By Michaela Schmitz and Kailey Franklin, staff writers
While men have been shaving since the dawn of time, women in the West have only been shaving their legs and underarms since the 1910s. Up until that point, American women had no need to shave, since their clothes mostly covered their bodies.
As fashionable dresses became skimpier, more of legs and underarms began to show. Magazines showed women in the new trends shaved.
Since then, people have pretty much assumed that if there were differences in shaving products, it was probably because of the difference between the parts and ways men and women shaved.
Unfortunately, it’s not very true. Hygiene products like shaving cream, deodorant, and razors have very little difference between their male and female counterparts.
A study by the University of Central Florida found that the only difference between deodor- ants marketed towards men and women was scent. They also found that women’s deodorant was on average priced 30 cents higher.
Consumer Reports concluded that equivalent products in a drugstore cost more if marketed towards women. The companies that make those products claim it’s more expensive to make them for women, according to Forbes. com.
At the store Target, a men’s Degree deodorant that comes in a two-pack at 2.7 ounces a stick is $3.99. A single stick of women’s degree, which is 2.6 ounces, costs only ten cents less.
Also at Target is the brand Dove. For a single stick of deodorant, both the men and women’s cost $7.39. However, the men’s stick in 2.7 ounces while the women’s is 2.6 ounces.
Schick Hydro Silk refill blades come in a four- pack for women. It costs $16.49 at Target. The men’s Schick Hydro also comes in a four-pack but only costs $13.59.
The Up+Up brand at Target has both men’s and women’s triple blade disposable razors in a five- count package. The men’s cost $4.99 but the wom- en’s cost $5.39. The only difference was color.
Also for Up+Up was shaving gel for sensitive skin. Both came in a seven-ounce container, but the men’s only cost $1.87 while the women’s cost $2.39.
Clear, a men’s scalp therapy shampoo, costs $4.49. The women’s equivalent, which was the same size, cost $4.99.
It’s ridiculous to charge almost a dollar extra to have a pink razor or shampoo bottle, and what’s worse is that women and young girls actually shell out the extra money for it, thinking they’re getting a product specifically designed for them.
In reality, they’re getting less of an identical product for more money.
Another anomaly in marketing is clothes.
At G.H. Bass, the women’s Brooke Flannel cost $49 dollars online. The men’s Hudson Twill flannel cost $39.99 online. The women’s flannel was a thin- ner material as well, while the men’s was a warmer, thicker material.
How does make sense that a thinner, smaller, shirt should cost more?
At Walmart, the men’s Fruit of the Loom short- sleeve white t-shirt cost $4.72. The equivalent to that was a BLVD women’s white t-shirt. It costs $11.99.
Note that the Fruit of the Loom shirt was an average fitting t-shirt with no frills. The BLVD shirt was a smaller, tighter, more form-fitting shirt.
Shirts made like the women’s BLVD aren’t even comfortable. When people want to wear a t-shirt, it’s because they want to be comfortable. Shirts like that are too tight and have absolutely no wiggle room.
It’s no wonder that so many women shop for shirts in the men’s section.
One of the things that men do pay more for than women do is insurance.
Men are considered more of a risk than women are for both health and car insurance. According to esurance.com, men are more likely to get into a car accident, more likely to get a speeding ticket and more likely to get a DUI.
Lifeinsurance.org reports that men are considered more of a risk than women because they typically die younger and tend to have riskier careers and also tend to participate in more dangerous activities.
The obvious solution is to stop shelling out the big bucks for the smaller, pinker products. Women shouldn’t have to pay more to smell like “Everlasting Sunshine” and “Fresh Peonies” and for the women who want to smell like that shouldn’t have to settle for Old Spice’s “Swagger” and “After Hours.”