June 20, 2023 • 36 mins
The pink tax is a form of gender discrimination that can cost women an average of $1,400 a year. In this episode, host Roy Wood Jr. sits down with correspondent Desi Lydic, segment director Stacey Angeles, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier to discuss why the pink tax exists and how it impacts women’s wallets. Representative Speier even gives Roy a few examples of everyday female products that cost more than those marketed to men.
Watch the original segment: https://youtu.be/As2p2vsdrfk
Originally aired: March 8, 2022
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, welcome to Beyond the Scenes. This is the podcast.
It goes deeper into segments that originally aired on The
Daily Show, like be honest, scenes this this is what
you think about this podcast. This is what this podcast is.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Like.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
All right, Like you have a party. You go to
the party, it's a good party. After that party, you
go to the hotel lobby and there's like at four
o'clock in the morning, eating greasy food. You're eating waffle house,
You're telling all your deep dark secret. Somebody start tworking
on top of the piano. Then the hotel manager come
over and be like, how many of y'all actually stay
at this hotel? And me be like, shit, yo hate nas.
So then the police show. That's basically what this podcast is.
(00:43):
We're the party that happens after the original party. That
is the Daily Show. I'm Roy Wood Jr. Today we're
gonna be talking about the pink tax and the outside
costs of just being a woman. Splayer clipp Being.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
A woman can cost apparently an average of fourteen hundred
dollars a year thanks to gender price discrimination.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
If you're a woman, just about everything cost you more
than similar products marketed for men.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It's called the pink tas research has shown women pay
more than men forty two percent of the time. In fact,
a recent study shows that starts from the time you
were born until the day you die.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Today, I'm joined by Daily Show correspondent Desi Lighting and
segment director Stacey Angele's, who both created this segment for
the show. Ladies.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Hello, Hi Roy, Hello Roy joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Also, we are very lucky to have Congresswoman Jackie Spear,
who was in the original piece with Desi, and this
congresswoman has been fighting gender discrimination for twenty thirty years.
Congresswoman Spear, welcome to beyond the scenes.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
It is my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, thank you for letting me be a man in
this woman's central time.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Too bad.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
We don't rule the world though, just because we're ruling
this particular pood.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
That's the problem. We're not ruling the world yet.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I would be honest. I felt uncomfortable hosting this episode.
I was like, DESI need to guess host. I don't
want to get in trouble.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
You're doing great, Roy.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Okay, Before we do anything, we have to define what
the issue is. So Desi Stacy, let's start off off
the top. What is the pink tax.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well, the pink tax refers to the markup on goods
and services that are specifically being targeted to women.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
In gender price discrimination.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So, Roy, you everything you buy is cheaper than the
same products we want to buy.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay. So if we both bought deodorant and your mine
is Man deoderant and yours is Woman deodorant, same brand,
you're paying more than me, is what you're saying, Stacey.
Speaker 6 (02:44):
It's more expensive for us to smell good than for you.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Which is why Stacy and I refuse to smell good.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, you're lucky. This is on zoom. Roy, you don't
want to smell.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
This, Okay, let us back in the studio.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yes, okay, nothing to do with COVID.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So Congresswoman, congress Woman, I'm sorry. I apologize for both
of them. Why does the pink tax exist? And more importantly,
how do manufacturers and retailers justify this tax?
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Well, the pink tax exists because it's a form of
gender discrimination.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
It's not just about pink.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
It's about the fact that women's products cost more than
men's products when they are basically identical. It is important
for us to address this because as we all know,
women still make less than men. For every dollar a
man earns, a woman makes eighty two cents. If you
(03:45):
look at women of color, it's even more egregious. And
that's real money when everything is said and done.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Are there other examples of this other than deodorant? Kids?
And I'll be honest, as a man, this isn't something
that you would normally think about, because you're not buying
a lot of women's items unless you're a committed strong
man in a relationship like I am, So you're not
aware of this. Give me what other items other than
de yodoran? I have heard that women get worse deals
(04:13):
on cars.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
But let me give you some products that kind of
make the case. All right, Okay, so this is Dove
deodorant for men and women. And as you can see here,
for a four pack, a woman's going to pay nineteen
dollars and thirty nine cents. The man's going to pay
thirteen dollars and fifty eight cents.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
That's just deodor Let's move on.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
How about probiotics for women thirty two seventy nine, twenty
two seventy nine for a man?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
All right? This like the price is right let me
guess that is the.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Price is wrong though, that's the problem, always wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So the price is right needs to have a gender
separate episode.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Maybe so huh So look at this. These are bibs, right,
bibs for boys, bibs for girls. A dollar more for
the girl's bibs.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Now wait, there's more, what there's more?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Oh my god?
Speaker 5 (05:05):
These are kids diapers, the kids diapers, thirty seven dollars
for the girl, thirty three dollars for the boy.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
But I'll show you the same discrimination.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
A dips that's not and boys have more happening to
fill out diaper space, so really square footage, it should
cost more for the men, right, but probably.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Because they need more absorbents. They need more absorbent material,
so it's just right more right?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:32):
Now, we did this same study two or three years ago,
and they were egregious around children's toys. So I had
my interns do this just this week and this is
what they found online at retailers throughout the country.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
So this is up to date, current. So what are
we going to do about it?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
How does price discrimination add another layer to the wage
inequality that women also deal with?
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Well, it's yet another blow Oh, when I did the
service review in nineteen ninety six, we've found out through
the Assembly Office of Research in California that women were
paying fourteen hundred dollars in a gender tax every year,
more than men. So imagine, on top of the fact
(06:18):
that we're in a seat a she session, not a recession.
More women are out of work than men. And there's
one point three million women who have left the workforce
since COVID hit and have not returned, in part because.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Of the lack of childcare.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
This number is the highest number of women not employed
since nineteen ninety one. So you couple that with women
out of work, women getting paid less than men, and
on top of that products and services are costing them more.
There ought to be a law, and that's why I've
introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act and we have fifty
(06:55):
one co sponsors on it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Now, this issue, this pink tax issue, when we talk
about the say the word.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Again, a she session, A she session, I like it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Does this she session strike women equally or even within
that is their additional inequities based on race?
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Oh, no question, it's more egregious for women of color,
African American women Latino women and the amount of loss
and income is the greatest for Latina women.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So your pink tax repeal at it's bipartisan and basically
we're trying to get all of these manufacturers and retailers
on the same plane to basically say, if it's something
as simple as deodorant and it both keep both of
y'all from being musty, it should be the same price.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
That's right, unless you can I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Sure it's not worded like that. I'm sure you worded
it more professionally. You probably said FTC and Attorney General
and you use a lot of other oper words.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
We did use more upper words to basically say, if
you don't play by these rules, you're going to be sued.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
And so then the bill has forty eight co sponsors
right now. Has there been any pushback that you've seen
so far on your proposal?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
The numbers have grown, it's now at fifty one. I've
talked to the chairwoman of the subcommittee. She loves the bill,
and we're going to have a hearing on it and
hopefully get it to the House floor within the next
few months. And we can credit you with helping me
get it over the top.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Daisy, no credit here, no credit here?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
What role can consumers play in provoking change? And by consumers,
I mean men, we're the problem.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
You are the problem.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Well, the problem is that it's not illegal in most
states to charge more for services based on gender or
charge more for products. Should not be discriminating on goods
and services based on gender. It should be based on
the time it takes to do a service and what's
in the product. Women pay about forty percent more to
(09:13):
get their haircut than men do, and they pay about
sixty percent more at the dry cleaners for the same
service for the same item, and then for car repairs
they pay about thirty percent more. Now in California, back
in the nineties, I had legislation Paths that was signed
into law that said for services, you had to base
(09:33):
it not on gender, but on the amount of time
it takes to provide that service. For instance, I timed
the last time I got my haircut. It took ten minutes,
and I watched a man getting his haircut and it
took longer. So if we do base it on time,
then I think you're going to see the tables turned
(09:54):
a little bit and then there'll be an outcry from
you guys because you're going to be paying more for
your two dollars dry cleaning shirt.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
When would you say that you all were first aware
of a pink tax existing, because you know, you got
to figure you have a little bit of a blind
spot to certain inequities, and then one day you just go,
wait a minute. When was When was your wait a
minute moment? Congresswoman, I start with you.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
It was when I took my husband's Oxford shirt shirts
to the dry cleaner and they were, you know, a
dollar fifty a shirt, and my Oxford shirt costs you know,
three fifty or four dollars.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That's when I thought, wait a minute, something's wrong here.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I can remember when I first started shaving my legs
around six seven years old. I was a very hairy child. No,
I was thirteen, twelve, thirteen somewhere around there, and my
mom bought me a razor and some shaving cream, and
I remember the Gillette razor being considerably more expensive than
(10:58):
what men use, and my mom refusing to buy me
that razor and also bought me a can of barbasol,
like the old school men's shaving cream. And so when
I shave my legs. I use like, I just use
this stuff for men, and I still, if I'm being honest,
I still have an affinity for the smell of barbisol.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
That's why I just never shaved my legs. Mine was.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I went through a terrible phase where I had well
called pixie haircut to be nice about it, and I
went to a hair salon and the girl's haircuts were
like about twenty thirty dollars more and I was like, why,
I'm literally getting the same haircut as that guy in
the chair And I just at the time thought that
they were just a really like sexist hair place, and
(11:45):
they were like, oh, well women, you know you guys
have more layers. I'm like, it's the exact same haircut.
And then it wasn't until I went to your office
and I was ashamed. I was like, oh my god,
this is a thing, like another thing to add on
top of everything else.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
So you opened my eyes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Congresswoman good.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
We want to open the eyes of both men and
women in this country to recognize that this is another
form of discrimination that we've got to stamp out.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Well, Congress Armone, I know we don't have a lot
of time with you and I want you to be
able to get back into those halls of justice and
fight with all of those idiots that you see on
the floor every day. Yes, I know that. You know,
after about four decades in public service in the form
of politics, you've made the decision to retire. So you
(12:31):
know in your own words, you know, just tell us
what's next for you? What does retirement look because I'm
always I feel like people who are four people and
who fight for the people.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
You don't turn that off, That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Look, I have buddies that are retired firefighters and now
they train firefighters. There's still something else that they do
that's adjacent to helping people. So what does retirement look
like for you? Have you decided that with the next
four decades is going to be.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Well, I don't know exactly, but all I'm doing is
going home because I made a commitment to my husband
that I would spend more time at home. So I'm
going to continue to be engaged, use my voice. I
want to start a nonprofit foundation for the region in
which I live, and I want to continue to give back,
(13:19):
so I will continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Well, Congress from and Spirit, thank you so much for
going beyond the scenes with us, and I'll be sending
you an email. I have some discount deodorant that I
will be more than happy to sell you.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Dare you.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I'll send you some of that pink stuff that I have.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Okay, fair enough?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Great to be with you than you. Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
So after the break, Deasie and Stacey and I would
like to talk more about how this segment came together.
This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back home, Daisy, Stacy,
walk me through how this piece came to be. Because
the congresswoman is presenting a whole bunch of different stuff
and y'all only have four minutes, maybe five and a
(14:10):
half to down this issue. How can you break down
centuries of inequality against the woman in five minutes?
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Get ready to feel bad about yourself? Roy, get ready?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
How does piece come to be? Just walk me through
the germination of it in the building.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Well, Stacey and I were making a special for Comedy
Central called DESI lightic Abroad. You can find it on
Paramount Plus. Stream it now anytime you feel like getting
out of your living room traveling the world.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Plays better now than it did, and things are still
just as bad as they were when we filmed it,
so it's still totally relevant.
Speaker 6 (14:53):
Yay.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Anyway, and Congresswoman's Spear was kind enough to talk to
us for the special, and I think we only had
like you said, we only had a few minutes of
time with her, not only to shoot but in the
actual piece itself, and she was able to beautifully shed
a light on all of the discrimination that women face
when it comes to wage inequality and healthcare. But one
(15:18):
thing that came up when we sat down and spoke
with her is the pink tax. And we definitely talked
about it a little bit in that interview, but there
just wasn't enough time. So Stacy and I felt like
we really wanted to do a bigger piece on it,
so she was kind enough with her time to give
us a whole other interview, So we went back to
DC and did an entire piece on the pink tax.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I mean, in her office had all those products, so
I didn't even know that it existed, and I just
remember like that kind of overshadowed what we were there
to talk about. Not really, but it was just like
we just didn't know, and we were both very outraged
about it.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
And we just exchanged a glance.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
We're like, we're going to do a segment on this,
something on this Yeah, it's one of them.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
DESI trying to flip a table.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Well I did. I did slip the table. I pulled
my back and it hasn't been the same since. But
I destroyed some furniture.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
She couldn't use ointment on her back because it costs
more for a woman than it did a man.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
So she's exactly No. It was one of those things
where like, as a woman, you notice small things that
come up, like, oh, why is that so much more
expensive than this one? Oh well, I guess I'll just
buy the men's version. Or why am I paying three
dollars more for my husband's shirt set the dry cleaners
than my own? Oh well, I guess I just will
boycott dry cleaning Now. Little things like that, you clock.
(16:37):
But we didn't realize how huge the issue was until
she really pointed it out.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Stacey in the building. For the listeners who don't know this,
you are like, there's two types of segment directors. They're
the people who go, Okay, what's the story and how
do we make this funny? And then they are the
people that are more lighthearted and go funny. How do
I keep this funny? There's too much sad shit in
(17:07):
my funny. Oh no, I've got to add more sad
shit to my Why.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
I'm not getting in care all of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
No, this isn't a bad thing because it's it's the
balance and it's just cereal. It's it's cereal and milk.
Some people put milk in the bowl first, then the cereal.
Some people put you get what I'm saying, nice, what
savages savages.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Cereal.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
There's people out there who do it.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Now, there's only one way to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
At the end of the day, it's still a bowl
of cereal. It's my point. And to me, you have
a different approach from a lot of the other segment directors.
So how do you navigate the seriousness of a topic
with humor? Like, how are you able to balance that?
Speaker 6 (17:50):
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I hope I balance it, but with for this particular segment.
I think one of the good things about working with
DESI is we both have an absurd to humor. I
think we bonded over our love for like Naked Gun
and Airplane, and we've pitched a lot of ideas i'd
always get shut down. And I think one of the
vehicles I'd like to use to tell a series story
(18:11):
is like kind of showing it in an absurd way
to get the point across ups, not just like statistics
and facts and whatever.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
So we were like, let's show away.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That there's this gender price discrimination by maybe going to
a store and kind.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Of wait in a store. Was the store open or
did we rent out the store? And we just shot
in a store.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
We can't afford that.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Yeah, I mean, we don't even get crafty.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
We have to like, you know, sneaking corn nuts in
the stock room. Now it was fully open. We were
dodging customers.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
I mean it was fun. I'm running.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Me and the t He went down one aisle because
we were scouting the aisle.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
We're like, oh, let's do this here.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
And then there was like a lady shopping for like
canned peas and you're just taking her time. We're like, okay, fine,
we'll go to another aisle. And we just had to
keep working around the customers and.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
How we do it. It's how we do it at
the day. Don't not like you've never shaved your legs
in the middle of a grocery store before.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Oh, of course, of course.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Yeah, and so yeah, it was just fun. And then
you know, Dessie and I work. I mean, her ideas
are just as serve as mine.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We just piggyback off and like take it to this
extreme place where hopefully it goes and you know, we
just do it till.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
They shut us down. And we thought, let's just.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Do it in a way where we go to the
grocery store and DESI investigates it. I don't really know
what their justification of you, like sneaking around it was, Oh,
because you weren't paying for it.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
You weren't going to pay for.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It, so right, I had to go very incognito almost Yeah,
real investigative work. Well, I think that's the thing that
makes us laugh so hard, is like us taking our
jobs way too seriously. So anytime we have an opportunity
for me to just take my job too seriously and
not do it that, well, we commit a thousand percent.
(19:59):
But Stay is one of my absolute all time favorite
directors to work with. She no, you really like you.
She's so good at not only being a collaborator, but
what you said, like Stacy's excellent at knowing how to
tell a story clearly, including all the facts, making sure
(20:20):
that there's an arc to it, making sure that we're
we're telling the full picture, but also making it really funny.
And then she also has a really unique visual comedy brain,
so she tries to direct the pieces in a way
where she's she gets creative and finds new ways to
tell the story that didn't exist to begin.
Speaker 6 (20:40):
Oh my god, you guys, stop, it's true truth.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Like your mind works in a different way to get
to the same bowl of cereal, y'all. I had a
game show in the middle.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Of like yeah, where no one wins, men win as
displayed and some of these products we have with us
today and a game we call.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I mean Doessie and I just again, like without trying
to be preachy, we just try to put it in
a fun package that can like kind of speed it up.
Because also we have to, like we have that time
challenge where we have to make it as interesting as
possible and give as much information as possible in like
a short window of time.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
So we're like, why don't we do a because you.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Kind of automatically go to the prices, right, you know,
mindset when you're doing this, and so I think it
was a collaboration between both of us because Jackie Congressoman
Jackie Spear wanted to show off all the products.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Thirty four dollars, two forty four dollars. Oh great, So
while your little girl is learning how to walk, she'll
also learn how to navigate the system that's exploiting her.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Sorry, these are two children's snarkles.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Eight eighty four sixteen twenty two for the pink, So
women literally have to pay more to breathe.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Sorry if I just love Dozie's graphic case going sorry
in between all the products.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
This is where you're so good though, because like anything
where it's like data heavy or number heavy or too
much information, Stacy always comes up with a way to
get it out quickly and efficiently in a really fun
visual way.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Thank you Grank very much for saying that.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Is there anything Dosie that got cut that you wish
had made it? There's always one joke for a correspondence,
there's always one joke we go, come on, man, you
cut that?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
And this time.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
There were so there were two dumb one of it.
This was a brilliant visual gag that Stacy came up with.
We're in the grocery store. I was like army, crawling
on my elbow on the floor, like chin almost to
the grocery store floor. This was clearly before COVID, and
it was so dumb. But we we did so much
(22:51):
foot of footage of that, and just because of the
fact that we spent I spent so much time on
that floor, I thought, well, this should make it in
the piece.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
It was even rolling. I wasn't even to see if
she would do that.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
And then the other day, do you do you remember
sitting down with Ryan, the economy professor, and for some
reason we discovered this like flirtation that I had with
him where I was suddenly in love with him. In
the middle of the piece, we had this weird runner
where I kept like under my breath telling him that
I loved him, I loved going to do with anything.
(23:26):
But I think it wound up. It was like it
remained in the first two or three cuts because we
just found it so dumb. And at a certain point
I think people were like, that's not what this piece
is about. Your love for this man is not.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
It's not gonna make.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
It, Dozsi.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I would say, Also, almost every time Dosy does her
own stunt work. She puts her heart and soul into it,
and it always gets cut. She'll be like, there's a
there's one thing we did where she fell into a
bunch of trash bags, I think a needle poked whatever.
And then also in the grocery store, you were testing
out razor scooters and you knock down paper towels, which
(24:05):
we immediately felt bad. We had to stack back up
afterwards because we didn't want.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
To like, Oh no, I forgot about that.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Yeah, there's a lot of struction, believe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So the pink tax starts at an early age, infancy
even and you all are parents, you know, Stacey, you're
a new mother. Have you noticed the difference between boys
and toys, like, because I'm sure you've bought toys for
the people's children. Yeah, Daisy has a son, you like,
(24:37):
have you noticed have you started noticing the pink tax
and the prevalence of it even at such a young age,
even with a Bye Bye Baby fifteen percent off coupon
I did get.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
In the email every single day. It's a large you
say that you need I know that's true.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I didn't start paying attention to this stuff till we
did this segment, and so now I'm.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Like very aware of it.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And I would say for the mos was part like
all those toys, which, by the way, it's just rip
off of an industry, but it's a separate piece. The everything,
for the most part, seems to be equal. But there
was this one kid's activity gym. I don't even know
why they called a gym, like those you know, the
stupid things they lay on with all those crap hanging.
Speaker 6 (25:16):
And there was one, yeah, and they there was one
that was like.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
A very stereotypical pink with like unicorns, that was like
a couple of dollars more than the mail version. It's
just a couple of dollars, but still it's the principle
of it. And I like the other one better, but
it's I've noticed it in that and also another another
like one of those crop what are those crinkly toys?
A couple of those same Yeah, I don't know. Those
(25:41):
sensory things.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
I'm still learning. I'm still very new. I don't know
what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
But I call the poppers the poppers.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Poppers is that we call the poppers.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I'm going to call them that from I've seen those.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
I don't even know what that is.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
No, I was talking about the crinkly paper things for
the sensory things when start.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
To grab crap whatever.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Oh, I know what is that? I don't hang on.
It's a popp it.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
It's just I don't understand just what is it?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, it's just holes and you just pop little.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Just like the new slat bracelet from the eighties.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I don't this popping for a boy costs four dollars
for a girl ninety seven dollars.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
What else?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
I believe it just.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
This basketball for a boy thirty seven cents for a
girl nine hundred dollars. I'd love doing this show in
my son's room.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
He's so fused. I just like, got it, give me
my toys.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Roy's going around telling people that he's buying his son poppers.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I'm like, after the break, I want to talk a
little bit about solutions and ways that we can try
and bring about change to the pink tax. I know
that the congresswoman is doing her part, but we won't
also talk about some of the market in the strategy
and how retailers have been able to pull this off.
This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back. Welcome
(27:07):
back to beyond the scenes as we bring this conversation
about the pink tax home, the pink tax where women
need equality on the cost of goods and services in
spite of the fact that eventually men pay for the
dates and y'all get in free for ladies night and
the strangers at a bar, and that saves you a
(27:29):
lot of money, Yet you steal, won't How hilarious would
that be if that had been my position with the congresswoman.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Oh, I'm like where hell well, she just takes her
DJ headphones off, slams and it's like, yore.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
We didn't have enough time. Winner. But I seriously, with
a straight face, I was just gonna ask a congress congresswoman,
do women getting in free for ladies night offset some
of these things that you say are inequities?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yeah? How about all the doors I've opened?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
How fucking hilarious would that have been? But we did
not have time.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Get her back, get her back on the phone, get
her back, let's get her back.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
So does And the thingece you'd talk about the term
pink it and shrink it, What is this pink it
and shrink it marketing strategy and why is it problematic?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Well, contrary to the there's a common misconception that that
is just the surgery that a woman has to rejuvenate
post birth. It is not that it is actually pink
it or shrink it, pinke it and shrink it. Yeah,
it's actually, from what I understand, a marketing term when
you take an item that is made for men or
(28:47):
a gender neutral item, and you shrink it down to
the size for a woman, and you make it pink
specifically to market it to women. So essentially it should
cost less, but inevitably it costs more.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
So we literally just go, oh, it's for ladies. Look
it's in a pink box and smaller, and we're gonna
charge you more. Should we move more towards gender neutral products?
What's the solution to this stacy?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I mean, I think it's crazy that congress Woman's been
fighting this for decades and there's still I mean, when
Desie and I were trying to think of like a
way to come up with a solution to this, we
were like people were saying, why don't you just buy
the mail version?
Speaker 6 (29:28):
And then Desy.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Does that beautiful long you zoom in shot where you're like, oh, sure,
it's just another thing to add on to all the
obstacles we have to do to be a woman. And
for me that speech you give is like the thesis
of this whole thing.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
How can women afford to live in this world?
Speaker 6 (29:46):
If the man's version is cheaper, then just buy that one.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, sure, if you think about it, it's just one
extra step and a series of extra steps that women
take every day to thrive in a man's world, Like
how we get up a little extra early every morning
to put on an outfit that books professional yet accessible
but not too accessible because we don't want to be
taken advantage of. Or how we walk an extra five
blocks to work so that we can avoid the construction
(30:09):
zone because men like to tell us to smile more.
And when we get to work, we want to make
our voices heard, but in a way that's helpful and
strong without being overbearing or shrill. You know, we do
all of this.
Speaker 7 (30:21):
Without even an ounce of resentment, because resentment causes wrinkles
and society does not value aging women. Is there a
men's wrinkle cream that you can recommend?
Speaker 6 (30:33):
Yes, there are several, Sure, it costs less, maybe a little.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
To me, that was the most important part of the segment,
and DESI did it all in one freaking take.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
Beautiful.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
She looked like she was crying inside as she was
doing it, because as you should. When we were talking
to people, they were all like, just buy the man's pack,
just buy the man's product.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
It's like, no, that's not the point.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Women often do you have to take extra steps throughout
the day just because they're a woman, and so this
shouldn't be one extra step that they have to take.
I don't know what the solution is, but it should
not be one more thing for a woman to have
to go out of her way to do.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
People just stop being assholes. Just let us all be equals.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Stop over pricing stacy in three sentences or less. Solve
economic sexism.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Please, ready goes, I'll do it in one second. No,
I don't stop.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Stop doing it, guys, to stop, make it quit, make
it stop.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Maybe a simple solution is all of the goods that
charge more for women's versions of the product. Maybe in
the male versions of the commercials, maybe there's just like
a woman that just pops up in the middle of it,
so that we can make these products more gender neutral
because commercials are very gender divisive. Yeah, you know, like
if you look at like a raisins the gillet raise
(31:54):
and you can shave you like the blade comes out
the lava and the god grabs it and then just
shave your face and then just have a woman's head
pop in and women too. That's all the time we
have for today. Thank you very much to our guest
Jazzy Ladick, Stacy Angels, and Congresswoman Jackie Spear for taking
(32:16):
us beyond the scenes. Listen to The Daily Show Beyond
the Scenes on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Hey, welcome to Beyond the Scenes. This is the podcast.
It goes deeper into segments that originally aired on The
Daily Show, like be honest, scenes this this is what
you think about this podcast. This is what this podcast is.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Like.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
All right, Like you have a party. You go to
the party, it's a good party. After that party, you
go to the hotel lobby and there's like at four
o'clock in the morning, eating greasy food. You're eating waffle house,
You're telling all your deep dark secret. Somebody start tworking
on top of the piano. Then the hotel manager come
over and be like, how many of y'all actually stay
at this hotel? And me be like, shit, yo hate nas.
So then the police show. That's basically what this podcast is.
(00:43):
We're the party that happens after the original party. That
is the Daily Show. I'm Roy Wood Jr. Today we're
gonna be talking about the pink tax and the outside
costs of just being a woman. Splayer clipp Being.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
A woman can cost apparently an average of fourteen hundred
dollars a year thanks to gender price discrimination.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
If you're a woman, just about everything cost you more
than similar products marketed for men.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It's called the pink tas research has shown women pay
more than men forty two percent of the time. In fact,
a recent study shows that starts from the time you
were born until the day you die.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Today, I'm joined by Daily Show correspondent Desi Lighting and
segment director Stacey Angele's, who both created this segment for
the show. Ladies.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Hello, Hi Roy, Hello Roy joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Also, we are very lucky to have Congresswoman Jackie Spear,
who was in the original piece with Desi, and this
congresswoman has been fighting gender discrimination for twenty thirty years.
Congresswoman Spear, welcome to beyond the scenes.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
It is my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, thank you for letting me be a man in
this woman's central time.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Too bad.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
We don't rule the world though, just because we're ruling
this particular pood.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
That's the problem. We're not ruling the world yet.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I would be honest. I felt uncomfortable hosting this episode.
I was like, DESI need to guess host. I don't
want to get in trouble.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
You're doing great, Roy.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Okay, Before we do anything, we have to define what
the issue is. So Desi Stacy, let's start off off
the top. What is the pink tax.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well, the pink tax refers to the markup on goods
and services that are specifically being targeted to women.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
In gender price discrimination.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So, Roy, you everything you buy is cheaper than the
same products we want to buy.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay. So if we both bought deodorant and your mine
is Man deoderant and yours is Woman deodorant, same brand,
you're paying more than me, is what you're saying, Stacey.
Speaker 6 (02:44):
It's more expensive for us to smell good than for you.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Which is why Stacy and I refuse to smell good.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, you're lucky. This is on zoom. Roy, you don't
want to smell.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
This, Okay, let us back in the studio.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yes, okay, nothing to do with COVID.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So Congresswoman, congress Woman, I'm sorry. I apologize for both
of them. Why does the pink tax exist? And more importantly,
how do manufacturers and retailers justify this tax?
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Well, the pink tax exists because it's a form of
gender discrimination.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
It's not just about pink.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
It's about the fact that women's products cost more than
men's products when they are basically identical. It is important
for us to address this because as we all know,
women still make less than men. For every dollar a
man earns, a woman makes eighty two cents. If you
(03:45):
look at women of color, it's even more egregious. And
that's real money when everything is said and done.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Are there other examples of this other than deodorant? Kids?
And I'll be honest, as a man, this isn't something
that you would normally think about, because you're not buying
a lot of women's items unless you're a committed strong
man in a relationship like I am, So you're not
aware of this. Give me what other items other than
de yodoran? I have heard that women get worse deals
(04:13):
on cars.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
But let me give you some products that kind of
make the case. All right, Okay, so this is Dove
deodorant for men and women. And as you can see here,
for a four pack, a woman's going to pay nineteen
dollars and thirty nine cents. The man's going to pay
thirteen dollars and fifty eight cents.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
That's just deodor Let's move on.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
How about probiotics for women thirty two seventy nine, twenty
two seventy nine for a man?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
All right? This like the price is right let me
guess that is the.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Price is wrong though, that's the problem, always wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So the price is right needs to have a gender
separate episode.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Maybe so huh So look at this. These are bibs, right,
bibs for boys, bibs for girls. A dollar more for
the girl's bibs.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Now wait, there's more, what there's more?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Oh my god?
Speaker 5 (05:05):
These are kids diapers, the kids diapers, thirty seven dollars
for the girl, thirty three dollars for the boy.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
But I'll show you the same discrimination.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
A dips that's not and boys have more happening to
fill out diaper space, so really square footage, it should
cost more for the men, right, but probably.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Because they need more absorbents. They need more absorbent material,
so it's just right more right?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:32):
Now, we did this same study two or three years ago,
and they were egregious around children's toys. So I had
my interns do this just this week and this is
what they found online at retailers throughout the country.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
So this is up to date, current. So what are
we going to do about it?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
How does price discrimination add another layer to the wage
inequality that women also deal with?
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Well, it's yet another blow Oh, when I did the
service review in nineteen ninety six, we've found out through
the Assembly Office of Research in California that women were
paying fourteen hundred dollars in a gender tax every year,
more than men. So imagine, on top of the fact
(06:18):
that we're in a seat a she session, not a recession.
More women are out of work than men. And there's
one point three million women who have left the workforce
since COVID hit and have not returned, in part because.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Of the lack of childcare.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
This number is the highest number of women not employed
since nineteen ninety one. So you couple that with women
out of work, women getting paid less than men, and
on top of that products and services are costing them more.
There ought to be a law, and that's why I've
introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act and we have fifty
(06:55):
one co sponsors on it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Now, this issue, this pink tax issue, when we talk
about the say the word.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Again, a she session, A she session, I like it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Does this she session strike women equally or even within
that is their additional inequities based on race?
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Oh, no question, it's more egregious for women of color,
African American women Latino women and the amount of loss
and income is the greatest for Latina women.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So your pink tax repeal at it's bipartisan and basically
we're trying to get all of these manufacturers and retailers
on the same plane to basically say, if it's something
as simple as deodorant and it both keep both of
y'all from being musty, it should be the same price.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
That's right, unless you can I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Sure it's not worded like that. I'm sure you worded
it more professionally. You probably said FTC and Attorney General
and you use a lot of other oper words.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
We did use more upper words to basically say, if
you don't play by these rules, you're going to be sued.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
And so then the bill has forty eight co sponsors
right now. Has there been any pushback that you've seen
so far on your proposal?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
The numbers have grown, it's now at fifty one. I've
talked to the chairwoman of the subcommittee. She loves the bill,
and we're going to have a hearing on it and
hopefully get it to the House floor within the next
few months. And we can credit you with helping me
get it over the top.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Daisy, no credit here, no credit here?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
What role can consumers play in provoking change? And by consumers,
I mean men, we're the problem.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
You are the problem.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Well, the problem is that it's not illegal in most
states to charge more for services based on gender or
charge more for products. Should not be discriminating on goods
and services based on gender. It should be based on
the time it takes to do a service and what's
in the product. Women pay about forty percent more to
(09:13):
get their haircut than men do, and they pay about
sixty percent more at the dry cleaners for the same
service for the same item, and then for car repairs
they pay about thirty percent more. Now in California, back
in the nineties, I had legislation Paths that was signed
into law that said for services, you had to base
(09:33):
it not on gender, but on the amount of time
it takes to provide that service. For instance, I timed
the last time I got my haircut. It took ten minutes,
and I watched a man getting his haircut and it
took longer. So if we do base it on time,
then I think you're going to see the tables turned
(09:54):
a little bit and then there'll be an outcry from
you guys because you're going to be paying more for
your two dollars dry cleaning shirt.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
When would you say that you all were first aware
of a pink tax existing, because you know, you got
to figure you have a little bit of a blind
spot to certain inequities, and then one day you just go,
wait a minute. When was When was your wait a
minute moment? Congresswoman, I start with you.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
It was when I took my husband's Oxford shirt shirts
to the dry cleaner and they were, you know, a
dollar fifty a shirt, and my Oxford shirt costs you know,
three fifty or four dollars.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That's when I thought, wait a minute, something's wrong here.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I can remember when I first started shaving my legs
around six seven years old. I was a very hairy child. No,
I was thirteen, twelve, thirteen somewhere around there, and my
mom bought me a razor and some shaving cream, and
I remember the Gillette razor being considerably more expensive than
(10:58):
what men use, and my mom refusing to buy me
that razor and also bought me a can of barbasol,
like the old school men's shaving cream. And so when
I shave my legs. I use like, I just use
this stuff for men, and I still, if I'm being honest,
I still have an affinity for the smell of barbisol.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
That's why I just never shaved my legs. Mine was.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I went through a terrible phase where I had well
called pixie haircut to be nice about it, and I
went to a hair salon and the girl's haircuts were
like about twenty thirty dollars more and I was like, why,
I'm literally getting the same haircut as that guy in
the chair And I just at the time thought that
they were just a really like sexist hair place, and
(11:45):
they were like, oh, well women, you know you guys
have more layers. I'm like, it's the exact same haircut.
And then it wasn't until I went to your office
and I was ashamed. I was like, oh my god,
this is a thing, like another thing to add on
top of everything else.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
So you opened my eyes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Congresswoman good.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
We want to open the eyes of both men and
women in this country to recognize that this is another
form of discrimination that we've got to stamp out.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Well, Congress Armone, I know we don't have a lot
of time with you and I want you to be
able to get back into those halls of justice and
fight with all of those idiots that you see on
the floor every day. Yes, I know that. You know,
after about four decades in public service in the form
of politics, you've made the decision to retire. So you
(12:31):
know in your own words, you know, just tell us
what's next for you? What does retirement look because I'm
always I feel like people who are four people and
who fight for the people.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
You don't turn that off, That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Look, I have buddies that are retired firefighters and now
they train firefighters. There's still something else that they do
that's adjacent to helping people. So what does retirement look
like for you? Have you decided that with the next
four decades is going to be.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Well, I don't know exactly, but all I'm doing is
going home because I made a commitment to my husband
that I would spend more time at home. So I'm
going to continue to be engaged, use my voice. I
want to start a nonprofit foundation for the region in
which I live, and I want to continue to give back,
(13:19):
so I will continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Well, Congress from and Spirit, thank you so much for
going beyond the scenes with us, and I'll be sending
you an email. I have some discount deodorant that I
will be more than happy to sell you.
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Dare you.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I'll send you some of that pink stuff that I have.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Okay, fair enough?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Great to be with you than you. Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
So after the break, Deasie and Stacey and I would
like to talk more about how this segment came together.
This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back home, Daisy, Stacy,
walk me through how this piece came to be. Because
the congresswoman is presenting a whole bunch of different stuff
and y'all only have four minutes, maybe five and a
(14:10):
half to down this issue. How can you break down
centuries of inequality against the woman in five minutes?
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Get ready to feel bad about yourself? Roy, get ready?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
How does piece come to be? Just walk me through
the germination of it in the building.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Well, Stacey and I were making a special for Comedy
Central called DESI lightic Abroad. You can find it on
Paramount Plus. Stream it now anytime you feel like getting
out of your living room traveling the world.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Plays better now than it did, and things are still
just as bad as they were when we filmed it,
so it's still totally relevant.
Speaker 6 (14:53):
Yay.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Anyway, and Congresswoman's Spear was kind enough to talk to
us for the special, and I think we only had
like you said, we only had a few minutes of
time with her, not only to shoot but in the
actual piece itself, and she was able to beautifully shed
a light on all of the discrimination that women face
when it comes to wage inequality and healthcare. But one
(15:18):
thing that came up when we sat down and spoke
with her is the pink tax. And we definitely talked
about it a little bit in that interview, but there
just wasn't enough time. So Stacy and I felt like
we really wanted to do a bigger piece on it,
so she was kind enough with her time to give
us a whole other interview, So we went back to
DC and did an entire piece on the pink tax.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I mean, in her office had all those products, so
I didn't even know that it existed, and I just
remember like that kind of overshadowed what we were there
to talk about. Not really, but it was just like
we just didn't know, and we were both very outraged
about it.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
And we just exchanged a glance.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
We're like, we're going to do a segment on this,
something on this Yeah, it's one of them.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
DESI trying to flip a table.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Well I did. I did slip the table. I pulled
my back and it hasn't been the same since. But
I destroyed some furniture.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
She couldn't use ointment on her back because it costs
more for a woman than it did a man.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
So she's exactly No. It was one of those things
where like, as a woman, you notice small things that
come up, like, oh, why is that so much more
expensive than this one? Oh well, I guess I'll just
buy the men's version. Or why am I paying three
dollars more for my husband's shirt set the dry cleaners
than my own? Oh well, I guess I just will
boycott dry cleaning Now. Little things like that, you clock.
(16:37):
But we didn't realize how huge the issue was until
she really pointed it out.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Stacey in the building. For the listeners who don't know this,
you are like, there's two types of segment directors. They're
the people who go, Okay, what's the story and how
do we make this funny? And then they are the
people that are more lighthearted and go funny. How do
I keep this funny? There's too much sad shit in
(17:07):
my funny. Oh no, I've got to add more sad
shit to my Why.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
I'm not getting in care all of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
No, this isn't a bad thing because it's it's the
balance and it's just cereal. It's it's cereal and milk.
Some people put milk in the bowl first, then the cereal.
Some people put you get what I'm saying, nice, what
savages savages.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Cereal.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
There's people out there who do it.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Now, there's only one way to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
At the end of the day, it's still a bowl
of cereal. It's my point. And to me, you have
a different approach from a lot of the other segment directors.
So how do you navigate the seriousness of a topic
with humor? Like, how are you able to balance that?
Speaker 6 (17:50):
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I hope I balance it, but with for this particular segment.
I think one of the good things about working with
DESI is we both have an absurd to humor. I
think we bonded over our love for like Naked Gun
and Airplane, and we've pitched a lot of ideas i'd
always get shut down. And I think one of the
vehicles I'd like to use to tell a series story
(18:11):
is like kind of showing it in an absurd way
to get the point across ups, not just like statistics
and facts and whatever.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
So we were like, let's show away.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That there's this gender price discrimination by maybe going to
a store and kind.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Of wait in a store. Was the store open or
did we rent out the store? And we just shot
in a store.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
We can't afford that.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Yeah, I mean, we don't even get crafty.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
We have to like, you know, sneaking corn nuts in
the stock room. Now it was fully open. We were
dodging customers.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
I mean it was fun. I'm running.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Me and the t He went down one aisle because
we were scouting the aisle.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
We're like, oh, let's do this here.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
And then there was like a lady shopping for like
canned peas and you're just taking her time. We're like, okay, fine,
we'll go to another aisle. And we just had to
keep working around the customers and.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
How we do it. It's how we do it at
the day. Don't not like you've never shaved your legs
in the middle of a grocery store before.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Oh, of course, of course.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Yeah, and so yeah, it was just fun. And then
you know, Dessie and I work. I mean, her ideas
are just as serve as mine.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We just piggyback off and like take it to this
extreme place where hopefully it goes and you know, we
just do it till.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
They shut us down. And we thought, let's just.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Do it in a way where we go to the
grocery store and DESI investigates it. I don't really know
what their justification of you, like sneaking around it was, Oh,
because you weren't paying for it.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
You weren't going to pay for.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It, so right, I had to go very incognito almost Yeah,
real investigative work. Well, I think that's the thing that
makes us laugh so hard, is like us taking our
jobs way too seriously. So anytime we have an opportunity
for me to just take my job too seriously and
not do it that, well, we commit a thousand percent.
(19:59):
But Stay is one of my absolute all time favorite
directors to work with. She no, you really like you.
She's so good at not only being a collaborator, but
what you said, like Stacy's excellent at knowing how to
tell a story clearly, including all the facts, making sure
(20:20):
that there's an arc to it, making sure that we're
we're telling the full picture, but also making it really funny.
And then she also has a really unique visual comedy brain,
so she tries to direct the pieces in a way
where she's she gets creative and finds new ways to
tell the story that didn't exist to begin.
Speaker 6 (20:40):
Oh my god, you guys, stop, it's true truth.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Like your mind works in a different way to get
to the same bowl of cereal, y'all. I had a
game show in the middle.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Of like yeah, where no one wins, men win as
displayed and some of these products we have with us
today and a game we call.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I mean Doessie and I just again, like without trying
to be preachy, we just try to put it in
a fun package that can like kind of speed it up.
Because also we have to, like we have that time
challenge where we have to make it as interesting as
possible and give as much information as possible in like
a short window of time.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
So we're like, why don't we do a because you.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Kind of automatically go to the prices, right, you know,
mindset when you're doing this, and so I think it
was a collaboration between both of us because Jackie Congressoman
Jackie Spear wanted to show off all the products.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Thirty four dollars, two forty four dollars. Oh great, So
while your little girl is learning how to walk, she'll
also learn how to navigate the system that's exploiting her.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Sorry, these are two children's snarkles.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Eight eighty four sixteen twenty two for the pink, So
women literally have to pay more to breathe.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Sorry if I just love Dozie's graphic case going sorry
in between all the products.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
This is where you're so good though, because like anything
where it's like data heavy or number heavy or too
much information, Stacy always comes up with a way to
get it out quickly and efficiently in a really fun
visual way.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Thank you Grank very much for saying that.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Is there anything Dosie that got cut that you wish
had made it? There's always one joke for a correspondence,
there's always one joke we go, come on, man, you
cut that?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
And this time.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
There were so there were two dumb one of it.
This was a brilliant visual gag that Stacy came up with.
We're in the grocery store. I was like army, crawling
on my elbow on the floor, like chin almost to
the grocery store floor. This was clearly before COVID, and
it was so dumb. But we we did so much
(22:51):
foot of footage of that, and just because of the
fact that we spent I spent so much time on
that floor, I thought, well, this should make it in
the piece.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
It was even rolling. I wasn't even to see if
she would do that.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
And then the other day, do you do you remember
sitting down with Ryan, the economy professor, and for some
reason we discovered this like flirtation that I had with
him where I was suddenly in love with him. In
the middle of the piece, we had this weird runner
where I kept like under my breath telling him that
I loved him, I loved going to do with anything.
(23:26):
But I think it wound up. It was like it
remained in the first two or three cuts because we
just found it so dumb. And at a certain point
I think people were like, that's not what this piece
is about. Your love for this man is not.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
It's not gonna make.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
It, Dozsi.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I would say, Also, almost every time Dosy does her
own stunt work. She puts her heart and soul into it,
and it always gets cut. She'll be like, there's a
there's one thing we did where she fell into a
bunch of trash bags, I think a needle poked whatever.
And then also in the grocery store, you were testing
out razor scooters and you knock down paper towels, which
(24:05):
we immediately felt bad. We had to stack back up
afterwards because we didn't want.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
To like, Oh no, I forgot about that.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Yeah, there's a lot of struction, believe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So the pink tax starts at an early age, infancy
even and you all are parents, you know, Stacey, you're
a new mother. Have you noticed the difference between boys
and toys, like, because I'm sure you've bought toys for
the people's children. Yeah, Daisy has a son, you like,
(24:37):
have you noticed have you started noticing the pink tax
and the prevalence of it even at such a young age,
even with a Bye Bye Baby fifteen percent off coupon
I did get.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
In the email every single day. It's a large you
say that you need I know that's true.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I didn't start paying attention to this stuff till we
did this segment, and so now I'm.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Like very aware of it.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And I would say for the mos was part like
all those toys, which, by the way, it's just rip
off of an industry, but it's a separate piece. The everything,
for the most part, seems to be equal. But there
was this one kid's activity gym. I don't even know
why they called a gym, like those you know, the
stupid things they lay on with all those crap hanging.
Speaker 6 (25:16):
And there was one, yeah, and they there was one
that was like.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
A very stereotypical pink with like unicorns, that was like
a couple of dollars more than the mail version. It's
just a couple of dollars, but still it's the principle
of it. And I like the other one better, but
it's I've noticed it in that and also another another
like one of those crop what are those crinkly toys?
A couple of those same Yeah, I don't know. Those
(25:41):
sensory things.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
I'm still learning. I'm still very new. I don't know
what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
But I call the poppers the poppers.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Poppers is that we call the poppers.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I'm going to call them that from I've seen those.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
I don't even know what that is.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
No, I was talking about the crinkly paper things for
the sensory things when start.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
To grab crap whatever.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Oh, I know what is that? I don't hang on.
It's a popp it.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
It's just I don't understand just what is it?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, it's just holes and you just pop little.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Just like the new slat bracelet from the eighties.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I don't this popping for a boy costs four dollars
for a girl ninety seven dollars.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
What else?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
I believe it just.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
This basketball for a boy thirty seven cents for a
girl nine hundred dollars. I'd love doing this show in
my son's room.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
He's so fused. I just like, got it, give me
my toys.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Roy's going around telling people that he's buying his son poppers.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I'm like, after the break, I want to talk a
little bit about solutions and ways that we can try
and bring about change to the pink tax. I know
that the congresswoman is doing her part, but we won't
also talk about some of the market in the strategy
and how retailers have been able to pull this off.
This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back. Welcome
(27:07):
back to beyond the scenes as we bring this conversation
about the pink tax home, the pink tax where women
need equality on the cost of goods and services in
spite of the fact that eventually men pay for the
dates and y'all get in free for ladies night and
the strangers at a bar, and that saves you a
(27:29):
lot of money, Yet you steal, won't How hilarious would
that be if that had been my position with the congresswoman.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Oh, I'm like where hell well, she just takes her
DJ headphones off, slams and it's like, yore.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
We didn't have enough time. Winner. But I seriously, with
a straight face, I was just gonna ask a congress congresswoman,
do women getting in free for ladies night offset some
of these things that you say are inequities?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yeah? How about all the doors I've opened?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
How fucking hilarious would that have been? But we did
not have time.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Get her back, get her back on the phone, get
her back, let's get her back.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
So does And the thingece you'd talk about the term
pink it and shrink it, What is this pink it
and shrink it marketing strategy and why is it problematic?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Well, contrary to the there's a common misconception that that
is just the surgery that a woman has to rejuvenate
post birth. It is not that it is actually pink
it or shrink it, pinke it and shrink it. Yeah,
it's actually, from what I understand, a marketing term when
you take an item that is made for men or
(28:47):
a gender neutral item, and you shrink it down to
the size for a woman, and you make it pink
specifically to market it to women. So essentially it should
cost less, but inevitably it costs more.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
So we literally just go, oh, it's for ladies. Look
it's in a pink box and smaller, and we're gonna
charge you more. Should we move more towards gender neutral products?
What's the solution to this stacy?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I mean, I think it's crazy that congress Woman's been
fighting this for decades and there's still I mean, when
Desie and I were trying to think of like a
way to come up with a solution to this, we
were like people were saying, why don't you just buy
the mail version?
Speaker 6 (29:28):
And then Desy.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Does that beautiful long you zoom in shot where you're like, oh, sure,
it's just another thing to add on to all the
obstacles we have to do to be a woman. And
for me that speech you give is like the thesis
of this whole thing.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
How can women afford to live in this world?
Speaker 6 (29:46):
If the man's version is cheaper, then just buy that one.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, sure, if you think about it, it's just one
extra step and a series of extra steps that women
take every day to thrive in a man's world, Like
how we get up a little extra early every morning
to put on an outfit that books professional yet accessible
but not too accessible because we don't want to be
taken advantage of. Or how we walk an extra five
blocks to work so that we can avoid the construction
(30:09):
zone because men like to tell us to smile more.
And when we get to work, we want to make
our voices heard, but in a way that's helpful and
strong without being overbearing or shrill. You know, we do
all of this.
Speaker 7 (30:21):
Without even an ounce of resentment, because resentment causes wrinkles
and society does not value aging women. Is there a
men's wrinkle cream that you can recommend?
Speaker 6 (30:33):
Yes, there are several, Sure, it costs less, maybe a little.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
To me, that was the most important part of the segment,
and DESI did it all in one freaking take.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
Beautiful.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
She looked like she was crying inside as she was
doing it, because as you should. When we were talking
to people, they were all like, just buy the man's pack,
just buy the man's product.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
It's like, no, that's not the point.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Women often do you have to take extra steps throughout
the day just because they're a woman, and so this
shouldn't be one extra step that they have to take.
I don't know what the solution is, but it should
not be one more thing for a woman to have
to go out of her way to do.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
People just stop being assholes. Just let us all be equals.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Stop over pricing stacy in three sentences or less. Solve
economic sexism.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Please, ready goes, I'll do it in one second. No,
I don't stop.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Stop doing it, guys, to stop, make it quit, make
it stop.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Maybe a simple solution is all of the goods that
charge more for women's versions of the product. Maybe in
the male versions of the commercials, maybe there's just like
a woman that just pops up in the middle of it,
so that we can make these products more gender neutral
because commercials are very gender divisive. Yeah, you know, like
if you look at like a raisins the gillet raise
(31:54):
and you can shave you like the blade comes out
the lava and the god grabs it and then just
shave your face and then just have a woman's head
pop in and women too. That's all the time we
have for today. Thank you very much to our guest
Jazzy Ladick, Stacy Angels, and Congresswoman Jackie Spear for taking
(32:16):
us beyond the scenes. Listen to The Daily Show Beyond
the Scenes on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
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