In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

It’s not racist! It’s just racist!

piny

I see nothing potentially offensive about this at all! Why, it’s just good business practice to alienate a good portion of your patrons by implying that they’re dirty and difficult and that their patronage is unfairly burdensome to you. Think of it as actuarial hair, aggressive shearing of overhead costs. It’s not like there’s any system that would allow stylists to charge for actual rather than hypothetical service–what more reliable measure of hairstyle or hair maintenance is there than race? Dillard’s is downright progressive!

Go read the post. Then read all the comments from, ahem, preferred customers whose hair is a time-consuming pain in the ass to style. Oh, and go here to read about the easiest, breeziest style of all! (Okay, yes, Jill Gerston is apparently not of the good and it’s not like all the goldplate girls spend the price of rent on freaking dyejobs, but still. Like Pam said so eloquently, for the luvagod.)

10 thoughts on It’s not racist! It’s just racist!

  1. Said one non-racist barber, “Them darkies just don’t bathe regular.” But don’t worry, some of his best friends are…well, he doesn’t have any black friends, but he’s got some white ones that visit the tanning salon, like, three times a week.

  2. I’m a white dude. I used to get my hair cut at the barber college because it was four dollars. Due to the perceived easiness of my hair (based on my skin color) I was always assigned to the newest student. They frequently came to regret this. Once I sat for over an hour as the student and professor argued above me, in Russian, gesticulating at the back of my head with scissors. At one point the sudent packed his things and made to storm off. No one charged me extra.

    I bet when they lose or settle the suit they’ll start charging by time and not prix fixe. If that became widespread I’d have to buy a Flobee.

  3. I used to live in Minneapolis, which has to be biracial kid central and the best person I ever had do my hair (I’m a black woman) was a white/hispanic lady named Jenny. And this is coming from a woman who previously went to black stylists all my life.

    Hwwever, Jenny took the time to deliberately learn to do black hair because she realized the secret that most white stylist haven’t figured out: The average black women gets her hair done once a week like clockwork, in particular if they wear relaxed hair styles. That’s guaranteed money in the bank. Regular consistent money. Most white stylists can’t say that about their customers who come in every 6 weeks for a trim and color.

    I’m one of those women. You could send your kid to college on me. 🙂

  4. I live in London and until recently braided my hair. Tired of dishing out the dough everytime i got my hair ‘did’ i decided to have it all hacked off and highlighted. Went to the local mall and walked into a salon called Supercuts. I guess i should have known something was amiss when the patrons stared at me funny. Apparently they don’t do my ‘kind’ of hair. To make a scene or not make a scene, that was the question. I decided it wasn’t worth it and sought out a black hair salon where i could get my ‘difficult hair’ sheared and still maintain some feeling of self-worth.

  5. I just started to go to a salon that charges more for women than for men. A basic cut is $12 for men and $18 for women, no styling. I chafed at this a little, but considering I was paying $48 ($54 with the tip) at my old salon for a cut and blow job…I’m going back to the new place so I can save $$$ for gas (the blow job by our Dear Leader and his big oil friends). Plus, I got a great cut. I saw multiple races while in there. And, the new salon has a list of services that looks like a restaurant menu, and I don’t see any racial discrimination there, it was all up front. If you want your hair straightened or dyed, it’ll cost you the same. Weaves will cost you more, but doesn’t differentiate race. I’m a basic girl myself, very, very short ‘do with “silver” highlights. My jewelry of choice is sterling silver, so my hair matches. As far as whether the silver gives away my age…no, it gives away my wisdom. Gold…silver, it’s just a preference. And this was in Birmingham, AL.

  6. To make a scene or not make a scene, that was the question. I decided it wasn’t worth it and sought out a black hair salon where i could get my ‘difficult hair’ sheared and still maintain some feeling of self-worth.

    Jesus. This is one of those situations where I don’t know if I’d freak the fuck out or educate everyone. Angrily. But yeah, I’d rather be someplace where I was treated with respect. That said, I’m amazed that this town I live in (fairly small and whitebread as hell) has more than one hair salon specifically for black people, run by black people. There’s also a lady here in town who has a awesome little shop in the historical downtown district who will lock up people’s hair pretty reasonably. Her store is a gift store with fair trade African merchandise, but if you ask she’ll do wonderful locks, black people and white people alike.

    That said, I have only been to one salon in like five years. When you live in Indiana and a) are anal about your hair, and b) really don’t want The Jennifer, you’re restricted to a few places. After awhile, I decided to learn to do most of it on my own.

  7. Went to the local mall and walked into a salon called Supercuts. I guess i should have known something was amiss

    Well, if it’s the same Supercuts chain as in the States, I wouldn’t trust them to do my fine, thick, only-slightly-wavy hair, let alone trust them with chemically-straightened, brittle or otherwise.

    I was pretty blissfully unaware of the lengths that black women go to in order to get their hair done until law school, when my friend Rosalyn would fill me in on her weekly adventures in finding someone, anyone, in Ann Arbor who could do black hair — which always made me boggle, because there were plenty of black women on campus and around town. She discovered, however, that most of them just went to Detroit or, if they were from Chicago, like Rosalyn, they’d drive the five hours to get it done at home.

    She finally did find a good salon, run by a Korean woman who had had the same epiphany that Tiffany in Houston’s hairdresser had; she also discovered that one of the (white) assistants in the Dean’s office had adopted two black girls and had learned how to do black hair.

    I pay plenty for hair, $70 for a cut in my current place, which is my second choice. My first choice is the stylist I had for years at Bumble & Bumble, who was $60 when I started with her and a frickin’ genius, but whose cuts go for $120 and up now that she’s one of the trainers.

    Is it any wonder I’m growing out my hair and haven’t had a cut since January?

  8. People who deny their own bigotry are usually the ones most suffering from racially polarized views. It’s like people who deny the Holocaust: they tend to be the one most likely to stand by and do nothing, were such a thing to happen again. I mean, if you’re going to be a bigoted prick, at least be honest about it. Don’t pull this “I’m not racist, I just don’t like (Group X)” crap.

    On a side note, stuff like this makes me miss my old barbershop.

    Run by some 80-year-old guy named Pete, never said a word to his customers. He did white hair, black hair, Native hair. Granted, his clientele was exclusively male, but that could have had more to do with the decor and his area of experience. But this man still did hot lather shaves with straight-razor. Hot lather shaves! Tell you, nothing like it in the world.

  9. I live in London and until recently braided my hair. Tired of dishing out the dough everytime i got my hair ‘did’ i decided to have it all hacked off and highlighted. Went to the local mall and walked into a salon called Supercuts. I guess i should have known something was amiss when the patrons stared at me funny. Apparently they don’t do my ‘kind’ of hair. To make a scene or not make a scene, that was the question. I decided it wasn’t worth it and sought out a black hair salon where i could get my ‘difficult hair’ sheared and still maintain some feeling of self-worth.

    …Wow. What Lauren said. This is privilege in a nutshell, but: I had no idea. Pam has a followup of sorts in response to Snow Job’s incisive comments on American racism, in which she mentions several lawsuits resulting from this kind of discrimination.

    A basic cut is $12 for men and $18 for women, no styling.

    Didn’t I read somewhere about gender discrimination lawsuits? I’m gonna have to do some googling.

    I was pretty blissfully unaware of the lengths that black women go to in order to get their hair done until law school, when my friend Rosalyn would fill me in on her weekly adventures in finding someone, anyone, in Ann Arbor who could do black hair — which always made me boggle, because there were plenty of black women on campus and around town. She discovered, however, that most of them just went to Detroit or, if they were from Chicago, like Rosalyn, they’d drive the five hours to get it done at home.

    That amazes me, too. But no one ever said racism was rational–it’s not like Dillard’s is actually gonna make any money with this gambit.

  10. The thing that gets me is that they’re surcharging on very standard services, not special services. My hair is fairly short now, but when it was longer, they didn’t charge me extra for the greater amount of time it took to blow-dry it or the additional product.

    If they were smart, they’d have a comprehensive menu of services that took into account hair length, thickness, time spent, chemicals used, and what have you. Peg the price to the time, effort and materials, in other words.

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