To think being a woman costs more?

[ClairN]

DH and I have been having a debate on discretionary spending. AIBU to think being a woman is more expensive?

Bikini waxes, hairdressers, tights, lingerie, taxis after dark…

I bought a Mooncup in 2018 and it is still going strong. It was £20.

It does cost more. It’s called the pink tax. Lots of equivalent products (deodorants, shampoo, jeans etc) are more expensive for women.

Coop study suggested it’s 40% more for women - https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/content-hub/articles-and-advice/pink-tax-women-paying-more-for-their-essentials/

Pink Tax is a real thing.

Bikini waxes, taxis, tights - all optional.

Hair cuts - basic living, unless you're having umpteen cuts and colours per year then it becomes luxury.

Lingerie - knickers and bras are basic living but again, no need to spend big bucks. If you do, that's luxury spending.

Too right it does. I decided to order 6 months' supply of period products from my local authority....usually free....

Not any more! Getting charged a fee for delivery to my home! Effing ridiculous! Just because I am female and have periods. I didn't ask for them.

This rule has just come into place from April this year. Very unfair. They should be free even if you don't have a disability.

No, there’s no financial issues, we were just debating our personal spends budget. He always has loads left over and I don’t, despite the fact that he socialises more and spends more on hobbies.

The younger women at work all, without exception, have gel nails changed every month. The majority get Botox. They talk a lot about the cost of serums and skincare. So I don’t think it’s changing much.

Well said.

It doesn’t cost more to be a woman. It costs more to be a sucker

This!!

I don't do bikini waxes, my 60 denier tights last me for years - men probably spend more on shaving than I do on tights and underwear (don't own any 'lingerie' and would imagine it would be very scratchy), and I haven't taken a taxi for ages.

This stuff is genuinely your choice to spend money on.

Yes I would say it does - aside from the above you have mentioned which you do not have to do, it is known informally as the ‘pink tax’. Products marketed towards women - usually pink ones! - like toiletries, razors etc are typically are more expensive, let alone period products and the tax on them, underwear etc.

I don"t get waxed, manicures, Botox, fillers or posh haircuts. But I travel solo across the world and need to stay in better hotels so I don't get raped.
I realise travelling solo is a choice...but I don't see why I shouldn't.

Skincare is the biggest sucker ever. You age. You’re meant to age. Water from the tap, a mild soap if you need it, and a simple moisturiser.

I totally agree with this. I was watching a shopping channel recently (I was bored, and waiting for another programme to start) anyway, they were trying to sell some face cream, or other. I could not believe what they were claiming that this expensive pot of goo could do. It was a feat of their selling skills, I suppose, that they made it sound like a Woman would wake up, looking like Snow White, no matter if she was over 50. It sold out, why do Women fall for this overpriced hype?

Yes and no.

Being a woman costs more for the simple fact we have periods.

But beyond that, no.

I don't pay for, buy or use any of the following:

Hair dressers
Waxing
Bras
Taxis
Anything else on your list.

So your list is totally optional and not needed.

Yes, femininity is expensive.

We may want to smash the Patriarchy but we still have to live here. Good for any woman who never dyes hair or wears makeup. I confess, it's not me. We all pay a price for not knuckling down to beauty standards. It comes in how people treat you.

You only have to look at a high street and see how many nail bars/ salons/ beauticians there are.

All of the women on these thread cutting their hair and going bare faced are certainly the exception in my areas. Under 40, I'd say 80% of women are groomed and wearing make up/ expensive skincare/ hair coloured- clearly professionally and wearing far more clothes than equivalent men.

Yes it costs more to be the average woman in society than man, everyone's being so obtuse saying its not.

Period products and bras are the only things you have a point with. Everything else IS a choice.

I feel like a guy listening to these "norms" because I am totally clueless. 🙈

But they're making a choice to do those things. It's no more compulsory than football, golf or going to the pub.

If a man said he needed extra spending money for a football season ticket because his boss and all his work colleagues had one, he'd be rightly told where to go. Same argument goes for all this apparently compulsory grooming. You don’t have to do it and nothing bad happens if you don't do it.

I'm aware of how much money I must have saved over the years, simply by not wearing makeup or spending on wax treatments. Or buying the blue razors.

I must be in the 20% then.

Bar period products, I have no more costs than my DH does.

In fact he gets his hair cut more than me.

I don't get my hair cut. Just do it myself. I don't wax. Wear Bras. Wear any makeup. Use any skincare beyond soap and water.

I buy mens t shirts and jumpers because I prefer the material and fit.

I wear the same pair of shoes until they wear out and replace them with the same.

Literally my only woman related expense is period products and associated pain relief!

Does no one travel alone outside the UK? or even within the UK?

Well pink tax exits but you have choice

I shave with Aldi own brand ‘men’s ‘ razor (£4.99 for the razor, £3 for 4 blades).

I do get my hair done - my choice

I don’t wax, wear make up daily, rarely wear tights (60 den from Primark).

no nails

I get taxis home from a night out if drinking but ‘dark’ doesn’t = taxi - buses and legs work once the sun goes down

my pants are from Asda, Bras various shops - I own 6 and rotate, period pants save money as well.

so I’m not sure if it costs more to be a woman - but it maybe does if we conform to societies pressure.

I travel alone all over the place, what's your point?

Do you not need a better class of hotel in Asia, say? Not dives. And a better class of transport?

Same. Don't understand this post, either.

Well you know me now, I don't and I'm in that category.

If you're high maintenance, just own that decision.