A cafe in Australia has introduced a 'man tax' to address the gender pay gap

A clever way to keep it fair.
Original image replaced with Mashable logo

The wage gap between men and women is no new issue, but one spot in Australia is making sure their customers don't forget to keep fighting for equal pay.

Handsome Her, a vegan cafe in Victoria, Australia, has come up with a clever way to address the gender pay gap problem. The cafe put up a chalkboard outside their shop which explained that men will be charged an "18 percent premium to reflect the gender pay gap."

Additional rules include "women have priority seating" and "respect goes both ways".

Handsome Her owner, Alex O'Brien, told Broadsheet Melbourne in an Aug. 4 article, "I do want people to think about it, because we’ve had this (pay discrepancy) for decades and decades and we’re bringing it to the forefront of people’s minds. I like that it is making men stop and question their privilege a little bit."

The idea for the surcharge came from brainstorming ways to raise money for charity, which they plan to change every three months. But it's important to note, the "men tax" is completely voluntary. If a guy doesn't want to pay it, he's not forced to.

So really, there's no reason for any complaints.

Of course people of the internet had mixed reactions, but there were still a good amount of praise on Twitter.

On Aug. 6, the owners posted on Facebook thanking their costumers for all the support. Luckily, Handsome Her was packed with customers during the weekend, who were even willing to donate a little extra than what was asked.

We would definitely get our morning cup of Joe from this place.

Topics Activism

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