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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Ways it's more expensive to be a woman

66 replies

darleneconnor · 19/04/2011 23:45

Our razors have VAT on them
ditto sanitary products
haircuts
pensions
wedding attire
bras
shoes
jewellery
maternity wear
pink versions of electrical goods usually cost more

feel free to continue the list

OP posts:
WriterofDreams · 20/04/2011 10:14

WRT to work clothes I would say my DH spends a lot more on his than I do on mine. Men's suits are very expensive, especially if you want a decent one and he needs quite a few as he wears them every day. So he spends at least 150 quid on a suit while I can get a very nice trouser and top combination for about 70 quid. Plus I can usually buy work things that will also go with jeans so I can wear my work clothes casually too whereas DH can't. Of course this situation varies from person to person but I don't think it's a fair assumption to make that women always spend more on work clothes. Casual and going out clothes are probably a different matter.

alexpolismum · 20/04/2011 10:17

where on earth do you buy a mooncup, anyway? I've only ever heard of them on Mumsnet.

treaclesponge - even using cheap make-up is more expensive than using none at all, which is what the vast majority of men do. And when you don't want to buy lots of clothes, you come under pressure to do so, like bucaneve with her cocktail dresses (and me and the moment, as I think there is nothing wrong with the trouser suit I wore to the last occasion requiring formal clothing, and I don't want to buy a different outfit.)

bucaneve · 20/04/2011 10:17

You are right of course Goblinchild but it is hard.

Day to day I am perfectly happy being a jeans n glasses wearing frizzy haired scruff and think that I look okay. But, on a night out when everyone else is in little dresses and heels I tend to feel a little bit bad

Prunnhilda · 20/04/2011 10:19

If you feel you are being targeted and 'expected' to buy goods aimed at women, then you have the consumer power to resist this. You don't have to conform to a marketing executive's definition of a female consumer.

TrillianAstra · 20/04/2011 10:22

Confused about pensions.

Most of the other things (not sanitary wear of course - and for that problem I would recommend the contraceptive injection - no periods!) are optional. I do choose to spend more on shoes than DP, but in return for my cash I get to have a wider variety of shoes to wear.

alexpolismum · 20/04/2011 10:22

Very true, Prunnhilda, but it is not always easy to resist the pressure to conform.

Of course, they don't want customers like me, anyway, the companies would have gone broke waiting for me to buy anything! I tend to be sparing even with the things I do buy!

Prunnhilda · 20/04/2011 10:25

Sorry, I just reiterated what everyone is saying.
As a 20-yr-old, I got cornered at a party by a rather nutty friend-of-a-friend who was bemoaning the fact that we, as women, now had to buy whatever the latest pink razor for women was at the time. She was deadly serious. Complaining that she was a target, yet at the same time submitting to it. I really can't stand that attitude: it's vaguely pathetic.

Prunnhilda · 20/04/2011 10:26

Sorry (not enough tea this morning) I meant to add that that woman pops up quite regularly in my mind when I see adverts aimed at women, and she has single-handedly put me off buying into the nonsense!

Ephiny · 20/04/2011 10:26

I've always been quite oblivious to many of the things that women supposedly 'have' to do, e.g. never worn make up or any kind of jewellery as it just really has never occurred to me to do it.

I don't get the thing about weddings/parties either as I own one dress and one pair of 'proper women's shoes' (flats) that I put on for any formal occasion. Just as DP has a suit and pair of dress shoes. And my dress cost about £30 (I think, bought it many years ago), which is surely a lot less than his suit/shirt/tie cost. I seriously had no idea until I came on MN that you were supposed to buy new stuff all the time.

I don't think my shoes cost more than men's ones (probably less if anything as they're smaller?), and I don't have more shoes than DP - am I supposed to?

Maybe it's because I've never read women's/fashion magazines? Or where do these 'rules' come from and how do women find out about them? And why do they feel they have to comply with them?

DarthNiqabi · 20/04/2011 10:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ivykaty44 · 20/04/2011 10:30

prefume is always more expensive than aftershave - but is that because they know woman will not spend as much on aftershave as men will on perfume?

Prunnhilda · 20/04/2011 10:34

I'm the same, Ephiny.
I buy shoes when my old ones wear out. Most shoes, as far as I can see, are designed for fancy dress or gardening-when-you're-65.

I do occasionally buy clothes but it's a drag. I've started making things, which fit (but this is a luxury activity in terms of time and money when you compare prices to low-end clothing). I can see the appeal of good clothes but I don't see very many good clothes around in my price range or for my height, ergo, not really a fun side of life for me.

I do have make-up but some of it is 21 years old (bought with my first student grant Grin) - I've been told that it's unhygienic to keep make up for more than a year. What utter tosh (it's an eye pencil btw so it gets sharpened regularly!).

I have jewellery but rarely wear it (incl wedding ring, was shocked to learn that in-laws think my marriage is rocky because of this, even though dh doesn't wear one).

steamedtreaclesponge · 20/04/2011 10:35

Ephiny I've stopped reading women's magazines for that very reason (and also because they're shit) - if I do pick up a magazine in a waiting room or something, I suddenly find myself wanting loads of new make-up/clothes/shoes... just more new stuff generally. If I don't read magazines or go in shops then I have no idea what the 'latest' stuff is and I end up being happy with my wardrobe how it is.

BertieBotts · 20/04/2011 10:36

I think possibly having VAT on sanitary items seems ludicrous now because disposable products are so much more the norm. So in 1973 when it was brought in, it was more of a choice similar to the reusable/disposable nappies choice we have today, and so disposable sanitary protection would have been seen as a luxury, I'm guessing?

When I was looking this up I also found it had changed in 2001, we are only charged 5% on sanitary items now rather than the full VAT amount.

TrillianAstra · 20/04/2011 10:54

In my expensive female perfume is no more expensive than male perfume.

ivykaty44 · 20/04/2011 11:04

Perhaps I have always dated cheap men.....

Snorbs · 20/04/2011 11:20

When I was regularly wearing suits to work in the 90s they were £200-£250 each, plus £30-odd for a shirt and £15-20 for a tie. Add in shoes and cufflinks and I was going to work each day with over £300 in clothing(!) That was before having children, of course - there's no way I could justify that kind of outlay today.

moondog · 20/04/2011 11:24

'I think the way it's often assumed that children's clothes, toys and childcare come out of the woman's budget within a partnership is depressing.'

Eh Prince?
If anyone is with a man who thinks that,more fool her for having children with him.

rainbowinthesky · 20/04/2011 11:26

I agree with Moondog. Why on earth would any one want to have sex with someone who thought that never mind have children?

PrinceHumperdink · 20/04/2011 11:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrillianAstra · 20/04/2011 12:11

I'd agree that it is more expensive to conform to some of society's expectations of women, but it's not actually more expensive to be a woman.

anastaisia · 20/04/2011 13:05

alexpolismum
Not sure if anyone answered - but you can buy a mooncup in Boots (www.boots.com/en/Mooncup-Size-A_27688/) so they can't be that hard to get hold of.

BikeRunSki · 20/04/2011 13:15

I though European law had just changed (but not yet come in) so that women can't be charged more for pensions and life insurance than men; and vice versa for car insurance.

I think bras and sanitary protection are the only real contenders here. Even if you choose to use a mooncup, then it's still an expense that men don't have.

TeiTetua · 20/04/2011 16:02

If you say it's "more expensive to conform to some of society's expectations of women" then part of the pattern used to be that for things like restaurant meals and entertainment, men were supposed to pay for things on women's behalf. Women would appear expensively decorated, and men would pay for the privilege of spending time with such splendour. What a deal.

noodle69 · 20/04/2011 17:03

depends its cheaper for me to be a woman than my husband to be a man

Our razors have VAT on them - I use those 97p for about a million and only use them on my armpits maybe every few days/a week. Never do my legs/fanny. I use a pack a year. My husband buys those stupid gillette fusions as its his face that cost a tenenr a pack Shock

ditto sanitary products - These arent that expensive and only costs a couple of quid a month

haircuts - men usually cut their hair all the time as it gets long whereas as women I know get it done a couple of times a year as it doesnt matter how long theirs is

pensions - dont we get the same pension as men now?

wedding attire - depends what you got married in. I got married in a dress from BHS. Its about the marriage not the wedding

bras - £3 primarni

shoes - £4 primarni

jewellery - you dont have to buy this or wear it. I have expensive jewellery but its all been bought by DH. I wouldnt spend my money on it lol.

maternity wear - I never wore maternity wear just got the £4 velour trackies from primark in different colours.

pink versions of electrical goods usually cost more - why would you buy these?