Vegan cafe infamous for charging ‘man tax’ to close after two years

'We just don't want to own a cafe anymore'

A vegan cafe in Australia that charged male customers 18 per cent more than women is closing down.

Melbourne-based eatery Handsome Her made headlines in 2017 for its unconcentional “man tax” and for giving women priority seating, measures it took to reflect the gender pay gap.

But after just two years of trading, the cafe has announced it will be closing for good as of Sunday 28 April.

In the description of a Facebook event, titled "A Handsome Farewell", created by the cafe to coincide with its closure, the owners explains how it hoped its man tax would "make a stir through our brazen public discussions of structural inequality and oppression" but was taken aback by how it "blew up the internet".

"The way the world responded showed us how fragile masculinity is and solidified the necessity for us to confront and dismantle patriarchy," it continues.

"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."

While the cafe has not revealed its reasons behind the closure, a new post on its Facebook page reveals that it has nothing to do with a backlash from men’s rights activists over its "man tax", as some reports have claimed.

“We’re lesbians, we’re quite used witnessing the fragility of the male ego which literally cannot compute the idea of a woman who is not interested in them. These abusive comments have been mostly amusing, only reinforced our views about how toxic sexism is, and great motivation for us to keep up the good work,” it reads.

The post goes on to deny reports that financial difficulties were the reason for the closure, stating: “If you’ve been in you know we are doing just fine. Our fans and regulars can smell a rat when it comes to fake google reviews from #sadmen.

“Most of our male customers have happily paid above and beyond the optional surcharge which we donate to charity,” it continues.

“Handsome Her was somewhat of a social experiment for us outside of our professional realms, and we have seen that it works to put our politics to the forefront in life and in business.”

The post concludes by clarifying the the cafe’s extra charge levied on male customers “did not run our business into the ground”, adding, “we just don’t want to own a cafe anymore.”

Many of the cafe’s loyal fans expressed their disappointment at news of the closure.

“So sad to see u go. U were my favourite eatery since u opened. U have created a safe space for all [sic],” wrote one person.

“We’ll miss you. Hope someone can replace HH with an equally as bad*** business, but not sure if anyone could. Enjoy your next adventure,” another added.

However, not all of the comments supportive of the cafe. On Instagram, where the cafe has also posted about its impending closure, one person called the owners “horrible people”, writing: “I’m glad such a bigoted and hateful business is getting shut down. Last I checked, sex discrimination was illegal.”

The cafe is offering a “pay as you feel” scheme on its final day of business this Sunday. It will donate proceeds to a non-profit called Maiti Nepal, which works to protect Nepali girls from exploitation and abuse.