It is not a secret that in fashion, personal care, and hygiene, women pay mor ethan men do. I’m intentionally using the binary because that’s what most products are marketed at and as–men and women. A woman’s t-shirt will cost more than the male version because, ostensibly, it takes more tailoring. Uh huh. You would think it would be the opposite because it takes more fabric/material to make men’s clothing (in general) than women’s, but no.
There’s a phenomenon called the pink tax that posits that women pay more for the same item than men do. I just read a paper that says it’s not true because the products aren’t truly the same. But ,she hastened to add that her next area of study is WHY women feel it’s necessary to buy products that have more ingredients–such as deodorant with moisturizer. She says it isn’t that the items themselves cost more but that women have a bigger basket of items, that have a wider range in price.
Her broader point is that if you buy an item that is truly the same (like a basic deodorant), you’re not paying much more either way. So in my example of the fitted shirt, maybe it’s that it’ss because it’s not exactly the same as a men’s t-shirt? And you could argue it takes more time and design? Or it could just be because they can. That makes more sense to me at this point.
The reason I’m writing about this is because I’m buying black booty shorts. I have a bunch that I’ve bought before that are great. I can no longer find them. They are simple black women’s boxers that hug the ass. I can’t find them in black any longer. This is one of my biggest aggravation about clothing–it’s so hard to find women’s clothing in just. plain. black.
In fact, this was the reason that I started shopping online in the first place. Decades ago, I was looking for a pair of black tennis shoes. So simple, right? Well, not if you’re a woman, apparently. I went to the mall with my mother. We went to so many stores, and I could not find a single pair of black tennis shoes. It does not help that I have fat feet, but still. I could find teal tennis shoes. White tennis shoes. And, sadly, many pink tennis shoes. But one pair of black tennis shoes? Nope!
I went online and never looked back.