PARIS
French stores put a higher price on women's products than on those for men, a women's rights group in Paris said on Monday.
The French women’s rights group Georgette Sands says that prices on products like razors, makeup, and hair products are higher for women's products than on the equivalent ones for males.
The women’s rights group has launched an on-line petition against tax sexism - what they call the "Pink tax-" to protest what they say is sexist pricing.
The petition, which is out on Twitter, aims to put a pressure on the Economy Ministry to even out the difference.
The petition had racked up almost 20,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. Women across France took snapshots of the prices of several products that target both men and women. Most of the time, women’s products were found at a higher price than those for men.
The cover photo for the petition shows two packets of razors, spotted at the French supermarket Monoprix. There is one price in pink packaging for women and the other in blue for men. The women’s package that contains five razors is priced at 1.80 euros, while the men’s package with ten razors costs 1.72 euros.
" At Monoprix, the prices are not the same. On the contrary, women pay more than men for the same products,” reads the petition, which is hosted by the campaign website Change.org.
Monoprix responded to the accusations, saying that disposable razors and shaving gel for men were cheaper because they "have much higher sales potential than those for women, and so they are sold at a lower price. The use of female models on women's products adds an additional cost for advertising.
The French Economy Minister announced on Monday that an investigation has been launched to make "an assessment of price quotations" for those products.
The results of this investigation could be announced "in the coming weeks," according to the ministry.
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