粉红税 (Pink Tax) 最早是在1994年，由加州议会研究办公室（California's Assembly Office of Research）提出的。

他们发现，同样是衬衫干洗，女性支付的干洗费比男性高出不少。

纽约市消费者事务部的一项研究也表明，在794件可比对的同类商品中，女性产品的价格平均高出7%。

超市里同样的产品，因为有了“女士专用”几个字，价格就要高出一截。可细看主要成分，“专用”和“普通”根本没有区别。

借着这个话题，我们一起来看看本期的Buzzword Pink Tax.

The phrase itself is very easy to understand. Pink is a color and tax is, well, t-a-x. But there is a lot to be said about this concept.

So let's dive into it.

So what is Pink Tax?

First of all, let's look at the definition. What is Pink Tax?

首先我们来看看什么是所谓的粉红税.

Pink tax is a markup on goods and services marketed to women and for which men pay less for similar products and services.

所谓的粉红税指的就是营销给女性消费者的这些货品和服务上面的一个markup, a pricing markup or a markup in pricing, simply means higher price.

在讲到价钱的时候, markup 就是一个价格加成, 也就是加价.

For instance, if you buy a cola in a restaurant, it's probably going to be a lot more expensive than in a supermarket. That is because restaurants have a markup on the drinks they serve.

比如说在餐厅里点酒水肯定比在超市买要贵不少, 这就是一个price markup.

So pink tax is a markup on goods and services marketed to women.

所以粉红税它指的就是针对女性营销的产品和服务, 与卖给男性的类似的产品和服务相比较, 会有一个明显的markup, 加价.

This phenomenon is often attributed to gender-based price discrimination.

Gender-based price discrimination也就是基于性别的价格歧视.

The reason why we call it pink tax is not really about stereotyping women. It simply is from the observation that many of the affected products are pink.

而为什么叫它粉红税?

不知道大家有没有注意到, 比如说同样一个品牌, 同样都是卖洗发水, 卖给男士的, 通常是蓝色的瓶子; 卖给女士的, 通常都是粉红色的瓶子.

This is the word "pink tax" comes from.

Now in 2015, the issue got a lot of attention when New York City's department of consumer affairs found many instances of gendered pricing when it examined 794 products sold in the city for consumers of all ages.

粉红税这个事情并不是一个特别新的概念, 在2015年纽约的消费者事务部门就通过对市面上794种产品的观察, 发现了有这样的一个概念叫做gendered pricing, 也就是男女有别的定价.

However, researchers have been noticing and analyzing this phenomenon since at least the 1990s.

这个事情再往前倒, 在上世纪90年代末期就已经有人提出来并且观察到了.

Although we call it pink tax, it's not really a tax, it's just a price markup.

So when a company sells a pink product, the female version for more than a blue product, the male version, the additional revenue from the pink product does not go to the government as tax.

为什么说它其实不是税, 就是它多收了女性产品跟粉红色产品的这些钱, 并不会作为税收上交.

The only part that benefits from the pink tax are the companies that charge women more than men.

These gender-based price disparities are prevalent in several sectors and can be seen in many day to day products.

But one of the most visible is personal care products.

这种gender-based price disparities基于性别的价格差异, 在很多的日常产品里都能见到, 但是最明显的是在 personal care products, 也就是个护产品.

These include, for example, soaps, lotions, razor blades, shampoos, and deodorants.

In the United States, one government study analyzed 800 gender-specific products from nearly 100 brands.

The report found that on average, personal care products marketed to women were 13% more expensive than similar men's products;

Accessories and adult clothing were 7% and  8% more expensive respectively.

美国的一个调查结果就表明:

个护类产品卖给女性的比男性的平均要贵13%, 配饰类, 成人的衣物类卖给女性的分别要比卖给男性的高7%, 8%.

Meanwhile, an analysis in the UK found that women's deodorant was on average 8.9% more expensive than men's, and women's facial moisturizer was about 34% more expensive.

而英国的数据显示, 女性的 deodorant身体除臭剂要比男性产品贵8.9%, 而女性的 facial moisturizer脸部的保湿产品就比男性的要贵34%.

Why the pink tax exists

You have to look attractive because especially for women, the more attractive you are, the more likely you are going to earn higher salaries, receive higher grades in school, and are more likely to be hired and promoted in the workplace.

But the pink tax has long imposed an economic burden on women around the world.

The major impact of the pink tax is that women have less purchasing power, especially paired with the gender-based pay gap.

In simple words, women actually earn less than men, however, are expected to pay more.

为什么很多人会来谈论或者来抵制这种粉红税? 主要的原因就是它给女性增加了很多不必要的经济负担.

So the pink tax further contributes to the economic inequality between men and women;

And it is also argued they're paying more for goods and services marketed to women while women earn less to men, means men hold the majority of the purchasing power in the economy.

在这种情况下, 主要的购买力依然是在男性.

And furthermore, taxes on feminine hygiene products that men do not need further contribute to this discrepancy.

也有人提出来 feminine hygiene product, 妇女卫生用品, 比如说卫生巾、卫生棉条这样的产品上面增加的附加税, 也会给女性的经济造成更大的负担.

甚至在英语国家还有一个专门的词叫做tampon tax, 也就是卫生棉条税.

Although now, some countries in the world are talking about pushing back against the pink tax or tampon tax to address this discrepancy.

Now let's move on to the sample sentence.

Sample Sentence：

-Pink tax is the concept where many kinds of products designed for women are more expensive compared to similar ones sold to men.