Patricia Grisafi
When you’re a woman, certain things are marketed to you that aren’t to men — and you’re expected to buy into their absolute necessity. High heels that hurt your feet? Creams that don’t seem to do anything? Putting up with creeps on the street or at work?
Mostly, what this means is you’re spending a lot more money and going through a lot more grief to uphold some outdated patriarchal values they don’t even believe in. But more women are catching on to the scam, and they’re sharing the things that are clearly the work of corporate grifters and cultural conditioning.
1. Wedding Stuff
“The markup on wedding stuff. People should spend whatever they want on a wedding, but the fact that a venue is $1000 for a banquet and $2500 for a wedding is clearly a scam.” — belindabellagiselle
2. Personal Cleaning Products
“Your vagina is self-cleaning and not supposed to smell like strawberries. Any product claiming to clean your vagina is an infection waiting to happen. As someone who has been intimate with both sexes, I have yet to meet a vagina that smelled or tasted bad. The same cannot be said for penises. (Also, f*ck fragranced menstrual hygiene products that just make you smell like chemically, flowery blood).” — pennyherb
3. GOOP
“Everything that Gwyneth Paltrow promotes.” — okyes319
4. That Post-Baby Body
“‘Getting your body back’ after birthing a child. As if it went somewhere.” — coffeemuffin21
5. Paying More
“Paying more than men do for many services: haircuts, dry cleaning and clothing alterations to name a few.” — shattered7done1
6. Shaving
“Shaving their bodies. Total scam.” — bats131
7. No Pockets
“Accepting clothing without pockets.” — TillyThyme
8. Cellulite Treatment
“‘Treatments’ for things like cellulite and stretch marks…they don’t need ‘treating’ they are not a problem or health issue!!” — PinkLadyApple1
9. Bad Sex
“That we should engage in painful, degrading sex and not even orgasm on top of it.” — jem1173
10. High Heels
“Wearing heels. What kind of a sane person does that?” — changnesiac-abed
11. Pain Tolerance
“The double standard of pain tolerance. Men think they’re tough but I would bet anything they’d have spent billions upon billions of dollars to try and treat or find workarounds for pain that we encounter regularly.” — Any-Honey-5891
12. Makeup
“Makeup in general. It’s fine if it’s used by choice but the expectation to constantly look ‘fresh and flawless’ is such a freaking scam.” — Dry_Distribution6826
13. Diet And Wellness
“The entire diet/’wellness’ industry.” — CauliflowerSad5027
14. Having Kids
“Having kids by default. It’s a choice and you don’t need to have them just to fill your womanly duty.” — mala_mishka
15. Purity Culture
“Virginity/Purity/Modesty.” — savagefleurdelis23
16. The “Mom Industry”
“The mom-industry. Most parenting books are scams, based on 4 studies and a half (if that), oftentimes very biased by the author’s own experiences and unaddressed childhood traumas and frustrations. Also, you don’t need half the stuff everyone will tell you to buy otherwise you’re the worst mom ever. Especially educational-toys, and such things.” — Marawal
17. Skin Creams
“Anything cream or other topical treatment that claims to help you have ‘younger skin’ — eye cream, wrinkle-smoothing cream, etc, etc, it’s all a scam. How your skin ages is determined by your genetics, health, and (particularly for lighter skinned folks) whether you stay out of the sun. That’s it. We are berated for aging as if it is our fault for doing something ‘wrong,’ but it’s genetics — some people get nasolabial folds at age 25 and others don’t get them till 55. Just like some women have small boobs or big boobs, an hourglass figure or a straight figure or a pear-shaped one. Genetics, plain and simple.” — BuzzingBeesPollinate
18. MLM
“MLM scams. They prey on women who don’t have a lot of options to make money. Then all of the sudden everyone they know is buying overpriced garbage just to support someone they love, because these companies know that women are social creatures that want to support each other. Also a lot of women will buy the trash to be included as a friend.” — Blueskyz8
19. Sexual Harassment
“Harassment as ‘flirting’ that we are supposed to be ‘flattered’ by. I don’t want to talk to some guy whose name I don’t even know. I don’t want to feel increasingly uncomfortable the more questions he asks about me, none of which I am entitled to answer. I HATE that ‘oh, God, is he going to ask me out/hit on me/lash out in anger when I say no?’ feeling more than any other feeling in the world. Because I DON’T KNOW how any man will react to ‘No,’ whether it’s worded as ‘F*ck no!’ or ‘No, thank you.’ I might still get called a name or have to worry that he’ll try and follow me around later. Or worse.” — MsDParker
20. Pink Tax
“The pink tax.” — Sofi-g
