Facing legal pressure, Tesco, the biggest supermarket chain in the U.K., has agreed to sell their women’s razors at the same cost as their men’s razors because they are similar in every way but their color.
After receiving criticism from British lawmaker Paula Sherriff, the company stated that “following an internal review and discussions with our suppliers, we have acted on concerns about the differences in price of our male and female disposable twin-blade razors.”
“We are guided by doing what is right for our customers,” continued the statement, “...so we have reduced the cost of our women’s twin blade razors, so that they are the same price per unit as the male equivalent.”
“Really pleased with this result,” wrote Sherriff—a vocal opponent of the tampon tax—on Twitter. “Chipping away at gender pricing bit by bit. Watch out retailers–I’m coming for you!”
Higher pricing of products marketed toward women—often referred to as the “pink tax” or the “women’s tax”—is a common trend that has only more recently been the target of widespread criticism. As of 2016, 11 states (Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Alaska, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts) have dropped the luxury tax on menstruation products.