Queens Hair Salon Excursion

For my excursion, I decided that I would take a journey to various hair salons throughout Queens. The salons that I visited were Beauty Palace, Sonar Bangla, J&D Haircutters, Sushita Threading Salon, Naina Threading, and Asha Threading.

            Beauty Palace is a hair salon located on a busy street in Queens. The area is predominantly middle class,  full of culture and mingling ethnic groups. The first thing that I noticed about the salon was the multitude of women workers and clients. The receptionist was an African American female in her early 20’s.  The nail technician, who had her own space in the back of the salon, was a Hispanic woman in her late 20’s. The hair stylists seemed to be of European descent, as they were all communicating to each other in Italian. Their age ranged from mid 30s-50s, with their clientele being older women who were getting their perms and dyes. Throughout the entire salon, there was one station for the male barber. According to the women who worked there, the male barber was rarely scheduled to work as a result of the lack of men who came in for haircuts.

            In the span of an hour, only two men came in as opposed to the ten women who came in for appointments. The starting price for a womans hair cut was $30, with a trim being only $15. For a cut and blow out, the price for women could be between $30 and $75, depending on the length of hair. For men, clean ups were $12 and a full cut was $15. Even though men could have different lengths and textures of hair, male services remained a reasonable price whereas womens prices inflated on the same basis.

            After my visit to Beauty Palace, I was on my way home before walked into Sonar Bangla, a barbershop located in the middle of “little India.” I had only known of this establishment because my father and brothers have always gone there, whether they needed a quick clean up or a complete cut. When I entered the salon, I was not only the only woman, but the only Caucasian person there. I explained to one of the barbers that I was looking to record their prices and observe the types of clients that they attracted for a school assignment. The man understood what I was saying- I even showed him our project on the syllabus! However, he quickly shooed me from the store despite his understanding of my purpose. I was unable to record the prices, but I thought that this experience was interesting in terms of gender relations. The barber fully comprehended why I came into the shop, but I could tell that he and the other men were uncomfortable with my presence. I pondered this interaction on my way home, feeling quite confused over my treatment as a woman and potential customer.

            On the following day, I had to drive my younger sister to the hair salon, owned by her boyfriend’s mother. Rather than simply drop her off at J&D Haircutters in Maspeth, I decided to go in with her while she got her hair cut and dyed for prom. Upon my arrival, I noticed the prices immediately, most likely because the disparities were unbelievable. The starting price for women is $40, while the starting price for men is $16. When my sister was finished with her cut, dye, and blow dry, her total was $200. Luckily,  the perks of knowing the hair salon owner worked to our advantage, and my sister was not charged. However, $200 for that entire process is absurd, and even more unbelievable if the same treatment for men would have totaled as less than half of that charge.

            The next day, my sisters and I decided that we had to go on a beauty run. Our main focus was getting our eyebrows done, as our Italian genes allow these brows to run rampant!  Although we have a favorite spot to go to, I dragged my sisters on the excursion so that I could analyze the prices of various eyebrow salons.  First, we went to Sushita Threading on Steinway Street., a predominantly Middle Eastern area.  Knowing beforehand that men and women are charged differently, I recorded exactly how much the difference was. For women, eyebrow threading is $8. For men, threading is $5. For eyebrow waxing, women are $10, while the price for men is $8. Next, we went to Naina Threading, which is also located on Steinway.  The prices for threading here were also different amongst the (socially constructed) genders. Surprisingly, the cost of eyebrow threading for both women and men are $5! Determined to find a significant price difference, I looked at the waxing services. For a full, arm wax, women and men  pay the same amount-$20, and the same for back and neck waxes, a similar $25 across the board!

            I was in disbelief over the equal prices in the previous threading salon, that I did not even want to go to our usual spot. Even still, my sisters and I found ourselves at Asha Threading, also located on Steinway. We had only seen one man get their eyebrows done here before, so we figured that we would be safe from the scrutiny of a male in our threading haven. For womens eyebrows, the price is a flat $7. In comparison, men only have to pay $5 for their unruly eyebrows to turn into perfected strips of hair. Very interesting. I usually thread my upper lip as well, which costs $4. For men, however, there is no threading price for a mustache- just a waxing price of $10. Guess I got lucky with that one!

            My excursion to these various hair establishments has opened my eyes in regards to consumer price differences. While I imagine a similar trend of womens products and services costing more across the board, the variances were more tangible when presented with them in real life. The expenses involved in “maintaining” a woman fosters the idea that society, unfortunately, places an extreme value on the appearance of women- a value that is paid for monetarily and at the expense of female self esteem.