Sian Jones is an artist and campaigner for equality and mental health. She helped organise the Reclaim these Streets rally and is known for her ‘notes to islanders’ art project, where she worked with Guernsey Mind and the Guernsey Arts Commission to develop signboards ‘dispelling the myths around mental health’.
She recently took to Facebook to seek opinion on haircuts being priced by gender.
“I’ve just been to the hairdresser,” she said. “I booked in for a gent’s cut as I have short hair (it was an option online, this is what I’ve been charged before), however upon paying I was charged for a female cut (almost double the price).
“Why, in 2023, is our hair price defined by our ‘gender’ and not by the amount of time it takes?!”
You can read the full post below:
She said she has received dozens of responses, some of them have been repeated (anonymised) below:
- “I really hope you follow this up Sian. My son, who had long hair at the time, was refused a cut at a barbers and we were told to go to a ladies hairdresser as he would receive a ‘better’ cut. I could see his point at the time – and I felt he was sincerely trying to give good advice. However, since going to a lady’s hairdresser, my son’s haircuts have always been charged differently. As little as £10 – £30. He now has short hair! Much easier!”
- “Completely agree with you Sian. I went to a glasses company and wasn’t allowed to choose from the men’s range…. I believe they may have had a team meeting about that too.”
- “There are some local hairdressers that change by length/time and not gender. I remember reading a few posts about it several months back.”
Last year Express reported on Tribe charging for length of time, instead of by gender.
The then Salon Director, Lyndsey Mahy, said at the time: “As fashion changes, so does hairdressing. Not all men want a quick cut and not all ladies want to spend hours in the salon.
“All haircuts are now embraced among all genders, so how could we continue to charge by gender?
“We also want our transgender and non-binary or gender non-conforming clients to feel valued and seen.”