Why Biocon boss Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is seeing red over Pink Tax
Gender-discriminatory pricing has to be stopped, and women should actively shun products that are made costlier for them, tweets the entrepreneur
Biocon boss Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Wednesday (March 13) said women should oppose gender bias by shunning products that come with a 'pink tax'.
'Pink tax' refers to gender-based price disparity. It's global phenomenon wherein products meant for women are noticeably more than the corresponding products for men, be it personal care, perfumes, footwear or garments.
Mazumdar-Shaw shared a video on X, showing how women's products cost more, even when they're essentially the same as men's.
"Pink Tax! A shameful gender bias that women must respond to by shunning such products," she tweeted.
Global issue
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has noted that the pink tax can be seen in several sectors, the most important being personal care products. Soaps, shampoos, lotions, razor blades and deodorants meant for women are far costlier than those for men.
Such discriminatory pricing is seen to economically burden women, especially since they tend to earn less than men on a average (due to child-rearing, domestic duties, etc).
In fact, the UN has called on governments globally to try and rationalise taxes so that there is no gender disparity there. steps to eliminate the pink tax to ensure women achieve full and equal participation in the economy.
Followers react
On X, Mazumbad-Shaw's post invited a lot of views and support. One person said it's tough to decide whether to buy men's products or nothing at all.
Another person said they always notice women's products costing more. They hope more people talk about it and push to stop 'Pink Tax'.
"Hope your biotech products don't subscribe to this tax," said another.
"Yeah I found out about this pink tax phenomenon way back in 2014. Since then I've used only men's products, from lip balm to running shoes," said another X user.