Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: What is the pink tax?
The pink tax is a phenomenon often attributed as a form of gender-based price discrimination, with the name stemming from the observation that many of the affected products are pink.[1] Products marketed specifically toward women are generally more expensive than those marketed for men, despite either gender's choice to purchase either product. The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a study that concludes that women's products are typically more expensive than men's for often reasonable cause. There are many causes of this discrepancy, including the tampon tax, product differentiation, and the belief that women are less price elastic than men.[1][2][3][4]
There are many reasons why the pink tax exists, including tariffs, product discrimination, and product differentiation. Clothing made for women and men are taxed at different levels when first entering the United States.[3] While some tariffs are higher for men's clothing, others are higher for women's. In 2018, clothing companies sought to get tariffs on clothing removed. Their reasoning suggested these tariffs, while enlarging the gender gap, also put clothing companies at a disadvantage when operating overseas, but only in certain types of clothing. They maintained that those tariffs hurt the clothing industry.[3]
While in the California state Assembly, Speier introduced Assembly Bill No. 1088, also known as the Gender Tax Repeal Act, in 1995. It was similar to the Pink Tax Repeal Act, except it focused on gender-based price discrimination in services. The bill stated that businesses such as tailors, barbers, hair stylists, dry cleaners and laundries would not be permitted to discriminate for "standard services" due to a person’s gender or the gender the clothing is intended for, without a valid, prominently placed written justification.[17][18] The bill passed and remains in effect. A similar bill was proposed soon after aimed at consumer goods, however it gained large opposition from manufacturing companies. The main opposition argument was that a bill proposed on goods would lead to litigation and price increases.
Bill Lamb of "About.com" awarded "So What" a four-and-a-half–star rating, praising the song's synth backing and beat and Pink's attitude. Lamb also praised Max Martin for his production work on the song, writing that he "punches up the energy level to 10." Nick Levine of "Digital Spy", in his review of the leaked single, called the song "brash, childish, slightly ridiculous, packed with attitude and sounds like something only Pink could get away with." Levine also called it "terrifically catchy" and praised the chorus as one "that practically begs you to chant along." Following its official release in the United Kingdom, Levine awarded it a five-star rating, calling it one that people will sing along to. Lucy Davies of "BBC" called the song an "aggressively swinging opener" that "slams Pink's cards down on the table setting the defiant, self-deprecating tone of the album." Michael Cragg of "musicOMH" wrote that Pink was at her best when she uses her life experiences to create "smart, energetic pop songs", citing "So What" as one of them.
"What About Us" is a song by American singer and songwriter Pink. It was written by Pink, Steve Mac and Johnny McDaid, with production handled by Mac. The song was released through RCA Records on August 10, 2017, as the lead single from Pink's seventh studio album, "Beautiful Trauma" (2017), along with its pre-order.
On April 10, 2018 Speier introduced a revised version of the Pink Tax Repeal Act, H.R.5464. The 115th Congress (2017-2018) was expected to review the acts's 2018 version. Skopos Labs, a technology company that predicts risks and opportunities, gave the bill a 1% chance of being enacted.[15][16] The overall intention of the Pink Tax Repeal Act is to end gender-based price discrimination. To accomplish this, the Pink Tax Repeal Act would mandate that any comparable products that are marketed toward men and women must be priced equally. Although Speier said she did not expect the bill to pass, she still tried to push forward the conversation about gender-based price discrimination in goods and services.
The satirical card game Cards Against Humanity released a "For Her" edition of its base set (which is exactly the same as the original except with pink-colored packaging and a higher price) in 2017 as a satire of the pink tax, and in support of EMILY's List—a U.S. political action committee supporting female pro-choice Democratic candidates.[22]
Republican opposition for a recall of the tampon tax in Virginia argued that tax discrimination against products for women needed to be sorted out by changing the general tax code. They added that they supported the elimination of sales taxes overall. Another opposition argument was that only disease-preventing hygiene products should be exempt from Virginia's sales tax and that feminine hygiene products did not prevent disease.[13]
Australia, Canada, and Britain have voted on legislation to create special tax exemptions for tampons, but none have become law.[10] India has recently scrapped tampon tax.[11] Kenya has removed the tampon tax and is now providing menstrual products to school-aged girls. [8]
A Breezy with a light pink body, a pink antenna and a pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a pink flower. She is always seen with Zipzee and Tiddly Wink, living in Breezy Blossom. When together with Tiddly Wink and Tra La La, they decide together on where to go or what to do.
Opposition to the Pink Tax Repeal Act, came from retailers and manufacturers of women's products and clothing.[19] Their chief argument is that the Pink Tax Repeal Act would be difficult to enforce and lawsuits would follow. The difference between men's and women's products is not always easy to see, they argue, so removing the pink tax would be subjective.[21] They also alleged that the bill was unfriendly to domestic manufacturing jobs and that lowering the prices for women's products could lead to employee layoffs.[19]
Tax policy is the choice by a government as to what taxes to levy, in what amounts, and on whom. It has both microeconomic and macroeconomic aspects. The macroeconomic aspects concern the overall quantity of taxes to collect, which can inversely affect the level of economic activity; this is one component of fiscal policy. The microeconomic aspects concern issues of fairness (who to tax) and allocative efficiency (i.e., which taxes will have how much of a distorting effect on the amounts of various types of economic activity).
The music video for "So What" was directed by longtime collaborator Dave Meyers. It shows Pink drinking while riding a lawnmower, sawing down a tree, streaking on a red carpet appearance and other activities. The video also features a cameo appearance from Hart. Pink performed "So What" on MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 on November 6, 2008. The song was nominated for several awards, eventually winning the MTV Europe Music Award for the Most Addictive Track.
The Tea Party protests of 2009 were in part a protest against high taxes (in addition to the allusion to the Boston Tea Party, the name was supposed to stand for "Taxed Enough Already"). Code Pink even reached out across the ideological aisle to try to find some common ground.
Gender biases also exist in product and service provision. The term "Women's Tax", also known as "Pink Tax", refers to gendered pricing in which products or services marketed to women are more expensive than similar products marketed to men. Gender-based price discrimination involves companies selling almost identical units of the same product or service at comparatively different prices, as determined by the target market. Studies have found that women pay about $1,400 a year more than men due to gendered discriminatory pricing. Although the "pink tax" of different goods and services is not uniform, overall women pay more for commodities that result in visual evidence of feminine body image.
On August 7, 2008, Pink's single "So What" was leaked online, and radio stations across Australia were quick to give it massive airplay. Less than six hours after the leak, "So What" was voted No.1 on Nova 100 Melbourne and shot to No.1 on the Today Network's national radio Hot30 Countdown. On August 22, Pink announced a new track, titled "Crystal Ball". On September 18, 2008, "So What" became her second number-one hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Pink was the guest of honor at the 2008 ARIA Music Awards, which were held in Sydney, Australia, in October 2008. There she sang "So What". On November 3, 2008, "Funhouse" debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA charts. In Australia it sold over 86,000 units in its first week, and was eventually certified eleven times platinum.
Criticism of the concept of a pink tax include the principle that the idea robs women of agency and choice by suggesting that women are so easily brainwashed by marketing that they are prevented from choosing the lesser priced but otherwise "identical" male-marketed alternative. If it were truly identical to the female-marketed variety, there would be no reason not to buy the cheaper variety. Instead, critics have attributed the pricing disparity to market forces,[20] and stated that if women continue to buy a more expensive pink razor, it is because they see some utility or additional aesthetic that they are willing to pay for. That there are substantive differences in price indicates differences in marketability of different products, not necessarily a conspiracy against women.
Representative Jackie Speier was a member of the California state Senate from 1998-2006. In 2008 she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California's 14th Electoral District, which includes most of San Mateo County and part of San Francisco County. She has held her position in Congress. Speier, a Democrat, is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.[14] In 2018, she introduced H.R. 5464, the Pink Tax Repeal Act, to end gender-based discrimination in the pricing of goods and services.[14] This followed her introduction of an earlier version of the bill two years earlier.
On August 11 and 12, 2017, Pink performed "What About Us" live for the first time during two concerts at the Berlin Waldbühne. Pink's first televised performance of "What About Us" was at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27. She performed the song on "Ellen" on September 6, and on "Saturday Night Live" on October 14. She has also performed the track on various dates throughout her festival tour in 2017. Pink performed the song and "Beautiful Trauma" on the of "The X Factor UK" on December 3, 2017.
The economic impact of the pink tax is that women have less buying power, especially paired with the gender-based pay gap. Buying power relates to the amount of goods and services a person can buy, given current prices and available income to spend.[6] The wage gap already puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to buying power. Women currently make a statistical average 89 cents for every $1 a man earns in the United States, meaning women statistically, on average, have less income to spend on goods and services.[12] This alone gives men more money and, ultimately, more buying power. The pink tax further contributes to the economic inequality between men and women. Paying more for goods just because they are marketed to women when women already earn less than men means men hold the majority of the buying power in the economy.[12] Taxes on feminine hygiene products that men don't have to buy further contributes to this discrepancy.[13]
Dave Meyers, who is known for having artists giving an over-the-top portrayal of celebrities or themselves, directed the video for "So What". Pink previously worked with him for the videos to "U + Ur Hand" and "Stupid Girls", which earned MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. Pink also worked with Meyers on the videos for "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me" and the "" track "Feel Good Time". The video was shown on August 22 on "FNMTV". The video has premiered on 22 August on the UK music site Popjustice. Pink posted a message on her website for her fans about what it was like to shoot the video: 
The "Don't Buy Bush's War" campaign in 2007–08, organized by Code Pink to protest the War against Iraq, got 2,000 people to sign a tax resistance pledge.
Pink performed the song on "Saturday Night Live" on October 14, 2017, alongside "What About Us". She also performed the track on "Good Morning America". On November 19, 2017, Pink performed "Beautiful Trauma" at the American Music Awards while suspended from a high wire off of a skyscraper. Pink also performed the song on the of "The X Factor UK" on December 3, 2017 alongside "What About Us".
In the US, there is no specialized tax on tampons. In states where sales taxes are collected, tampons are taxed in much the same way as most other non-exempt items (such as toilet paper and toothpaste). There has been a recent push to carve out a special tax-exempt status for tampons.[7] The tampon tax has sometimes been falsely called a "luxury tax". As of 2018, 36 states collect sales tax from tampons. [8] Women leading the movement against the tampon tax are calling the tax a form of "regulatory discrimination", saying that menstruation is out of their control and that the government should not tax something that is imminent for approximately half the population. [9] Unlike condoms, tampons are a necessity, with no male equivalent, so the two items cannot be compared. Furthermore, many schools, colleges, doctors offices, and clinics all offer free condoms for use by the public, while the same is not done for menstrual products.
MCA's original double LP version of "Pink World" was released in late November, 1984. The album was simultaneously released in the US and Europe. The double LP was pressed on what one reviewer called “Pepto Bismol pink vinyl.” The single for "What I See" was also released on pink vinyl, as was the 12" promotional single distributed to radio stations for airplay. MCA also released the album on cassette.