By Anne McEwen
It costs more to be a woman. Between more expensive haircuts, clothing and dry cleaning, everyday costs for women are greater than those for men.
But all that might change if the Ontario legislature passes a private members’ bill outlawing gender-based pricing.
“The Bill, if passed, will prevent businesses such as dry cleaners, hairdressers, retailers and others from charging different prices based on whether the person is a man or a woman,” states Lorenzo Berardinetti, in a press release.
Berardinetti is the Scarborough South Liberal MPP who is presenting the bill.
But Centretown businesses that would be affected say it’s not gender-based pricing, it’s fair pricing.
“There are no women’s prices and men’s prices,” says Arif Mohamed, owner of One Hour Cleaners on Albert at Bank.
“If the service is different the price is different.”
He says distinctions in prices are based on the different amounts of time and effort it takes to clean different garments.
“A woman’s blouse is not made the same as a men’s shirt,” Mohamed says.
While a man’s shirt may take three minutes to finish on a machine presser, a women’s fitted blouse will take 10 minutes of hand-pressing. This is why a man’s shirt can be laundered and pressed for around $3 while women’s blouse prices start at around $6, says Mohamed. All other garments cost the same for both sexes, including suits.
The prices at other cleaners are comparable, including Ottawa’s Browns Cleaners who charge $2.95 for a men’s cotton shirt and $6 dollars for a women’s cotton blouse.
If the gender-based pricing legislation passes, Mohamed says he would have to raise the price of men’s shirts rather than lower the cost for blouses.
David Hillary, owner of Hillary’s Cleaners, has been in the dry cleaning business for 55 years and says the proposed legislation is “ridiculous.”
“This gender thing is getting out of control,” he says.
Hillary’s processes more than 10,000 shirts a week and less than one per cent of those are women’s shirts. Like Mohamed, Hillary says he charges more for women’s blouses because more work is required and machines can’t do the work.
Hillary says he has heard very few complaints about the different prices for blouses and shirts. He adds that, after explaining the different service needed for the two pieces of clothing, customers are usually understanding. It’s the effect of the legislation on hairdressing that Hillary says makes him “want to throw up.”
With men’s barbershop cuts ranging between $12 and $20 and women’s cuts costing $20 at a bare minimum, the cost of a haircut is probably the most noticeable difference between men’s and women’s pricing for the average consumer.
Lucy Didomenico has been a hairdresser for more than 50 years — first in Milan, Italy and now at her salon on Slater Street. She says the legislation does not respect the work of hairdressers. “I think it’s really wrong.”
Like the dry cleaners, Didomenico says different services necessitate different prices. “Women’s hair takes a lot more skill,” she says, adding that women are generally pickier about the final result. Men’s haircuts, on the other hand, usually don’t require as much precision or styling. For services requiring salon products, such as highlights, men’s styles are shorter and require less product, which Didomenico says merits a lower price.
An employee of Somerset Hair Salon echoes Didomenico’s comment. “Equal pay for equal work,” she says.
While men are fine with a quick shampoo and then a cut with an electric razor, women want styling and attention to detail. Currently, women are charged the “men’s rate” of $20 if they only want a shampoo and cut. The employee says she will refuse to charge her male clients the same as female clients who get more time with her. “That wouldn’t be fair,” she says.
Private members’ Bill 182, “an Act to prohibit price discrimination on the basis of gender,” will be debated in the Ontario Legislature April 14. Although private members’ bills are rarely passed, Berardinetti’s bill has garnered much public attention and debate.
If the bill passes, Ontarians who feel they have been a victim of gender-based pricing could file a complaint under the Ontario Human Rights Commission code.
Businesses would be charged $2,000 for a first offence of pricing based on gender and $5,000 for subsequent offences.