An image posted by Twitter user Paige Cardona went viral recently after it displayed the fact that a new vegan café, which goes by the name of Handsome Her, is charging men an 18 percent ‘man tax’ to enjoy their services. The reason is the Gender Wage Gap in Australia, with men earning that percentage more than women.

Café by women for women

As reported by the New York Daily News, the new vegan café opened recently in Brunswick, Australia and made no bones about the fact that the premises are provided, for the most part, by women, for women. A chalkboard standing at the entrance states that women get priority seating and, to reflect the 2016 gender wage gap in Australia, all male customers will be charged an 18 percent premium, which the café will then donate to a women’s service.

Their third rule stated that “respect goes both ways.”

Bringing awareness to gender inequality

CNN spoke to Belle Ngien, the manager of Handsome Her and she explained that they charge a slightly higher price to men, due to the gender wage gap in the country. A government report had found that men working full time in Australia on average earn 17.7 percent more than the fairer sex, which pretty much aligns with the U.S., where women earn 83 percent of a normal male salary.

Ngien explained that they want to raise awareness to the pay inequality and get people talking about it.

She said 18 percent is not a lot when it comes to coffee as they charge $4, of which 18 percent is 72 cents. Ngien also pointed out that men have their own places where women are not allowed, so why shouldn’t women do the same?

Social media reacts to Handsome Her’s business methods

Meanwhile, some men appear to be upset at Handsome Her’s methods of bringing up pay inequality, with several male social media users complaining, including Twitter user Danny McLean, who said discrimination against any individuals, on whatever aspect, is both “morally and legally wrong.”

A female Twitter user, Pauloncè, didn’t like the idea, saying it created an “us and them” situation.

However, many other people are praising the café’s stand for women. In fact, Alex O’Brien, the owner of the café, posted to Facebook that men have traveled from across town to visit Handsome Her for a coffee and are quite happy to pay the “man tax,” and even occasionally throw a few more coins into the donation pot for women’s services. O’Brien addressed those men by saying they are “pretty neat.”
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