# Is there really a "Pink Tax"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 22, 2020, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230 "2020-09-22T10:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/221 "2020-09-23T23:50:36Z")
Depends on the bar/restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/222 "2020-09-24T00:06:22Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > It’s a bad analogy because shoe sizes DO vary like that. And yes, mens clothing in general does vary from brand to brand. I wear a large in some brands and a medium in others. You’re shopping in the wrong stores, my friend. I’ve bought running shoes two or three times a year for a decade, and I’ve never had to worry about remembering my shoe size in Hokas versus my size in Brooks versus my size in New Balances. > [@thickpancreas](#): > > But let’s say you’re right, for the sake of argument. Women are driving _their_ clothing market. Not men Arguable, but not the point of the thread. The OP was asking if the “pink tax” existed; it does, as multiple posts have shown. ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/223 "2020-09-24T00:18:33Z")
Maybe women are shopping in the wrong stores, too 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/224 "2020-09-24T00:25:16Z")
Okay. I have your measure now. Won’t be wasting anymore time with you. ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/225 "2020-09-24T00:25:51Z")
Oh, you mean you found the inconsistencies in your position. In that case, I’m glad I could help! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/226 "2020-09-24T00:35:33Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And men’s pants fit men just fine. They also fit women who have no hips. That’s not most of us. I’m lucky. Men’s pants fit me. Except for needing to be taken up, but that I can do myself. Or I can buy them online, and find the right length. When I was in my 20s, and slimmer, boys’ pants fit me, and I could get the right length. And Oh, my gawd, did boy’s pants in the 1990s have pockets. I loved those pants. FWIW, women’s pants don’t fit me very well. They just look weird on me. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/227 "2020-09-24T01:03:04Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > I’m not sure where this was succinctly addressed, the thread is 168 posts long at this point. You could probably sum it up in a single sentence if you’d like… You don’t want to be bothered to read the thread, so you want me to be bothered to hunt back through those same 168 posts and sort them out for you? That’s actually a lovely example of one of the multiple things wrong with your simplistic argument. And no I can’t sum them all up in a single sentence; because those multiple things are multiple, and depend on the item, the way it’s sold, and the circumstances of the particular woman doing the purchasing. Look. You could read the thread, and seriously consider what various people have said in it; in which case you might learn something. Or you could not read the thread, and not post in it. Or you could do what you’ve been doing, which is to post in the thread from a position of ignorance, both of the subject as a whole and of what’s been said in the thread. It’s up to you. But don’t expect me to take anything you say seriously when you choose the last of those options. ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/228 "2020-09-24T01:07:57Z")
I did read the thread, and I’m not posting from a position of ignorance. My argument is simple because the “problem” is a simple one. You might not like that, but having difficulty accepting reality certainly isn’t a rare problem and you can rest assured you will find many who join you in your position! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/229 "2020-09-24T01:25:13Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > Men get judged for looking sloppy, all the time. Not as harshly as women do, though, which is the point. ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/230 "2020-09-24T01:34:10Z")
Assuming that’s true… Is the argument then, that because appearance is more important for women, they shouldn’t have to spend as much to look good? I wouldn’t agree with that, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/231 "2020-09-24T01:37:33Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > I did read the thread You apparently didn’t bother to read any of the posts or links with evidence directly contradicting your position, though. For example, look at the link in my earlier post about Ace Hardware selling travel kits containing a few personal items which are identical in the “His” and “Hers” versions. The only difference is the color of the packaging (blue vs. pink) and the price. Nobody’s arguing that women can’t in many cases avoid the unfair “pink tax” of gendered marketing by simply buying the cheaper “men’s” version of the item. The issue of this thread is whether such an unfair “pink tax” exists in the first place, and the responses have offered ample evidence that indeed it does. So you can ease up on your defensive spluttering that “women don’t HAVE to buy more expensive female-coded versions of products if they don’t CHOOSE to!” Yes, Captain Obvious, we all already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/232 "2020-09-24T01:39:52Z")
Lol then what’s the problem What was the point of this thread? Obvious thread is obvious? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/233 "2020-09-24T02:13:13Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > What was the point of this thread? Did you not even read the OP? > [@the OP](#): > > The so called “Pink Tax” is that women pay a higher amount for the same consumer products and services that men do. […] > > But is this so? If you’re now upset that you’ve wasted your time and everyone else’s in this thread trying to argue a fundamentally different issue from the one the OP was asking about, well, deepest sympathy and all, but that’s on you. We did advise you to read the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/234 "2020-09-24T02:19:15Z")
Reading cuts too much into his arguing time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/235 "2020-09-24T02:19:55Z")
I’m not upset at all, I find the topic, and the various points of contention that surround it fascinating. It’s amazing to me the mental gymnastics on display to make a point of a “water is wet” type of statement, and I enjoy discussing those gymnastics with those involved. I’d add, threads often veer far away from the prompting question. In fact, often times a question or statement is posed to provoke further, perhaps somewhat unrelated discussion. I don’t think anything is wrong with that and a lot of times it’s necessary to open a dialog that way. But I do think it’s a little silly to disqualify an argument later on, after the thread has deviated from the original post, simply on the grounds of being “off topic.” ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/236 "2020-09-24T02:21:49Z")
I’m still curious what “abuse” you were referencing. Was there actually any, or were you just throwing that out there to obfuscate the discussion taking place? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/237 "2020-09-24T02:23:38Z")
Jeez. You _still_ haven’t figured out that was a sarcastic joke? ---
**Author:** ![thickpancreas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@thickpancreas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thickpancreas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/238 "2020-09-24T02:24:54Z")
I hadn’t, sarcasm is often difficult to detect with strangers over text. I’ve never interacted with you on this forum before, so I didn’t know that was something you’d make a joke about. Thanks for clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/239 "2020-09-24T11:11:38Z")
There’s an old Monty Python sketch. Monty Python was a British TV show from the late '60s or early '70s. In this sketch, there’s a person who wants to buy an argument. The woman working the door tells him to go into a certain room and the guy there, Graham Chapman, starts hurling invective at him. The guy complains that he just wanted an argument. “Oh, that’s room 12A. This is abuse.” So, the guy goes to the other room. In that other room, the argument consists of the professional arguer just simply contradicting what the protagonist says, with no evidence or anything (much like you’re doing here). The guy says, that’s not an argument, it’s just contradiction. And, hilarity ensues. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230/240 "2020-09-24T11:52:16Z")
> [@thickpancreas](#): > > My argument is simple because the “problem” is a simple one. You’re posting from a world in which it’s apparently normal to buy fitted polo shirts, and contrast that to buying “standard fit, crappy ones,” in which getting your jeans tailored is a normal activity and contrast that to people in “menial” jobs who don’t do that. Straight up, dude, your understanding of normal market behaviors is not showing up in this thread. Perhaps instruct your chauffeur to slow the limousine down next time he drives past the grocery store, and ask him to narrate the economic behavior of the hoi polloi? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-pink-tax/921230.md?page=13)