A law student’s clip has gone viral on TikTok after she called out a mechanic for trying to overcharge her. The ‘pink tax’ usually refers to products specifically marketed towards women costing more money than their more ‘masculine’ counterparts, but while her car was pink, Christina Stratton (@christinastrat) made sure that it didn’t become a victim of the pink tax.
In her TikTok, which has amassed 1.1 million views as of Sunday, Stratton shows off her car while sharing her experiences via on-screen text.
“When I pulled up to the autoshop in a pink car and they gave me a crazy quote but, they didn’t know I spent two years learning how to argue in law school,” she wrote.
But even when Stratton showed the auto shop employee up, using her arguing skills to get them to reduce the price by 50%, the misogyny didn’t end there. She went on to describe how “the guy literally laughed at himself” before following it up by saying, “You’re so smart, I like you.”
Sharing her opinion in the video’s description, Stratton asserted that “there’s a polite way to ask questions & negotiate.” She then went on to add that she knew “nothing about cars” but was “proud of [her]self nonetheless.
@christinastrat there’s a polite way to ask questions & negotiate!!! I know nothing about cars but Im proud of myself HAHA
♬ original sound – bonnie ⛧
Unfortunately, gender bias within the automotive industry is far from uncommon. A 2021 study conducted by Jerry, a car insurance comparison app, found that, on average, women pay $142 more per year than men for car ownership, and in total pay $7,800 more during the length of car ownership.
According to the study, part of these surging costs is because of the extra price women pay for new cars and repairs. The data found that women pay $117 more than men when buying new cars, and $23 more for car repairs.
The pink tax also appeared to apply to car insurance, as 2020 research from fellow insurance app The Zebra found that on average, women get into fewer car accidents than men. Yet, despite this, they pay up to 7.6% more for car insurance.
This data shows that Stratton’s situation is far from uncommon, so it’s no surprise that viewers were highly supportive of the creator in the comments. Several comments compared her to “lawyer Barbie” from the Barbie movie, while another commenter said she elicited “Elle Woods energy” from the movie Legally Blonde.
The comments also revealed that Stratton was far from the only one being overcharged on account of her gender and more “feminine” cars. One commenter shared that they get a “ridiculous quote” whenever they need to take their Mini Cooper into the shop, while another female commenter despaired how whenever they went in for an oil change, they’d have to “spend three figures on something else each time.”
But most of all, viewers were full of praise for Stratton for standing up for herself and not letting the overcharging slide.
“I’m proud of you too,” a further commenter shared. “Advocating for yourself is hard as it is. it’s even harder when you have anxiety.”
The Daily Dot reached out to the creator via email.
