Artifacts: Paying for pink

Vanessa Moore

When people ask me what living in Macau is like, invariably questions about whether I gamble and like to watch boxing (especially after last weekend’s Pacquiao-Algieri bout) tend to come up. And let’s not forget that most famous of local tourism draws, the Grand Prix. Contemplating what’s on offer in terms of entertainment here, as a typical girl who doesn’t like to watch sports, when I actually thought about it I began to realize most of Macau is marketed squarely at men. Ok don’t get me wrong, I’m sure plenty of women like to watch boxing and motor sports and tons of them gamble, but what about for the rest of us ‘girly girls’? Well there’s always shopping. And the hordes of mainland tourists snapping up everything from baby milk to makeup are testament to that.
Shopping is big business wherever you are. But women often pay far more for the same products that men buy purely for the fact that they’re pink instead of blue. A story taken up last week by the Associated Press in Paris investigated whether women are being overcharged for the same products and services compared to men. A quick look by the AP in Parisian store aisles found some disparities. Haircut: women 43 euros, men 26. Roll-on deodorant: women 2.04 euros, men 1.96. Shaving gel: 2.87 euros in a pink canister, but only 2.39 in a blue one.
To be honest, I think I’d noticed that women’s products were more expensive but I figured the prettier packaging and additional ingredients such as extra moisturisers and the like made it worth it. In the interests of thorough investigative journalism though, I went around Macau scouring hairdressers and supermarkets to probe whether the same thing was happening here. First on the list, razors: Gillette for Women purple coloured Daisy shavers MOP14, Gillette Blue II Plus razors for men 11.90. Looking at haircuts, standard ladies cut MOP250, men 250. And finally deodorant: Nivea roll-on for women MOP 27.50, men also 27.50.
Whether women pay more than men for comparable products and services also depends on where they’re buying them. I also had a look in Hong Kong, just to make sure. Checking out a branch of Mannings there, Pink Rexona deodorant for women HKD28.50, Blue Rexona for men 26.90. Haircuts: a ladies cut in Central HKD780, men 600. For hair removal, I couldn’t see any ladies shaving foam, so a comparable pink canister of Veet hair removal gel cream cost HKD109.50, while a standard blue can of Gillette men’s shaving foam was just 39.50.
Conversely paying more for pink isn’t the case everywhere. According to the AP’s investigations, in Brazil, where it seems men can pay more, Gillette’s Satin Core shaving gel for women was 24.90 reals (USD9.60), while Gillette’s Mach 3 shaving gel for men retailed at 28.99 reals ($11.20).
Looking at practices in the US, New York City and California have banned charging differently for products or services according to gender, and in California companies even face fines up to $4,000 if they’re caught breaking the law. However in Denmark by contrast, a court ruled that different haircut prices for men and women was justified, saying a women’s cut is “so technically more demanding that it is the reason for the price difference.”
“It’s a first victory if people are asking themselves the question when they walk into a store and compare prices,” AP quoted Gaelle Couraud of French activist group Georgette Sand as saying. “What we’re asking for is the end of gendered marketing, that prices be determined not by the sex of the purchaser but by the function of the product or the service rendered.”
That’s fair enough. Obviously it wouldn’t be fair to make men pay more, but women should be aware of what’s been going on so they can make smarter choices. Clearly women are consumers too, and companies have an interest in getting rid of prejudicial policies that affect them. Until that happens, ladies, if you don’t want to pay more, I suggest you get used to buying blue.