The Pink Tax or Why We Need More Gender Neutral Consumer Products
Back when I was a child, everybody in my family used one and the same shampoo bottle. We also used the same bar of soap. Growing up, the first time I saw a TV commercial advertising separate shampoo “for him” and “for her,” I was puzzled. Why would men and women need different shampoo? We all have hair, and we all have to regularly wash it in order to keep it clean. It’s just hair and we all have it, so where’s the big difference between male and female hair? Growing up, I didn’t pay close attention to the shifting shampoo placement in stores. Thus I was unpleasantly surprised when I suddenly realized that shampoo, soap, deodorants, etc. products are now placed on separate shelves for men and women. How did that happen? Why didn’t I notice the shifting trend in product placement? More importantly, do men and women really need different and separate consumer products? And why do male and female products do not cost the same, why does gender-based price discrimination even exist?