HuffPost Mistakes Economics for Sexism, Cheers End to ‘Gendered Pricing’

January 4th, 2017 3:06 PM

Now even the price of razors is sexist, according to one Huffington Post UK editor.

Associate Women’s Editor Jenavieve Hatch applauded a British supermarket chain Tesco for lowering the price of women’s razors to that of men’s on Jan. 3, cheering, “More of this, please!”

Hatch described Tesco’s decision as an end to “gendered pricing” calling it a “tiny step” in the right direction against women’s products costing more: a “pink tax.” However, her entire article ignoring economic reasons for Tesco’s previous pricing, which had been reported by The Guardian.

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In reality, Tesco’s razor prices were based on the lower cost of manufacturing razors for men, not because of sexism.

According to The Guardian, Tesco’s commercial director for packaged products Kari Daniels said, “... the difference is driven by the fact that male razors are produced and sold in significantly higher volumes, which reduces the price we pay for them.”

Supply and demand, not a great male conspiracy or “pink tax,” was responsible for the higher price of women’s razors. But even if there were a “pink tax,” women would retain the freedom to choose any razor, including those marketed towards men if they preferred to.

Huffington Post views many issues through the lens of sexism, often to an absurd degree. In 2016, the Huffington Post argued that tampons were a “human right” and should be free. The writer of that article, Emily Peck, argued that because toilet paper was free in the U.S. and tampons weren’t, society was sexist.

“For sanitary reasons, we as a society have decided to encourage people to wipe their bottoms. For sexist reasons, we don’t afford that same consideration to girls and women,” Peck wrote.