For a few years now some feminists have created this complete nontroversy about what they call "the pink tax" where, they claim, women's products are more expensive than men's products, which, they say, ends up costing women thousands of dollars more per year than men. Like "women's razors" are more expensive than "men's razors" and so on.
Firstly, and most obviously, this a completely and absolutely asinine thing to complain about and try to make it into a controversy. Why? Because nobody is forcing you to buy the more expensive product. For fuck's sake. Why does this even have to be stated? It's a free country. Buy whatever product you want. There is no law that says you have to purchase the more expensive "women's" version of the product. They always talk as if they were somehow forced to buy the more expensive product.
Secondly, and more damningly, whenever you see a video of theirs about this subject, they are always outright lying to the viewer. Directly and blatantly.
How are they lying? By claiming that the products are "identical", "contain the same amount", "have the same composition", and so on. Some of these videos are so blatant that they will actually show directly to the camera the two products and claim that they are identical (with the only difference being eg. the color of the packaging), even though you can clearly see that they are not.
As an example, in one such video the feminist showed two bags of shaving razors of the same brand, one for men and one for women. She claimed that they were identical, except for the color, yet the women's version costed a bit more.
This was extremely hilarious in that it was very obvious that the bags weren't actually identical, and this was very visible in the video. The men's product had a dozen razors in it, ie. 12. The women's product had 12+3, ie. 15 razors in total. (There was a huge "+3 extra razors!" on the bag, which wasn't in the men's version.)
Moreover, the razors weren't actually identical (in more ways than just the color). The women's razors had a different shape (more rounded corners) and, if I remember correctly, an extra blade, compared to the men's razors.
(There's actually a very good reason why women's shaving razors are different from men's. Men use the razors to shave their beards. Women use to shave their legs. The types of hair are very different, and blades that are optimal for these types are different. Also the women's razors tend to be more rounded to make it easier and safer to shave one's legs, without being able to see properly everywhere.)
In the same video she showed to painkillers, one for men and another for women (the latter aimed primarily at alleviating menstruation pain). She claimed that both had the same ingredients, and then proceeded to show the ingredient list to the camera. And you could easily see that the women's version had more active ingredients that the men's version didn't have (eg. caffeine).
The same goes for things like deodorants. These people claim that they have the same composition, yet they don't. (Most typically they have different ingredients, and even when they have the same ingredients, they have different amounts of them. This is what makes them smell different. Some ingredients are more expensive than others, especially those that give the product its fragrance.)
Ok, they are stupid. Who cares?
Yeah, except that they are exactly the kind of stupid that corporations and lawmakers tend to listen to, when they complain loud enough for long enough. And they aren't just whining. These are the exact same people who will harass these corporations and lawmakers until they do something about it. They literally want the government to ban the "pink tax". Which doesn't exist. But they still want to do it.
What are corporations supposed to do? Make all of their products literally identical? Remove all variations and all branding? Offer no choices? What exactly are they supposed to do?
I suppose that if these harpies succeed in making it into a law, these corporations could just say "ok, fuck it. You want to use men's razors to shave your legs? Fine. We'll stop making women's razors. There, are you happy now? Good luck with those cuts and abrasions in your legs."
Firstly, and most obviously, this a completely and absolutely asinine thing to complain about and try to make it into a controversy. Why? Because nobody is forcing you to buy the more expensive product. For fuck's sake. Why does this even have to be stated? It's a free country. Buy whatever product you want. There is no law that says you have to purchase the more expensive "women's" version of the product. They always talk as if they were somehow forced to buy the more expensive product.
Secondly, and more damningly, whenever you see a video of theirs about this subject, they are always outright lying to the viewer. Directly and blatantly.
How are they lying? By claiming that the products are "identical", "contain the same amount", "have the same composition", and so on. Some of these videos are so blatant that they will actually show directly to the camera the two products and claim that they are identical (with the only difference being eg. the color of the packaging), even though you can clearly see that they are not.
As an example, in one such video the feminist showed two bags of shaving razors of the same brand, one for men and one for women. She claimed that they were identical, except for the color, yet the women's version costed a bit more.
This was extremely hilarious in that it was very obvious that the bags weren't actually identical, and this was very visible in the video. The men's product had a dozen razors in it, ie. 12. The women's product had 12+3, ie. 15 razors in total. (There was a huge "+3 extra razors!" on the bag, which wasn't in the men's version.)
Moreover, the razors weren't actually identical (in more ways than just the color). The women's razors had a different shape (more rounded corners) and, if I remember correctly, an extra blade, compared to the men's razors.
(There's actually a very good reason why women's shaving razors are different from men's. Men use the razors to shave their beards. Women use to shave their legs. The types of hair are very different, and blades that are optimal for these types are different. Also the women's razors tend to be more rounded to make it easier and safer to shave one's legs, without being able to see properly everywhere.)
In the same video she showed to painkillers, one for men and another for women (the latter aimed primarily at alleviating menstruation pain). She claimed that both had the same ingredients, and then proceeded to show the ingredient list to the camera. And you could easily see that the women's version had more active ingredients that the men's version didn't have (eg. caffeine).
The same goes for things like deodorants. These people claim that they have the same composition, yet they don't. (Most typically they have different ingredients, and even when they have the same ingredients, they have different amounts of them. This is what makes them smell different. Some ingredients are more expensive than others, especially those that give the product its fragrance.)
Ok, they are stupid. Who cares?
Yeah, except that they are exactly the kind of stupid that corporations and lawmakers tend to listen to, when they complain loud enough for long enough. And they aren't just whining. These are the exact same people who will harass these corporations and lawmakers until they do something about it. They literally want the government to ban the "pink tax". Which doesn't exist. But they still want to do it.
What are corporations supposed to do? Make all of their products literally identical? Remove all variations and all branding? Offer no choices? What exactly are they supposed to do?
I suppose that if these harpies succeed in making it into a law, these corporations could just say "ok, fuck it. You want to use men's razors to shave your legs? Fine. We'll stop making women's razors. There, are you happy now? Good luck with those cuts and abrasions in your legs."
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