| rev:text
| - tldr; I really wanted to like it, probably good for standard "men's haircut", I was refused service, not especially friendly to femme/women/queer people with long hair who want to go short.
I called and made an appointment for myself (a queer woman) and my roommate (a man). We both had long, thick hair; his going past his shoulders and mine just above my shoulders. He had gone to Mister Grooming & Goods before and highly recommended it. I was interested in having my hair cut to a short men's style (think Leonardo DiCaprio from Titanic but a bit longer), so I thought it fitting that I get my hair cut at a barber. Anyways, I called and made an appointment for me and my roommate, making sure to specify that both of us had long hair-- and a lot of it-- and that I wanted to go much shorter. It seemed like we were all set to go.
I arrived at the barber shop and the staff, beverages, decorations--the entire atmosphere really seemed perfect. My roommate was seated first. Then, I was handed over to Gina and I explained what I wanted to with my hair and showed her pictures of men's hairstyles (and a few of Kristen Stewart just cause). She looked a little surprised and at first said that she "didn't have the materials to cut my hair." To me, this meant that she wasn't comfortable cutting my long hair to the particular style that I wanted. I was very understanding and thankful for her honesty. She then said that she *could* do the haircut, but it just wouldn't be her best work and I was only booked for 30 minutes which wouldn't be nearly enough time. Again, I was very sympathetic. With no real seriousness (after all it's just hair), I explained how I tried to tell the receptionist when I initially made an appointment that my roommate and I both had long hair. As I relayed this, I pointed to my roommate. She asked my roommate's barber, Nick, what haircut my roommate was getting (maybe some layering, an inch or two off, he said). "Well, he's a *guy*," she said in a lower tone as she waved her hand, "They're not as particular. I'd want to take more time with you." I left the shop with the same hair as I had come in with--without much apology (mainly reasons/excuses, which I had initially understood) or recommendations about where to go instead or if I should make another appointment with them. An hour and 15 minutes later, my roommate came out with an excellent hair cut.
At first, I was confused about whether this issue was due to a mistake scheduling, a lack of expertise, or just plain sexism. What I do know is that I was heart-broken. Not because I was turned away-- but because of that last comment. Because my roommate was a guy with long hair, he got to have his hair cut. Because I was a woman with the same length hair (if not shorter and thinner), I didn't get my hair cut. Essentially, I was refused service.
I've come to realize that there isn't really much sense to made out of it. It's been about a month since that happened, and I understand that this was an off-handed comment not meant to alienate me as a queer, somewhat femme-presenting person at the time. I was hoping to express a more masculine style through my hair, so it was especially upsetting to me that I was not able to do that precisely because it's what I wasn't already. What made it all the more surprising was that the shop appeared "hipster," which one would think would be more friendly to these sorts of issues. Again, I don't think this was intended, and don't necessarily blame the shop for my "hurt feelings" per se. But ultimately, I do think it was incredibly sloppy and rude. Needless to say, neither my roommate nor I will be returning.
Mine is a fairly specific set of circumstances, so this probably won't apply to most. That being said, I'd be *very cautious* if you are queer/femme presenting/woman/non-binary/transperson etc., who has long hair, and is looking for a hair cut.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)