Barber shop in Leeds asks pregnant woman to leave

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Seriously. A friend of a friend just posted this on Facebook. I am raging.

Apparently it isn't the first time they've behaved like this - a man was refused entry when he was with his four year old daughter as apparently they have a "no females" policy.

Absolutely outrageous

What?

There are a few barbers dotted round the country that do this.

This one was in the news last autumn: www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fashion-and-style/11254834/All-women-should-be-banned-from-barber-shops.html

I don't think the pregnancy is relevant, as the ban is on all women irrespective of fertility.

I suppose it's a case of whether an establishment which offers services to one sex only can restrict the premises to actual/potential customers only.

I suppose the pregnancy is relevant because even if they have this rule you'd have thought they'd have the compassion to relax the rules for a heavily pregnant woman who has a greater need to sit.

Otherwise they obviously thinkmit makes business sense and that their customers prefer it. They don't cut women's hair so I'm sure as a private business they're allowed to say that non customers arent allowed in.

Well it's illegal to discriminate on the grounds of gender so they're breaking the law by asking women to leave. However, it seems churlish given she was already in and sitting down.

Having said that, to be honest, I value 'women only' spaces and I can see that men probably also value 'male only' spaces. I wouldn't advocate asking a man to leave a 'woman only' space once he was there and parked, but I would appreciate it being made clear to him that it's a women's space. I think the same is true in this situation.

Seems very strange, presumably they miss out on mums bringing sons in.

With the four year old, my hairdresser doesn't allow children to wai whilst an adult gets their hair cut.

Sorry, I also meant its churlish given that she was there and sitting down and heavily pregnant (i.e. probably more in need of a sit down than some random woman).

You are allowed to provide services for one gender only when there is serious reason for it. As barbers are trained totally differently to hairdressers, that is a serious reason. Some might cut women's hair, but they are not compelled so to do. Just as someone who is trained only in Afro hair can refuse to cut Caucasian.

So it's legal to have a barber who caters only for men.

It's a case of whether it is reasonable to restrict use of premises to customers. And I think quite a lot of businesses do that.

It sounds like the business would be happy for a customer's brother to sit there, as the reason given was 'man cave' not 'no room for non customers'

The only such restrictions I can think of Volva, are ones where the business undertakes some form of intimate care of one specific sex. So, a lot of beauty salons will restrict massages to women only, or have women only days due to the intimacy of the services provided. I'm not sure a barber (unless the, anything for the weekend question involves a lot more than it used to) can really say that they provide intimate services for men.

Of course a business can restrict it's premises to men only, if it so desires. And anyone who objects to that is welcome to state their objection.

That said, I also value women's only spaces, I'm just not convinced that a shop where you get your hair cut could be seen as one.

Seenemgiven Is it only 'no males' policies you like?

Hmmm, yes, because men have so jolly few men only spaces now, don't they? Poor things.

We have a branch of Barber Barber in my city. I remember hearing similar stories about their no female policy when it first opened.

This is quite a funny comment on the Barber Barber ethos.

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-lad-cut-above-satirical-7953825

There was a thread here years ago where a MNer went into a barbers for a haircut as she has very short hair in a "male style" and the barber refused to cut her hair. The MNer was furious and reckoned it was sex discrimination. I do kind of see her point if she has a short back and sides type style but many posters pointed out that barbers aren't trained to cut women's hair.

I have heard these reports but walked past the place on Saturday and saw a man, woman and wee girl leaving it.

Maybe they'd just been booted out..

Anyway. It's an cringey hipster dump run by moustachioed wankers. We're not missing anything..

Yonic someone had posted a picture of her small son having his hair cut in there while she waited outside. She seemed pretty pleased about it. So bizarre.

AuntieStella, it's the same company I believe.

Apparently one of the other branches also refused to serve a transgender boy.

Oh, that's weird about her waiting outside!

Refusing to serve a transgender boy is bad, and has the potential to be embarrassingly wrong.

There's someone who works in our village shop who after 5 years im still not sure if it's a young man or woman.

I think this place does shit like this deliberately

I've seen girls in there though, teenagery types with their hipster bf's seem to be welcome

This is mad - men and women don't have different hair! Yes, culturally we tend to have different hairstyles but you don't have to. I can't understand how this is allowed under the Equality Act.

'Hmmm, yes, because men have so jolly few men only spaces now, don't they? Poor things'

Where's that then?

You tell me, chuckles, you're the one with the beef here

Just for balance, the barber shop in Leeds where I take ds is staffed by women. They do only cut male hair (although I assume strictly speaking they only do semi-basic short cuts and no washing/colouring or any of that stuff - I imagine they wouldn't actually refuse to serve a woman with short hair).

It seems as if this policy might be intended to garner them publicity rather than because their male customers need a space to discuss testicular cancer and other male-only considerations.

Vashta, I think it can be argued that the range of styles you learn is different.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I know there are Women's Hospitals, Women's cancer screening units etc. but I can't think of any exclusively Men's spaces.

And it's the OP with the beef.

Three posts on MN so far and one deleted?

Gosh.