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?

Most men have shorter hair than most women.

If they charge a man with long hair less and then he recommends them to other men they're onto a winner

Partly because men won't put up with things being highly priced because they are of a 'specific version'. Most men will just buy the cheapest item - shoes, clothes etc

I saw it once in the high street - tools like screwdrivers & pliers with pink handles aimed at women were much higher priced. Just don't buy them and go for the cheaper version. the shops will soon catch on.

I saw it once in the high street - tools like screwdrivers & pliers with pink handles aimed at women were much higher priced. Just don't buy them and go for the cheaper version. the shops will soon catch on.

one of the best ones i saw were garden secateurs - pack of two bog standard, for a tenner. Pack of one, flowery handles - twelve sodding quid.
I only wanted one so when another woman picked up a pack we decided to go halves which greatly annoyed the shop staff when we asked to borrow scissors to snip the cable ties.

Next time you get to the till, tell them you identify as a man.

I agree. Cutting a man’s hair is more complicated than a trim off my all one length hair, yet I get charged more.

Worth a try!

I asked a barber about this once. He said he wouldn't cut women's hair because in general women were more demanding. Men just sat down and asked for a trim but women wanted a style and during the course of the cut would discuss it endlessly and ask for changes. He said it wasn't worth the bother.

So, as a previous poster said, I think those that do cut men and women's hair give different prices because in general, a woman's hair cut takes longer.

My female friend has a buzz cut. Some barbers shops have refused to cut her hair before because she's female.

Apparently it's very common. My salon makes a big deal that they charge only by service/ complexity (and then varies by seniority of stylist) not by your Sex/ gender
So a buzzcut by senior stylist, or a full head of highlights on shoulder length hair by a junior are the same prices if you're male or female.

The salon dp uses has very high prices for women whereas men it's £15 BUT it says from £15 it turns out when I queried it that they charge long haired men the womens rate if they want the service women have - so I asked could I have a basic trim for the mens rate and they agreed (I don't have colour or layers and I don't use a hairdryer

Oh don’t be so silly.

Dress down and go in as a man and see what happens

Do you realise a Barber and Hairdresser are trained in a completely different way. Depending on the skills they have some barbers won't touch long hair,unless you want a grade 1 all over.
As for a barbers refusing to cut women's short hair, because they're a women...complain.

FGS, mister. Just tell your hairdresser you're a transman.

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.

I agree.

I would not be going to a hairdresser that charges more simply because I’m a women.

The price should be based on the length of hair, time it takes, products used etc and not whether you have a penis or a vagina.

I’d say I was transgender and say I need it half price 😁

They can't. It's illegal. But they may not get pulled up on it.

www.nhbf.co.uk/news-and-blogs/blog/cut-out-inequality-at-your-barbershop/#approaches

Those saying that typical women's haircuts are more complex are wrong. The longer the hair the easier it is to cut, short hairstyles are much more technical. The only general difference I can think of is that women tend to want a wet cut and dry/finish which would rakr more time. Surely they should just charge for either wet cut with or without finish or dry. If anything, short hair is a more difficult cut if both long and short we're cut dry.

They should do a short hair, medium hair and long hair cut at different prices. It's probably generalising that women have long hair and men short.

I suspect that it is as much to do with the social interaction in a salon as it is to do with the actual hairdressing.

Men tend to be in and out in 10 minutes (generally) women can be hours.
I have also never known men to be offered refreshments were as it seems standard in most salons for women.

The longest I have ever known a men to be in a hairdressers was when they forgot about him as the males section was downstairs in the cellar.

It’s about averages, OP. Most men have short hair in simple styles, which as other posters have said, will be quick and easy to cut. Most women don’t. Of course there are exceptions to this. Your husband is one of them. But as a general rule, the men’s hair will take fewer resources to do. So they get charged less.

Why don't hairdressers charge on time or complexity?

Surely that would be possible?

Short hair, short time, trim, dry £x
Long or short hair, med time, trim wash and blow dry £y
Head massage, long time, restyle, wash and blow dry £z

And so on.....

And how much do they charge non binary people?!

You are correct a business cannot charge what they like and then base pricing on a protected characteristic such as sex. But that said in our case, my husband is in and out in twenty minutes whereas I am there for two hours, so I don’t find it surprising that I pay more than he does. That said, I think you should discuss your respective needs.

My husband goes to a different place than I do, I have just checked my own hairdressers and they charge £43 for a “gents cut and finish” and £52 for a woman’s cut and blow dry, however they do indicate that the gent’s appointment is 30 minutes whereas the woman’s appointment is an hour.

Maybe now is the time to identify as a man and ask for men's rates!

I (woman) have gone to places where there are different prices for men and women. I have it shaved all over with the clippers and they always charge me the men's price.

They just say something like; "Oh, I've only used the clippers so I'll just charge you £x".

I think they're trying to differentiate on time and effort but it's difficult to articulate on the price list, so they refer to men and women.