A pet peeve of mine. Men only barber shops. What the hell? I was driving down 9th street and I noticed that they had opened a salon by the name of “Barber’s.” It’s a men only haircut place. Come to find out that these are all over the USA. This in a day and age where we are supposedly free of discrimination against women. There seems to be a lawsuit hovering over in Canada having to do with the fact that a woman was literally turned away. The facts are iffy though and it could have to do with the fact that as Muslims the men could not cut the hair of women.
This is so important for all of us in this course because all of those people that still think we are free of discrimination need to take a look around. This is just one of many events that show us this is so.
The cycles of oppression were quite obvious. After look on the internet it took me six pages on Google to find any article about discrimination related to these shops. That means that they were ignored. Why was it ignored? Well, because it is an institution run by patriarchal hierarchy. Everyone ignores it because in society “that is just how men are.” Well as an individual I am saying that it is wrong. Unless there is a muscle in the barber’s hand that can detect whether or not there is a vagina in his barber chair he has no right to deny a haircut. It’s his problem if he doesn’t know how to do women’s hair just as it is a women hairstylist’s problem if she does not know how to cut hair of those who are darker skinned than she.
My new knowledge product is this: men only barber shops are discrimination. No group whatsoever has the right to deny another their professional services. We may be of different genders as we have been discussing this week. I get that barber shops are to cater to the male who likes to watch sports, have a shave, and get a haircut. What about the women who like these things? Are they to be denied because someone told them to act and be a certain way when they were born?
We are individuals and no one should tell us whether or not a service is right for us. Barbers may say they do not know how to do a woman’s hair. This is ignorance. They say that ignorance is bliss. Well, ignorance may be bliss but only for those who can afford it. It is time we recognize everyone for their nature and not preconceived conceptions of gender.
-Rachael Belcher
