I usually cut my own hair. Why? Because I'm cheap. I'm very cheap.
I recently decided that for the 1/2 marathon in San Diego I'm going to have Team in Training purple highlights put in my hair. Since I can't do that, I called up the spa where a friend of a friend works and made an appointment.
Afterward, I checked out their website. I know, I know. That's the wrong order but let's just move on past that.
I noticed that they charged for haircuts according to gender.
Huh.
Really?
So, it kind of pissed me off a wee, tiny bit and they had this contact information there just begging me to send them feedback. Aaaand to sum up an unnecessarily long story, I sent them the following email:
Good Morning, people I don’t know.
I just recently made an appointment with you for the first time and decided to check out your website. While there, I noticed you price haircuts according to gender and that kind of offends me. And I needed to send you an e-mail and let you know because this is the information age and opinions must be e-mailed!
Anyway, so, do you charge a woman with very short hair the same price as a woman with long hair? Do you charge a man with very long hair the same price as a man with short hair? What about transvestites? Do they get the male or female price?
I get that you’re probably assuming men will have shorter and easier to cut hair but that has nothing to do with whether their bits dangle. It has to do with the length of their hair. So, why not price according to hair length?
That’s it. I’m just protesting further separation and assignation of humanity according to gender as represented by your pricing system. If, as I suspect, you really don’t care what I think, please ignore my e-mail and go about your business. I just thought I’d let you know. Have a great day!
Love & Kisses,
Annie
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Because, unlike hair length, a cheap woman customer can't argue she's a man for a less expensive haircut.
ReplyDeleteBesides, good management and efficiency in the workplace means reducing the amount of executive decisions an employee has to make, reducing the need for the role of a manager. I remember a past conversation with a friend of mine who is a hairdresser, that explained that not only do women tend to have longer hair, whatever the length their haircuts take significantly longer than a man's. For these two reasons, I think sorting by gender makes sense. It's not sexist for a barber to elect only to cut men's or women's hair, and you can expect a barber's shop to offer cheaper haircuts and a salon. When the two are combined, offering a flat rate would stop the business being competitive with all the businesses around it.
Ideologically, it isn't the most solid thing in the world. But, to me, especially in broadly equal times and with growing evidence men now in many ways take a greater share of society's burden than women, ideology takes a back seat to the sensible realities of how the world actually works. Stuff like this is, to me, a contributing factor to why feminism is known best for its pedantry.
I know this is a year late but can you explain the statement 'men now in many ways take a greater share of society's burden than women'?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand that. My husband and I both work full time but I am still consistently made to feel responsible for the upkeep of the house. I am also still expected to take my equal share of responsibilities historically deemed 'male' such as lawn and vehicle maintenance. I change the oil in our vehicles for example.
I have four sisters and two are single mothers. Society increasingly expects women to support themselves and their offspring almost entirely alone. How is that not taking a greater share in society's burden?
How are you defining this?