The Times has a fascinating splash today on the discrepancy in prices between products for women and men. It reports that high street stores are charging women up to twice as much as men for practically identical products, with the addition of pink to something seemingly boosting its price hugely. The most striking finding is that products as banal as razors can be twice as expensive for women as they are for men.
MPs are already involved, with Maria Miller, chair of the women and equalities committee, threatening to summon retail bosses to parliament to explain the ‘unacceptable’ higher prices.
But while the Times has performed a vital public service in sifting through packs of razors, girls’ and boys’ toys, and clothing, is this really a matter for MPs? The paper has revealed that retailers think it’s perfectly reasonable to think that women are spendthrift mugs who will happily pay over the odds for products.
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