Out-of-Class Activity 3: Women's Tax

User Generated

Yh773

Humanities

Description

This activity will have you examine products (particularly hygiene products) you use on a regular basis. You will find the prices of your products and then compare them to the prices of the “opposite genders’” products.

You must upload your assignment to Canvas on the day that it is due.

If you would like feedback on your assignment, in addition to uploading your assignment on Canvas, you must submit a hard copy of it at the beginning of class on the day that it is due. (Inversely, if you do not wish to receive feedback, and you only want to receive your grade, you should only upload your assignment to Canvas.)


Instructions for Completing this Activity:

*Under Files, Assignments, Out-of-Class Activities, OCA 3 you will find a written example of how to complete the first part of this assignment if you find these instructions confusing at all. Please read these instructions in full, then read the example. If you have any questions after reading both, please email me.*

  1. Find ten products you use on a regular basis.
    1. Examples: Shampoo, conditioner, body wash/soap, face wash, razor, shaving cream, lotion, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume/cologne, hair product, etc.
  2. Go to where you normally buy your products (website, actual store).
    1. Note: Even if you buy your products from Amazon or similar sites, don’t use these types of websites for this assignment – unless it’s the only place you can find the product. I say this because, as you probably know, “common market value” isn’t always represented on these websites.
      1. Example: I can buy my hair cream product on Amazon, but since it’s made by Redken, I’d go to their website for pricing, or find the pricing of it at a salon.The Redken website does not sell their products so I found the pricing of the product at my salon.
        1. It is not uncommon, apparently, that some manufactures’ websites do not sell their products – they only suggest, or send you to, a retailer. Use your best judgment.
      2. Case in Point: My product costs $18.00 dollars at my salon and anywhere from $18.95 to $22.98 on Amazon.
      3. You might be thinking – “’non-online’ stores can vary in pricing too, though…” – and you’re right. But, while some stores can vary in their pricing, most large “chain” type retail stores (where we often buy products we use on a regularly basis) are really similar in their product pricing (to stay competitive, as you know).
    2. Find your products and record the price of each.
    3. Then find the “opposite gender’s” product (the same product or as close to the same idea of the product as you can find) of the same brand/manufacturer you use.
    4. Record the price of that product.
    5. Compare and contrast the prices of your ten products and the “opposite gender’s” products. Record your findings (this means that you should provide me evidence, in some fashion, of your findings - e.g. a chart, a table, a short list, etc.).
    6. Write a 500-word response paper:
      1. What did you think about this activity?
      2. Were you surprised by what you found? If so, why? If you were not surprised, why?
      3. What do your findings reveal about the material consequences of gender?
      4. What does this reveal about our cultural understandings of gender? Of beauty standards?
      5. Comment briefly on the presentation/packaging of a couple of your products and how they differ for “each gender” in what they say, how they say it, etc.
        1. How does this “marketing of the product” contribute to our understandings of gender and the body/biology?
      6. Feel free to watch the Buzzfeed video that prompted the idea for this activity (and where many activities like this were derived) once you have completed your activity:
      7. https://www.buzzfeed.com/abagg/fuck-the-womens-tax?utm_term=.bmrJQ8aLY#.niJEe9lD5 (Links to an external site.)

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Introduction to Sociology Fall 2018 Altice Example for Out-of-Class Activity 3: Women’s Tax The following “example” is constructed from answering the question below. Be sure to read all of the instructions for this assignment before reading this example – otherwise, this will be confusing. "Do we need to include the specific list of the products that we looked at?" Yes. And, keep in mind, I'm asking that you try your best to use the products that you typically use for this activity and give the pricing from the stores in which you usually buy them. If not the exact store, a popular store they might be found in. This will make it easier on you, because you are familiar with the product, not to mention, you will see how the "Women's Tax" plays out in your own life – which is part of the reason why we do the activity. If you don't have ten products that you use regularly (and these can include clothes if you’re struggling to find hygiene products – like socks, underwear, sneakers, etc.), find some products that you think are widely used. In the example I will provide, I'm using my perfume that I usually get from Amazon (because I can get it a bit cheaper, in some sketchy way I'm sure) - BUT, I ask that students not use Amazon for pricing since it doesn't usually reflect what the manufacturer wants people to pay for it. So, when I “Googled” my perfume, Sephora was the first store that came up, and that seems like a place people go for this type of thing. (This bit of information is in the instructions!) Now, for the example (which might be easier to put in chart form for you all, but Canvas is limited in formats, so I will just write it out): I'm looking for a type of product - perfume, I buy this product at a certain place - Sephora, the name/brand - Light Blue made by Dolce and Gabbana, and how much it cost for the amount I get (since there are sometimes multiple amounts available) - $76.00 for 1.6oz. Then I found the "opposite gender's" similar product and did the same. So: Perfume, Light Blue Pour Homme made by Dolce and Gabbana, $56.00 for 1.3oz (they didn't have an exact match in amount). They had two other larger amounts for purchase, though: 2.5oz for $67 and 4.2oz for $86. The next larger amount for women is 3.3oz for $98 - I might include something like this in my paper if it was significant, like it is in this case. Now granted, I guess we could entertain that, for perfume "women's" and "men's" products can smell rather different, and those different ingredients that create different smells could cost more or less - BUT, and especially with the same "name," the cost is probably not significant enough for the manufacturer to explain such a higher costs. This is where I'd start talking about why I think this difference exists in my paper. You should do this for all ten products. Then calculate the difference in price for each single product (perfume: $76 - $56 = $20 more for women's than men's product). Then calculate the overall difference total (so $20 more for women's perfume, $0.50 more for women's shampoo, $1 more for men’s socks, face wash was the same price, etc. so my total difference for all items listed in this example would be $20.50 more for women's products than the men's). So, as someone 1 Introduction to Sociology Fall 2018 Altice whose products were all gendered for women, I paid $20.50 more than someone who might buy all these same products, all gendered for men. Now, that doesn't mean that everyone is always using all of the same gendered products (someone could use both "men" and "women" products) nor does that mean that everyone uses products specific to their gender (maybe a man uses all "women's" products, or a woman uses all "men's" products). For example, my perfume, as you saw is gendered for women, but I also buy men's Dove deodorant and men's Redken hair paste. This means that, as a woman, I would find the pricing for "men's" perfume, for "women's" deodorant, and "women's" hair paste for comparison. 2
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