Female Condoms vs. Male Condoms — Not a Direct Comparison

The Cleveland Plain Dealer prints an article comparing the prices on products aimed at women versus products aimed at men. Peculiarly the article is entitled "The Price of Beauty" and yet they make mention of condoms. Here at Condomania are still trying to figure out how beauty relates to condoms, but no matter. The article does mention condoms:

Prices are much lower for condoms. A month's supply (OK, so we're being generous) of the 36-economy pack of Trojans costs $22.99 at CVS. In a more direct comparison, the FC Female Condom is $26.95 for nine at condomania.com.

The problem here is that this is not a direct comparison. Female condoms are a completely different device than a male condom. The market size of the female condom is insignificant in comparison to the male condom. Subsequently the manufacturing costs of the female condoms are magnitudes higher than that of the male condom. If there was a rough parity between the market size of the two different devices then perhaps it would be appropriate to say there is a direct comparison but, at least for now, such a statement flies in the face of reality.