For our class excursion assignment I knew I wanted to look more into hair
salons and price differences. It has always stuck out to me in the past
that hair salons are very gendered places since that’s what the societal norm
is. But, me being a woman I never even
looked at the other prices. It wasn’t until taking this Sex and Gender
Roles class that helped me see the discrepancies and unfair pricing when it
comes to haircuts.
Here are the places that I checked out and their prices for men, women and/or children:
Here are the places that I checked out and their prices for men, women and/or children:
1.
SCOTT J. SALON; Upper West Side
Manhattan
Price
Women:
$49-$69 Master Stylist: $100+
Men: $39-$49 Master Stylist: $70+
Children: $39-$49 Master Stylist: $70+
2.
DRAMATICS NYC; Upper West Side
Manhattan
Short Medium Long
Shampoo+ Cut: $24.95 $24.95 $24.95
Shampoo+ Style:$29.95 $34.95 $39.95
3.
SUITE303; Chelsea
Pricing based on stylists:
April: Men $200 Women
$300 Kids $120
Heather: Men $100 Women
$120
Laura: Men $250 Women
$400
4.
FUMI BROOKLYN; Gowanus BK
Cut: Men $50 Women
$70
Only
one of the four locations I chose, Dramatics NYC, had equal pricing for male
and female haircuts, the other three had much higher costs for women’s haircuts
than men’s. The price list at Dramatics
NYC was the only that made perfect sense to me: price of a short haircut for a
woman is the same price as a short haircut for a man. But, the other three, as much as they didn’t
make sense, I was not too surprised. It’s
a well-known and accepted societal norm that women pay much more money than men
do for the same/similar hair treatments.
As seen in the list above, location #3: Suite303 has a 30-70% increase
in price for women when compared to men’s prices. This seems unfair, yet no one has a problem
with it since we continue to pay these ridiculous prices.
So, why is it that women are ok with paying so much more for a haircut than men pay? I happen to believe it’s due to conditioning from our society and our peers. If we see others do something, then we think its ok to do the same thing. Same goes for hair, or our appearance in general. If we are shown constantly that paying a certain amount for a haircut for women will be significantly more than a man, we begin to think this is right and the norm. But, once again, why is this the case?
Women in our society today are put under many different pressures, specifically about physical appearance. Because going to the hair salon is so much more of a routine for women, some going almost once a week, it means the demand for their hairstyles and hair treatments are much higher than a man’s. Higher demand lets hair salon owners pocket more and more money from those returning clients since they know they’re willing to pay a lot more to look good.
Men, on the other hand, will go to get their haircut at small barber shops for a trim and then leave. That quick, maybe once every 2 months, haircut transaction really doesn't equate to the treatments most women are getting. It’s hard to imagine a man going to a salon to get a full wash, cut, color, blow-out hair treatment, but who says they can’t or shouldn’t? It only makes sense for hair salons to price only according to the hair length and treatment asked for, rather than even have a starting price based on your gender. Between hair salons, dry cleaners, and other everyday places that price based on gender, we are continuing this gender binary when it is completely unnecessary. Once we let go of these generalizations about specific genders, we can really begin to see equality between men and women.
So, why is it that women are ok with paying so much more for a haircut than men pay? I happen to believe it’s due to conditioning from our society and our peers. If we see others do something, then we think its ok to do the same thing. Same goes for hair, or our appearance in general. If we are shown constantly that paying a certain amount for a haircut for women will be significantly more than a man, we begin to think this is right and the norm. But, once again, why is this the case?
Women in our society today are put under many different pressures, specifically about physical appearance. Because going to the hair salon is so much more of a routine for women, some going almost once a week, it means the demand for their hairstyles and hair treatments are much higher than a man’s. Higher demand lets hair salon owners pocket more and more money from those returning clients since they know they’re willing to pay a lot more to look good.
Men, on the other hand, will go to get their haircut at small barber shops for a trim and then leave. That quick, maybe once every 2 months, haircut transaction really doesn't equate to the treatments most women are getting. It’s hard to imagine a man going to a salon to get a full wash, cut, color, blow-out hair treatment, but who says they can’t or shouldn’t? It only makes sense for hair salons to price only according to the hair length and treatment asked for, rather than even have a starting price based on your gender. Between hair salons, dry cleaners, and other everyday places that price based on gender, we are continuing this gender binary when it is completely unnecessary. Once we let go of these generalizations about specific genders, we can really begin to see equality between men and women.
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