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Vegan cafe that boasted an 18% "man tax" goes out of business

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Feminist-owned vegan cafe that boasted charging 18% 'man tax' goes out of business

A lesbian-owned vegan cafe in Melbourne, Australia that charged an 18% “man tax” shuttered this week after less than two years in business (video below).

The Handsome Her restaurant made headlines in 2017 when it announced rules giving preferred seating to its female customers and began charging an 18% premium for men to “protest the gender pay gap.”

It's all the fault of the Patriarchy, apparently.

“When we opened Handsome Her in 2017, we expected that perhaps we might make a stir through our brazen public discussions of structural inequality and oppression.

The Man Tax blew up the internet — an idea that we didn’t think was all too radical. Yet the way the world responded showed us how fragile masculinity is and solidified the necessity for us to confront and dismantle patriarchy.


 

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
The business didn't cease because of the "man tax" the owners simply decided to move on to other things, they were not driven out of business, that's the link you didn't share.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
The business didn't cease because of the "man tax" the owners simply decided to move on to other things, they were not driven out of business, that's the link you didn't share.
I'd still guess that the reason they quit it is because of one of:
  1. it didn't stir up quite the amount of controversy they hoped it would
  2. people didn't think it was as funny as they hoped it would be... their true passion being comedy
  3. Men simply didn't come into the restaurant, and so they did't get as many opportunities to have fun poking and prodding them with jeers and insults as they would have liked.
In other words, just because they quit the business and didn't "go out of business" doesn't mean they weren't a bunch of morons making the world a worse place.
 

Road Warrior

Seeking the middle path..
Of course they'd say that but facts are facts: They're shutting down their business after two years. That's expensive no matter what you call it.

Their whining about it is interesting: They deliberately set out to be provocative and make a stir. They succeeded but complain about it? WTF?

From your link:
In a comment on Facebook, the administrators of the cafe's page said the reaction to the man tax "showed us how fragile masculinity is and solidified the necessity for us to confront and dismantle patriarchy".

"We were just one little tiny shop on Sydney Rd that was trying to carve out a swathe of space to prioritise women and women's issues, and suddenly we became the punching bag of Melbourne and the internet."

The owners insisted the cafe is not closing because it has not made enough money, or because of "male tears or misogynistic vitriol from men's rights activists".
 

Cooky

Veteran Member
The business didn't cease because of the "man tax" the owners simply decided to move on to other things, they were not driven out of business, that's the link you didn't share.

Would you have been supportive of a business like that?
 

Stanyon

WWMRD?
I'm not too sure that approach would work to "dismantle patriarchy" but I am sure that there were quite a few females that would go there for the novelty and feel good moment of imagined social justice. It seems a perverse way to exploit other females wish for a better world while lining their own pockets, way to go sickos.
 

David T

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
The business didn't cease because of the "man tax" the owners simply decided to move on to other things, they were not driven out of business, that's the link you didn't share.
Details. Details.. Once again another forum violation. This is called religious forums it has little to do with reality and when it just so happens to stumble onto it, its purely an accidental random occurance.
 

Road Warrior

Seeking the middle path..
I'm not too sure that approach would work to "dismantle patriarchy" but I am sure that there were quite a few females that would go there for the novelty and feel good moment of imagined social justice. It seems a perverse way to exploit other females wish for a better world while lining their own pockets, way to go sickos.
In New York, probably. In Melbourne? Not so much.
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Would you have been supportive of a business like that?

If I did, I would consider the tip prepaid, especially if I were served by a waitress rather than a waiter. If I took my wife to dinner there, and the two of us each ordered the same $20 meal, the usual 15% tip on a $40 check would amount to $6. But with this surcharge, I'd only be giving the punitive 18% of my $20 meal, or $3.60.

I wonder if the waitress would get any of it.

From your link:

In a comment on Facebook, the administrators of the cafe's page said the reaction to the man tax "showed us how fragile masculinity is and solidified the necessity for us to confront and dismantle patriarchy".

Really, ladies? Men not wanting to be dissed and discriminated by angry women against are fragile? How about the people that wanted to do his to them? How fragile are they?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
I suppose it's no worse than taxing Tampons.
35 States in the U.S. Still Charge Women a Tampon Tax
Some states still charge sales tax on food for home consumption. Illinois still charges sales tax on prescription drugs. Most all products in the "personal hygiene" category have sales tax applied in states that charge sales tax at all. The idea of "no sales tax for _____" was meant to help keep people of low income able to afford necessities, and in implementation, what is deemed "necessity" is entirely subjective. And get this - there are only 7 states that exempt "toilet paper" from sales tax... 5 of which don't have any sales tax at all anyway.

I'll admit that women have a special need in this category of products that men do not, however all evidence points to it not at all being "by design" that women are taxed on an extra product that men don't buy. They are taxed on what is considered a "personal hygiene" product like men would if there were a product classified in that category that only men bought. And in each case where something has been exempted, it is a special case of granting privilege... but the reverse is simply not true. That is, women were not specifically targeted for a tax on feminine hygiene products. Many states are just sort of "behind the curve" on granting special privilege in that specific case.
 

ADigitalArtist

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
But they're not True Feminists. Feminists believe in gender equality.:rolleyes:

Just ask the ones who don't want egalitarians like me in the Feminist DIR.
Tom
There are no "true feminists" because feminist isn't a monolith or even an organization. It has organizations but there is no central organized structure or leadership which calls the shots. Instead it's a loose umbrella for many philosophies.

However, without discussing individual cases of moderation (take it to SF for that) RF only sections and DIR have to have reasonable lines. Otherwise someone could say 'I'm syncretic, I should be able to post anywhere.' Or 'I'm what liberal meant two generations ago, I'm going to liberal only' or 'I'm a first wave feminist (women should be able to vote) therefore I should be able to post in feminist only.'
Since the modern use of the term egalitarian came into usage specifically as a contrast to the modern usage of the term feminist, (google 'I'm an egalitarian not a feminist') it's reasonable to make that distinction.

There will be gray areas, of course, that will have to be reviewed on a case by case basis, but generally if you don't feel comfortable saying to a stranger "I'm a feminist" without qualifiers then you probably shouldn't be posting in the feminist area.
 
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