Danielle Kurtzleben revisits the question of gender-specific price disparities:
There are a few reasons why women are paying more for certain goods and services. Not really knowing or thinking about this pricing gap is certainly part of it — as a woman, it’s easy to pick the Powder-Fresh deodorant and never give the stick of Cool Rush a second thought.
But, Kurtzleben argues, there may be more to it:
Of course, there’s an obvious answer here: society expects women to look a certain way. Put into economics terms, there’s a higher return on investment for beauty for women. Beauty products are becoming more popular among men, it’s true, but expensive skin cream is still optional. For women, all those trappings are more necessary.
