The woman vs man price is stupid - it should be based on length.

If a haircut needs regular maintenance like a standard men cut = cheaper due to its simplicity and the fact that you’ll have a monthly customer.

If a haircut can grow out = more expensive due to less frequent appointments and complexity.

Pink tax is a broad term for women being uncharged. It doesn’t have to be pink.

For example, I had to pay more money to get a smaller “women’s” wrist brace that fit me properly once. The larger “man” and “unisex” ones were cheaper. It wasn’t branding, it legit cost be more to have something sized to more of an average woman size. The wrist brace was blue but that’s still a pink tax.

Tampons taxed as luxury items is a pink tax.

Pink tax can even extend to less material objects: for example, if a woman has to turn down affordable housing due to safety issues, or better job opportunities due to sexism in the field, that can also be a pink tax, even if it’s not fully tangible.

Men also aren’t forced into a binary between “cut your hair yourself and do a shitty job” and “pay a ton of money for the same haircut as a dude”. They have the option of a $25 haircut.

Except it isn’t just marketing. That assumes that male products are the default and women’s are special somehow.

But that isn’t the case, male products are designed for men and there is an actual difference (for some products obviously not all are the same). Women fitting into stuff designed for men comes with its own drawbacks (look up how car safety was designed exclusively for male dummies… obviously commercial products aren’t that extreme but my point is that women are different). Women being able to buy things that were actually designed for them shouldn’t be a luxury tax while men get the same for cheap.

In my wrist brace example, I didn’t buy it because it said women’s. I bought it because it was smaller and fit me properly.

When I buy jeans I don’t buy them because they say women’s, I buy them because they actually fit my hips. Etc etc. Imagine if women’s clothing were cheaper and men were expected to have their crotches squeezed if they didn’t want to pay an upcharge for male clothing. Or if everything was too small and men had to pay extra for larger items.

Most women are capable of looking at price tags and figuring out men’s stuff is cheaper. There’s usually a reason why men’s stuff isn’t a suitable alternative.

You get discounts on stuff if you buy in bulk. Haircuts are kinda similar - charge too much for a regular haircut that needs to be done monthly and people will buy clippers and do it themselves. Charge less, do a good job, and you get a regular customer base. Plus your haircut will often be a repeat of what you did last time.

Part of the reason why freelance workers charge more is because they don’t have a regular supply of customers so they need to charge more to get them through periods of low activity. If you have a customer who is going to be getting their haircut every month that kinda removes the need for an upcharge.