and services that, in particular, women predominantly use. Such products and services marketed towards women are priced higher than ones marketed towards men, even when the products, such as razors, are very similar; that’s the pink tax. It is gender-based price discrimination, and the name comes from the fact that manufacturers use traditionally feminine colors, such as the color pink, when marketing something marketed towards women.
Every day, we see more and more examples of the pink tax affecting women’s lives, leaving behind a trail of gender-based price discrimination. We see women being charged more for a pink product or one that is scented like flowers, or comes in “feminine” packaging. That is the pink tax, causing women to pay more for things like razors, shampoo, and deodorant, all because they are marketed towards women. This must be addressed, and for this reason I have thought of a single solution that could be immediately be implemented. Nothing shows equality more than everyone being unable to afford their necessities. For this reason, I propose that we instate the ‘blue tax,’ ensuring that men, too, can experience the joy of overpaying for life’s necessities. After much thought, I propose my solution, which I hope will not face criticism. It would equalize the price of products marketed towards men, and doing so would allow prices to finally be equal and fair between men and women. That means, if women have to pay more, then let’s make everyone pay more! According to the NYC study of gender pricing, it shows women can pay 10-15% more for products than men, so the creation of the blue tax would make it so that men are also paying the inflated price, thus reinstating equality!
And if the idea of implementing a tax system that creates equality in our society was not convincing enough, I have carefully considered four additional reasons why the blue tax is essential.
Firstly, the age-old struggle for gender equality can be solved, not by fairness or justice, but by shared suffering. By placing the outrageously inflated prices on everyone, we can create true equality. Men and women can now finally unite in going broke together.
Secondly, higher prices will push both genders to work harder and for longer hours. People will need to work more hours so they can afford their basic necessities with the new tax added on top of the regular price they are used to. Motivation will be increased by the necessity to be able to afford these products. The new tax will be a strong motivator for all genders to work harder than ever, thus benefiting all areas of employment!
Thirdly, private corporations will greatly benefit from this idea of mine. The company will make more money off the new tax, so with that new money, the company might think about bettering their products, or at least the packaging. We’ll see this progress in a shinier bottle of overpriced shaving cream.
Fourthly, this plan encourages wiser spending. Since everything will be so expensive, both genders will think more before buying unnecessary items, making them make smarter purchases. Thoughtful spending will be the new impulse spending.
Now, if you take some time to try to put my solution into the real world, you may find that there are some flaws in this plan. Admittedly, my solution of raising the prices for all may not hold up, so a blue tax isn’t the answer —or at least I hope you don’t think it is. But the point is made. We’ve got a serious problem that needs to be solved. Creating a blue tax doesn’t solve the pink tax, it just makes everyone have to spend more and suffer the weight of gender pricing. And such a scheme may make it impossible for some to buy their necessities. But there is a real, workable solution out there, and one I’ve thought about is abolishing the existence of the pink tax. It would be a simpler and less impractical solution, since having the raise prices for all may cause riots, and it will still leave the people.