There always seems to be criticism when women spend money on the things they enjoy in life, whether they spend $5 on a latte or $50 on a manicure. Yet, men are given the freedom and luxury of financing their hobbies and interests without judgment.
Finance expert Tori Dunlap highlighted this discrepancy, pointing out a truly infuriating double standard.
“Have you ever thought about how expensive men’s hobbies are?” Dunlap questioned in her video.
“I did all this research for my book ‘Financial Feminist’ about the ways women spend money versus men,” she explained. ”The frivolous spending, the spending that is the reason you can’t get rich or the reason you can’t get ahead, is only feminine spending.”
Dunlap explained that we often hear the rhetoric that money spent on lattes, manicures, and shopping trips is the problem and why women aren’t rich. That cash should have been spent on something worthwhile, like buying a house or investing in our financial future.
In fact, according to a recent survey commissioned by NerdWallet and conducted by The Harris Poll72% of Americans think that buying a coffee every day could have an impact on their ability to save for retirement.
However, the financial expert pointed out that this sentiment is only used against things women tend to spend their money on — never against men’s equally frivolous spending.
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“Men are out here spending so much money on NFL season tickets and sports betting, on golf and golf clubs, and on the video game console and the video games,” Dunlap said. “Yet the reason we’re not rich as women is because we spend money.”
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The comment section of Dunlap’s video was full of women sharing examples of men and their spending habits.
“My husband has probably $20,000 worth of gym equipment,” one user wrote. “I really just wanted a Dyson air wrap.”
“My coworkers and boss made fun of me for spending $200 on a concert ticket ONE time meanwhile they spend $150 on golf EVERY WEEKEND,” another commenter added. “Not to mention the season tickets to baseball and football games.”
“The amount of money my dad spends on tools for his ‘shop’ and then doesn’t actually make anything is insane,” a third commenter wrote.
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“I’m calling out that double standard that is absolute BS,” she stated. “The reason women aren’t rich is because of systemic oppression.”
She’s not wrong. Despite how women are entering the workforce in droves and are earning degrees in increasing numbers compared to men, they consistently get paid less in the workplace.
According to the U.S. Department of Laboron average, women working full-time, year-round, are paid 84% of what men are paid. In other words, the typical woman working full-time would need to work from January 1, 2023, until March 12, 2024, to make what the typical man working full-time made in 2023.
This rhetoric about women’s spending is truly exhausting and one that we should put to rest. Until we call out men’s spending habits, let us drink our $8 coffees in peace.
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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
