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A café that caused controversy by charging male customers a “man tax” to bridge the gender pay divide is closing down.
Handsome Her, a vegan café in Melbourne Australia, sparked global debate in 2017 when it announced it would offer women priority seating and charge men an 18 per cent premium to “reflect the gender pay gap”.
After two years of trading, the café announced it would be closing its doors for good on April 28.
Co-owner Alexandra O’Brien has not detailed the reason behind the move, but Handsome Her has endured a widespread backlash for its perceived reverse sexism.
In a post entitled ‘A Handsome Farewell’, Ms O’Brien wrote: “It's been a wild journey to say the least. 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.
“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.
"Yes, we are the evil, discriminatory, man-hating d***s who charge men more when didn't you know the wage gap doesn't even exist!? Meanwhile gentlemen’s social clubs live on and strong around Melbourne and the world over…”
She ended her message by thanking “our community and friends who came and never left our sides” and explained that the team would be “off to our next adventure up north where we will be doing some hands-on work”.
The announcement has been met with a mixed response.
Some social media users have offered their well-wishes, with one writing on Facebook: “You are heros for what you developed and your vision and space has covered a void we will ache for.
“You are the most amazing lesbian feminist activists and thanks for fighting the fight. Enjoy your next endeavours you deserve respect and appreciation.”
And another taking to Instagram to comment: “Is there anything we can do to keep you open? (My stage of grief: bargaining).”
Others have expressed delight at the cafe’s alleged failure.
“Get woke, go broke....... What has your cafe going bankrupt taught us? 1.Sexism in business is a bad idea 2. In the end, all you man haters care more about bringing men down than lifting one another,” one Instagram user wrote.
Another responded by calling the owners “horrible people”, commenting on a Handsome Her Instagram post: “I'm glad such a bigoted and hateful business is getting shut down. Last I checked, sex discrimination was illegal.”
The cafe will offer “a pay as you feel scheme” on their final day of trade.
Proceeds raised will be donated to Maiti Nepal, a non-profit which works to protect Nepali girls from abuse, exploitation and torture.
AngryAtStupid on April 25th, 2019 at 02:17 UTC »
They still don't fucking get it
Preoximerianas on April 25th, 2019 at 01:12 UTC »
So they didn’t think an 18% tax on men was radical, they think that the negative internet response was due to fragile masculinity, and that the failure of the cafe has solidified the necessity to confront and dismantle the patriarchy?
How delusional are these people? Maybe the internet reacted harshly because this is blatant sexism? Maybe the cafe failed not because of the patriarchy, but because alienating 50% of your potential clientele isn’t a smart business decision?
Instead of the 18% male tax, the cafe could have simply done this and they still would have been in business without alienating 50% of their potential clientele. But I guess that would have been far too smart and it wouldn’t have garnered media attention.
It’s not perceived reverse sexism, it is sexism.
Reallywantsadog on April 24th, 2019 at 23:44 UTC »
I can't believe it's legal to charge a tax based on gender.