Hairdressers shouldn't be allowed to charge women more

[tingalayo]

I've just moved to a new area, looked at the price list for the local hairdresser. It's £20 for men and £38 for women! This seems pretty common. My husband has long hair and is quite particular about how he wants his layers etc to be. My hair is the same sort of length as his and I give much less of a crap about what it looks like. I have to pay nearly twice as much as him for a haircut so it's just a Woman Tax and discriminatory. Should it not be based on hair length or something?

hairdressers are a business and can charge whatever they like. The market will decide if they stay in business or not.

There is a huge difference in doing, say, roots & a cut and dry, and giving a chap a short back and sides (or whatever it is they do these days). I am going to assume that if a man wants something more complicated that takes more time, materials and experience, he is also charged accordingly?

This comes up a lot on social media. Salons still do it.
It's fine to charge less for a buzz cut than for layering and blow drying long hair, but it isnt OK to charge less for the same haircut just on a man rather than a woman.

Ask the salon. But they'll start charging him more, rather than charging you less.

I haven’t ever been to a hairdresser with separate price lists like that. Generally there are barbers in my area which cater to men - trims, shaves - shaping and shortening rather then styling. Then there are salons which cater more to women - they have set prices and will have more of a style element, shampoos/layers/blow dries/Colouring etc as well as trims. If a man had long hair and wanted layers and styling he’d go to the salon rather than barbers and pay the same price.

Did you read the OP? Why are you assuming they would charge him the same when her OP clesrly says they dont.

He has long hair and layers etc. He gets charged £20 because it is a man's cut.
She has similar hair to him. She gets charged £38 because it is a woman's cut.

It should be based on time/resources required. Your DH may find he has to pay more, if he actually makes enquiries ,rather than looking at price list - that's based on what the average man wants/asks for.

has she actually gone in with a long haired man and asked?

You simply don't have to use places that charge like this. Other hairdressers are available. And this is surely not news to anyone?

This is a fairly rare situation though. Generally mens hair is far quicker and easier to cut and the prices are based on that. If you're not bothered about the quality of the cut use the cheapest hair dresser you can find or use a college etc

Supply and demand.

Also, 90% of men seem to get the same boring, easy to do hairstyle.

I started a thread on this once and my 2 kids (one boy one girl) went for the same haircut (both had shoulder length hair) and got charged the same. I massively got my arse handed to me by people who told me it’s a different skill 🤷‍♀️ I don’t believe that and agree with you completely.

This is why I now go to a barber's. I have short hair. Salon cost is £36, barber's is £14 with no faff or small talk.

Yes! I stopped going to my hairdressers for this reason. I have very short hair. It literally takes 10 - 15 minutes to trim and dry and they wanted to charge me double what they charge men - even if takes longer.

SORRY my kids got charged DIFFERENTLY - not the same 🤦🏼‍♀️ Half term brain

Hairdressers near me say hair cuts from £x. They don’t distinguish female/male other than hairdresser level.

Even the local barbers just say a from price.

I think it's because in general there is a lot more involved in women's hairstyles ,I think for men that are more particular may find they pay more too.

So your kids were charged the same amount for the same haircut? Why did you start a thread about that?

Barbering and hairdressing ARE different skills. But that is applicable to your comment because your kids both had the same style, which is the same skill and charged the same.

@WeepingSomnambulist see my update - i ballsed the post up they got charged differently 🤦🏼‍♀️ MN needs an edit button!

I'm with you Op. My hairstyle is very much one that you might see on a man but I still pay woman prices. Barbers generally won't cut women's hair. I used to use a website "Short hair don't care" that told you which barbers locally would but women's hair but they can be a pain to get to as few and far between. I discovered during lockdown that I can do a reasonable job of cutting my own hair so the jokes on them. Once every few months I might go to an actual hairdresser.

I have several hairdressers in the family. The gents and ladies prices are based on the more typical and fairly binary fashion we have in the UK, which is most women have haircuts that take 1 hour. And most men have haircuts that take 10 minutes.

I guarantee the only reason your partner is being charged the standard men's price is because the hairdresser feels too awkward to insist he's charged the 'womens' price. But if he mentions it they will almost certainly charge him the women's price

It’s generalised. Your husband with log layered hair is an outlier. Most men do not have long high maintenance styles. So they price to the general customer. If you want to complain then do so and demand they charge your DH the full price.

He's gone to various hairdressers in the past and has always paid the men's price! Nowhere has ever charged him more because he has long hair!
I'm not sure about "it's a business and they can charge what they like", businesses aren't allowed to just charge women more for any other service I'm aware of?

Have you tried going to the hairdresser and saying you're a man?

Most men have a dry cut which occupies the chair for not very long, and doesn’t use hot water, energy for drying, products, etc. Most women’s cuts require all those things, plus the necessary longer time in the chair, so there is a good reason for cost differential.

HOWEVER, that should be based entirely on the type of cut, and not the genitals of the person receiving it. Posting prices for men and women based on who they are, and not the job being done, is nuts.

My mum only ever has a dry trim of her unlayered bob, and she’s charged the same as my dad, who has a dry short back and sides.

Yes, it is wrong, but it is so common that people are used to it and ready to defend.

I stopped visiting hairdressers, as I don't understand why I should pay the highest available price for simple 10 minutes trimming on long hair (no blow drying, I prefere natural dry). Bought a good scissors and done

I'm not sure about "it's a business and they can charge what they like", businesses aren't allowed to just charge women more for any other service I'm aware of?

There is such a thing as the Pink Tax where several products, which are basically the same, but are available in a "women's" version are more expensive. There are websites devoted to pointing this out.

The only thing you can do is go in at the same time, have exactly the same treatment and see what they charge each of you. Then complain.

I remember that thread. I think if they are doing the same cut, they should charge the same. Most women have more complex cuts.

And to the MNers who constantly say "businesses can do what they like". No, they can't. They have to comply with equality and consumer protection laws. If someone thought a hairdresser was being unduly discriminatory, they could take action. But in most (probably the vast majority) of cases, the woman's haircut will be more complex and so they will have a robust defence to complaints about charging more.