B1 – Intermediate
Gender tax. Strangely enough, there is such a thing as “gender tax”. Unfortunately, it is the women who have to suffer.
Read the article to know more about gender tax and express your thoughts about it.
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1601/160121-gender-tax.html
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
2. How often do you shop?
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
20 replies on “Women Pay More in Shops”
1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
I think that market has created double versions of some products to expand its target audience. Introducing small differences in these products it creates a versión “only for men” and a “versión only for women” which is usually more expensive than the first one.
2. How often do you shop?
I think that I am quite pragmatic and I don’t use to go shopping unless I need something. More over, unless I have to buy clothes that I need to try on before buying, I prefer to buy online.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
In general I am not very faithful to brands, I prefer to look for the product with the best price- quality ratio in every single case. However, sometimes I prefer one brand over the others if it I have previously tested it and I have discovered its benefits.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
It depends on the product. In some cases I’m ok if they are cheap and have an acceptable quality. In other cases quality becomes more important and I prioritize it.
Good going with your writing practice.
Take a look at how you can revise these sentences with proper use of a comma (,).
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1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
I have not noticed it, by my gender, but in a new buys I check it.
2. How often do you shop?
Depends of products, beauty products or hygiene product mountly, food weekly.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
Yes, I prefer the brands that use natural products like aloe vera, herbs,… and with recyclable recipients.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
The cheap brands or products are OK for me, I think when you not know the brand or the product and you need chose one of two the first notable difference between it is the price.
Good work with your answers. Thanks for writing them down.
Take a look at a better way to write this sentence:
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1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
I believe that our needs like consumers mark the prices of the products but I believe that the gender is one of the less important variables. If a woman will pay more than a man for a product, the companies will make all that they can for differentiate their products for women, but also in the case for men, they will want differentiate products more expensives for them.
2. How often do you shop?
I shop when i need the product or the service, it´s very often for basic necessities but not so often for another products, clothes, technical products.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
Yes, I prefer trust brands, the reputation of brands means that the product and the social impact is measured and usually the quality and buying experience are better (technical services, rebates, etc.)
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
In general, the quality is a very important factor for me but the price is very important too. I want a good relation betwen quality and cost, my shopping may not be the most cheap but it will be conformed with my requeriments and needs. Obviusly some products will be more expensive because I need a good quality or because I prefer an especific brand.
You are improving one entry at a time so keep at it.
Here is a better way to write this one:
Just keep practicing.
1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
I’d not never thought it was like this. I thought that the articles cost for their qualities and not if they are for men or women.
2. How often do you shop?
One times per month
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
Not always. If I buy clothes, I choose which I like more or fit to me better. I could choose certain brand in other items for their quality such as beauty products or food.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
I feel very happy when I buy high quality at cheap price. I like the quality and the brands, but sometimes I don’t like to pay the double to get them.
Good job writing your answers. Keep going with your practice to develop your skills further.
Here’s a better way of writing this response:
Until your next entry!
1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
I don’t know, I’ve never paid attention to this fact, maybe because I’m a man and I’m not sensitive about this situation
2. How often do you shop?
Not too much, just occasionally. At home we have divided housework, I am responsible for cleaning and my wife for shopping.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
Always, I consider myself a brand buyer. The brands give me more confidence in terms of product quality, social responsibility, and after-sales service. Some distribution brand products are of poorer quality and are obtained without paying a fair wage to the workers and companies that produce them.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
I prefer to pay for quality products. Cheap is often expensive. The product life is shorter, or you have problems with the product that are difficult to solve and poor after-sales service
You wrote your answers well.
Just take a look at how the following sentences can be revised:
Cheers to your next entries!
1. Yes, there is usually a difference between articles for men and women, each time in Spain it seems that less but in general, yes.
2.It depends on what, I don’t really like to buy. Clothes once every 3 months or so. Personal care, about once every two months.
3. No, I prefer to focus on whether it is to my taste or the quality, or how it fits. With brands, you usually pay more to wear the name, but sometimes, the quality-price does not correspond.
4. It depends. If the brand is good and meets the needs of what I am looking for in what I buy, I prefer the brand, but if I do not have good references about it, or I have already tried it and I do not like it, I prefer to compare with other similar products in cheap brands .
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1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive?
Yes, different studies have concluded that this affirmation is true. The “gender tax” is a reality.
You can find this tax applied in different products, the babies clothes is a sample of it. the cost for babies boy clothes is different that for a baby girl. This last is more expensive.
Also you find this tax in products dedicated to female public, made to create artificial needs in this group. For example yogurts, differents type of cereals, food specifically for care female that help to digestive. But, I say, is not true that having a health diet you can control this? and you do not need special products. The market create needs false, and we believe this.
Or as the article of this class says “simply because they are pink”, beauty products anti aging creams, care of hair, between other.
2. How often do you shop?
Generally I don´t buy products that are affected for this gender tax. for example, I need a razor, I go and buy any razor not specifically for women; I thing that if it doing the same I don´t need a razor pink for use.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Elaborate.
No, I don´t have prefer brands; but is true that I prefer quality clothes or quality shoes because I usually use them for a long time.
I am not a person that is good for buy or that I like go to the shopping, so when I buy anything is thinking that it will be useful for a long time.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain.
I prefer Quality over quantity. For example, I don´t like the clothes made with sintetic materials or polyester. I don´t like the sensation in the body with this materials, I prefer cotton 100 percent.
So I prefer to have little clothes, shoes, or whatever and feel my self confort.
Thank you for sharing your answers to our questions once again. Good job!
See how you can better write this sentence:
1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive? Yes, i’m quite sure. You can see this difference in clothes.
2. How often do you shop? Onsite shopping, maybe once per week (groceries). Online shopping i don’t want to know but maybe one or two per week.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Yes. Why or why not? Sometimes the brand marks the difference, between a good quality product and the low ones. But not in all cases. It’s important to know what brands invest more resources to develope quality and when they’re putting all their efforts in marketing to sell their products.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? Explain. I always try to buy best quality items, you’re spending money so I need to be sure that this money is well spent.
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Take a look at how you can improve this sentence:
Here’s more future entries from you!
1. I’ve never noted the ‘gender tax’ because I didn’t pay much attention but I think it’s very possible women are paying more for things than men.
2. I usually go to the supermarket once per week and I go to clothe shops less frenquely.
3. It is true that the certain brands significally increase the price of the products maybe because a higher quality in the material. However, I think that is not the reason for all the cases. I normally avoid to buy certain brands’ products.
4. Personally, cheap products can be useless in a short time. They tend to stop working or to loose some propeties easier thant high-quality goods.
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1. Do you believe that items for women are more expensive? I’m not sure about that, because I don’t compare prices between male and female items.
2. How often do you shop? I don’t go shopping to much. Mayby once or twice each tree months.
3. Do you prefer certain brands when you go shopping? Why or why not? Not Expecially. I always look for price and quality relationship, not for name or fashion brands.
4. Are you particular when it comes to quality, or are you okay with buying cheap items? It depends on the typoe of product. For Example, in technology or cars I look for quality, but for clothes I’m ok with cheap items.
Thank you so much for taking the time answering our questions for this lesson. You’re doing a good job.
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