Check
out the price difference between these two scooters at Target! It may
be a particularly egregious example, but the New York City Department of
Consumer Affairs found an average 7% average cost difference in
products labeled for men and for women when they surveyed nearly 800
gendered consumer products. The pink version will cost you more, even
when controlled for quality. Now, about those scooters…
A
Target spokesperson said the company lowered the price of the pink
scooter after the report was released Friday, calling the discrepancy a
"system error." (The retailer blamed the same kind of glitch last year
after catching heat for selling black Barbies at more than double the
price of white Barbies.)
When asked about the price differences
of other gendered toys — like the Raskullz shark helmet ($14.99) and the
Raskullz unicorn helmet ($27.99) or the Playmobil pirate ship ($24.99)
and the Playmobil fairy queen ship ($37.99) — the representative
pointed to a company statement, declining to elaborate: "Our competitive
shop process ensures that we are competitively priced in local markets.
A difference in price can be related to production costs or other
factors."
The “gender tax” holds up across product
categories. Women pay more for clothing, razors, deodorant, automobiles,
and services like haircuts and dry cleaning.
Read more about the “gender tax” at the Washington Post.
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