BEIJING — Li Yi just like the color pink, so she usually purchases items in that shade.
She refrained from purchasing a set of dumbbells in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, however, as the pink ones cost 90 yuan ($12.50) instead of the standard black ones’ 40 yuan ($5.60).
Source : NBC NEWS
Li is not alone among women in China, the second-biggest economy in the world, who have observed that products and services targeted towards women tend to be more expensive. Feminists in the nation call this phenomena the “pink tax,” a phrase that originated in the US and is gaining popularity in China.
Millions of people have seen the hashtag #PinkTax on Chinese social media sites, where women discuss how they turned down higher costs. The problem has resurfaced in the midst of China’s biggest annual online shopping event, Singles Day, also known as Double 11, which finishes on November 11.
Li, a 22-year-old college student, said, “I feel that buying pink means voluntarily being treated differently by gender.” “I don’t want to pay more for the premium, but I can’t give up my preference.”
Not limited to pink
There is more to the pink tax than simply hue. It may be used to a wide variety of discriminatory practices against female customers.
The expense of menstruation is one area where women in China and other countries are particularly enraged. As it prepares a new rule on value-added taxes, the Chinese government was urged to remove a 13% tax on menstruation products by an internet campaign this autumn, on the grounds that they should be treated as essentials.
Similar to tobacco, the rate is 13%, which is a few percentage points more than those of goods that are considered necessities like food and water.
The additional expense may force women on a limited budget to forgo menstruation products entirely, according to Nancy Qian, an economics professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences.
“Many women are forced to use things that women used historically and that cause health problems, instead of being able to use sanitary pads that are sold in modern stores,” the speaker said.
She said, “What it means is that women pay more than men to be healthy.” “It’s incredibly unfair.”
The government has previously denied requests for relief from menstruation taxes.
Menstrual supplies are not subject to taxes in over twenty states in the US, including Texas, New York, and California, according to Alliance for Period Supplies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating “period poverty.”feminist
feminism’s awakening awareness feminist
In a community on Douban, China’s version of Reddit and IMDb, dubbed “Pink Tax Resisters Alliance,” opponents of unfair pricing exchange ideas on possible tactics. Since its founding in 2020, the organization has amassed around 30,000 members.feminist
Someone in the group wrote, “Women define feminine.” “What defines women is not feminine.”
As more women join the job, China’s feminist movement has become stronger; in the last ten years, the proportion of working women in China’s cities has climbed by about 40%.
However, despite the rise of feminism, the Chinese government is adopting a more conservative approach, partly due to worries over the nation’s historically low birthrate. President Xi Jinping said at the All-China Women’s Federation last month that women were essential to society and that a “new trend of family” needed to be started.
The “pink tax” backlash is occurring at the same time as China’s economy is recovering more slowly than anticipated after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions late last year, which has led to consumers being “more considerate about expenditures than ever,” according to Qian.
June saw a record high of 21.3% for the 16–24 age group in the urban jobless rate before Chinese authorities said they would no longer be releasing the statistics.
In China, like in many other nations, “females are more likely to be judged by appearance,” according to Sun Xin, a senior professor in Chinese and East Asian business at King’s College London. Some women claim they already incur higher expenditures as a result of deeply ingrained gender prejudices.
According to him, this causes women to see items like cosmetics as “almost necessities,” making them less price sensitive and driving them to spend more money on them.
“I have to wear makeup when I go out for formal dinners, especially when there are older men present. If I don’t, they’ll believe I don’t value them,” said Chen Haiyu, a 40-year-old supermarket supplier from the seaside city of Qingdao. “I believe makeup damages my skin and is expensive, but for me, it is a must.”
“Each dollar used is a vote.”
Some customers are retaliating by urging boycotts of companies who charge women extra for goods that they effectively purchase at the same prices as males.feminist
This year, JD.com and Taobao, two of the biggest e-commerce sites in China, faced criticism over their yearly shopping occasions, which are named “Goddess Day” and “Queen’s Day” and fall on March 8, International Women’s Day. Critics said that there is no comparable shopping event for males and accused the corporations of manipulating women into spending money by employing this word.feminist
Even though JD.com and Taobao did not disclose the precise earnings data this year, the two events were nevertheless expected to have brought in billions of dollars. However, several retailers reported a slower growth in sales, notably those of women’s items.feminist
The sales figures for this year have progressively grown. However, it is too little in comparison to the increase that has doubled in prior years, the owner of an online women’s apparel company said on social media.feminist
According to a Bain and Company poll, the majority of Chinese consumers also want to spend less on this year’s Singles Day celebration, as reported by CNBC.
21-year-old college student Lancc Lan said, “Every dollar spent is a vote for the world.” “I refuse to give another penny to companies that openly mislead or discriminate against women. I think that reforms might be brought about by the work of women’s organizations.
