CosmopolitanAustralia201507 .

COSMOPOLITAN July 2015 75

 If you bought a razor

recently, chances are it

cost more than your BF’s

razor. This is because of

the “pink tax”, where

companies charge more

for the same product but

marketed to women.

It’s a strategy being

used by companies to

profi t o€ what they see

as a fertile advertising

segment – women. Tom

Godfrey, spokesperson

for consumer advocacy

group Choice, calls it

“a cynical and nasty trick

that they are using to

get a price premium ...

[because] they know they

have a market segment

that seems willing to pay”.

So how do we fi ght

back against the pink tax?

Godfrey says to head to

the men’s section and

check the ingredients list

and unit price to fi nd the

underlying value of a

product – whether it’s

blue, black or pink. Then

you can make an informed

choice on exactly what

you’re purchasing.

Companies are more

likely to stop once the

money from these

“premium” products

stops lining their pockets.

the ABC, “As a bloke, I’d like shaving

cream [to be] exempt.” And the then-

Prime Minister John Howard only added

fuel to the fire when he dismissed the

notion, saying, “If you look at [anything

in] isolation, you can mount an argument

to take the tax off it.”

There are detractors, of course,

who say that the GST applied to these

items only adds a small amount to the

total cost. And that’s true. If you bought

a packet of Coles Regular Tampons (40

pack) for $4.46, you’d only save 44 cents

each time you bought them if the GST

was scrapped. But it does add up...

IT’S NOT JUST TAMPONS

WE’RE PAYING MORE FOR...

The ridiculous way women are being ripped o

big issue

$1.14

$8.16

$1.70

0.21c

0.35c

$9.98

$1.25 $2.25

(per 100g)(per 100g)

(per pen)

(each)

(each)

(per pen)

MEN’S:

Five blades with

vitamin E and aloe

moisturising strip.

MEN’S:

Antiperspirant

deodorant 55g,

$4.49

WOMEN’S:

Five blades with

vitamin E, aloe

and botanicals

moisture strip.

WOMEN’S:

Antiperspirant

deodorant 45g,

$4.49

PAINKILLERS: 200mg

ibuprofen, gel capsules

20pk: $4.19.

PERIOD PAIN: 200mg

ibuprofen, gel capsules

24pk: $8.39.

UNISEX:

Retractable

ballpoint pen

with contoured

barrel and

rubberised

soft grip.

WOMEN’S:

Retractable

ballpoint pen

with “fashion

barrel colours”

and rubberised

grip. #

RAZORS

PAINKILLERS

PENS

DEODORANT

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KELSEY GARLICK. PHOTOGRAPHY BY PABLO MARTIN/BAUER

There are around 7

million women who

menstruate every

month in Australia.

If every one of them buys one pack of

$4.46 tampons a month, that’s almost

$375 million a year the Government is

making on tampon GST alone – just

because we get our period. Is it really fair

for our own Government to profit from

our bodily functions? We asked the

Minister for Health, Sussan Ley, what

she thought, but her spokesperson James

Murphy said, “It’s not an issue for the

Minister,” and directed us to the Treasury.

And at the time of going to print the

Treasury have declined to comment.

Vimalarajah is adamant that this

issue isn’t about Liberal versus Labor

• but she acknowledges that it’s a great
  opportunity for the Liberal Government
  to win votes from women. “The response
  to the campaign has been positive. There
  is so much community support for this
  issue. And it’s clear that people will keep
  talking about it. It will keep coming up
  as long as women have periods. It’s time
  to stop taxing us for being women.”