Why do women pay more for a short haircut? - BBC News
▻https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-50691249
"I pointed to the client and said, ’I’m literally asking for this haircut that you’re doing now’ and he just said ’no’. I think for a long time people have seen the barber’s as a male sanctuary where they don’t have to deal with women. I also think it ties in with what people believe a woman should look like.
“Hair is a huge part of queer culture and lesbian identity as well, so I can’t help but feel there is some homophobia wrapped up in all these refusals I’ve had.”
If being denied a haircut based on gender seems clearly discriminatory, there’s also the issue that at salons that do offer a unisex service, there’s still often a price list that shows one fee for women and a much cheaper one for men.
The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) points out that women usually have more complicated haircuts than men, and so are charged more.
Chief executive Hilary Hall says: “This is because men tend to have shorter hair, require haircuts which are technically quicker to deliver, do not typically include the range of products used for women and require less time for finishing. For example, a bob may be viewed as a short style, but it is more technically challenging than a short back and sides.”
There are salons that do offer gender-neutral pricing, such as Butchers in Hackney, east London.
“Historically, in our industry there has been a gap between the price charged for men and women,” co-founder Susannah Jones says. "This was based on the belief that men have short hair, which is quick and simple to style, and women have long hair, which takes more time and skill. This is simply not the case.
“Short haircuts can actually be more technical and often take longer, so time wasn’t even a factor when we used to charge less for men - it was purely because they were male, which felt morally wrong.”