Eleanor Dohrenwend

This is part 2 of the article on gender based consumerism.

“Pink tax” is a way that companies profit from existing stereotypes and gender based cultural discrepancies. This is a system where companies just need to keep the belief going to profit off of it, but what are some ways that companies profit off of creating systems like this?

Companies often create cycles of inequality by establishing inequality-based values for consumers. An example of this may be chainsaws and other power tool companies. Chainsaws are often modeled after male models and are primarily marketed towards men. Statistically, men probably buy chainsaws more than women, but this cycle is reinforced by the companies that are selling chainsaws in the first place. If chainsaws are modeled after men, they will be harder to use for women, who have different body proportions, hand sizes, etc. Chainsaws for women may also be more expensive as they are sold as a “custom item” and are harder to find at local stores.

More recently, companies have been using social media to create cycles of inequality. There are many examples of this that I have been noticing recently, but the example I will be using is eyelashes. People may individually have opinions about how they think their eyelashes look best, but this is not usually influenced by outside sources. When companies pay people who have what they think are the “most desirable lashes,” a social hierarchy is created. This cycle is reinforced by people buying their lash serum to have “more desirable lashes.”

Companies then make money out of creating unnecessary inequality. Many companies create cultural differences and barriers between men and women, but are these differences that are wired in us? How many of these spending and purchasing differences are based on instinct, and how many are based on cultural beliefs that we have been raised in?

According to cmr.berkley.edu’s research article, there are some clearer spending differences between men and women. When purchasing luxury products, women tend to value refinement and heritage of the item, and are purchasing to show authority over romantic competitors. Men, on the other hand, purchase luxury items to show status and exclusivity and tend to have a higher rate of purchasing items that signal dominance when attended by physically dominant sellers.

Women are more likely to consider surprise offerings than men, who prefer a high degree of control over their purchases. Women tend to be more community-oriented, and they are more likely to donate more to charity and be more generous when approached by a pay-what-you-want business. Men prefer to pay more when there are higher individual benefits.

Women also have a higher rate of supporting women-owned businesses and sustainable businesses, as there is (unfortunately) more femininity linked to these selling tactics. In terms of purchasing habits based on current belief structures, there seems to be a bit of a cultural struggle with narratives around men and women. It sounds silly, but it seems as though society is holding on to certain systems that could keep things the same as they have always been.

Beer is masculine. Trucks are manly. This is made up. The truth is that car companies would not sell as many trucks if there were not this narrative. Cars and trucks cost a similar amount to make, but how many men choose a truck over a car, perhaps to chase this “manly” aesthetic?

I was unable to find clear information on the profit margins on cars and trucks, as every source has a different answer, and there are few articles on the internet that have been able to delve into this. However, what I was able to conclude was that trucks and cars have very similar interior parts, and cost a similar amount to make, yet the prices between them are radically different.

Corporations are making money by creating inequality structures, and changing them up whenever money isn’t being made. Companies like to push these issues onto the consumer by saying that we are the ones who created the systems, and we are the ones reinforcing them.

None of us shoppers want to be paying various amounts of money for similar products and services, based on circumstances that we can’t control. Large corporations know that they can get away with cutting corners to earn quick money, but being a corporation with ethical systems can be cool, too. I hope that there will be continual efforts for more laws that create equality for all consumers. In the meantime, we can just be aware of all of this when we go out into the world and are influenced by marketing. What we think we like or want to purchase isn’t always our idea.

Eleanor Dohrenwend is 17 years old, partly homeschooled, and looking forward to summer break.