Lesbian woman with short hair blasts salon that refused to give her the cheaper men’s rate – arguing people should be charged by length and not gender
- Unnamed US woman took to Reddit to complain about salon experience
- Said she ended up storming out after speaking to the manager
- Woman said she lives in conservative area and doesn’t want to go to barbers
- But some said she should have negotiated price before appointment
A lesbian woman with short hair has provoked a lively debate about salon prices, after being refused a cheaper men’s trim.
The unnamed woman from the US opened up about the row on Reddit, saying she has short hair but doesn’t want to go to a barbers because of the prejudice she would face due to living ‘in a conservative part of the country.’
During a recent trip to the salon, she told staff that she should be charged $22 (£17.54), rather than the $40 (£31.90) for a woman’s cut because of her hair, and stormed out when the manager ‘looked shocked’.
She was largely supported with some people branding her treatment ‘sexual discrimination’ and ‘legit sexism’, but some dissenting voices said she should just go to a barbers to save the trouble.
An unnamed woman from the US said she wanted her short hair cut, but a salon refused to give her the cheaper men’s rate (stock image)
She wrote on Reddit: ‘It usually only takes about 10-15 minutes for me to get a haircut. During that time every salon I’ve gone to has charged me for a full price women’s cut.
‘This has always annoyed me and I don’t enjoy paying almost double what men with the exact same haircut as me pay.’
She said that on her trip to get her monthly trim she decided to ‘try something new’ and put the suggestion to the staff in the salon after booking a consultation.
However, things didn’t go to plan. She said: ‘The woman at the counter looked like I slapped her.
‘She called a manager and the stylist over and they seemed shocked by the suggestion. They talked about it among themselves and then told me it wasn’t possible.’
She added that the staff’s only rebuttal was that they ‘don’t charge by style’, only by gender.
The woman added that ’12 years of frustration boiled over’ and she left the consultation.
The post garnered a huge reaction, dividing people on whether the woman was right to ask for a men’s haircut.
Commenters supported the woman, arguing it’s outdated to charge people by gender rather than the length of their hair (stock image)
One poster, called Carol, said: ‘This is exactly how my stylist charges, thankfully. I’m a woman with a “butch” haircut, and she used to charge me for a men’s cut to save me some money.
‘Recently, though, she changed her system so she can charge for the cheaper “clipper cut” or the more expensive “scissor cut” and leave gender completely out of it.’
A male commenter with long hair empathized with the original poster. He said: ‘I’m a dude with really long hair, even get it cut at salons, and I get charged the men’s rate. It’s a f****** stupid system.’
Another poster said: ‘They should be charging you for the service, not your gender.’
‘All she wanted was to be charged appropriately. The men’s price for the men’s based cut she wanted. The fact that the stylist couldn’t work with her AND the manager couldn’t.. Because let’s be realistic.. They could have just rung it up at the different price… Ugh. Yuk.
‘I don’t blame her for walking out. I would have too,’ said another.
Most people appeared to be in favour of the woman’s logic but some criticised her for how she handled the situation.
One poster said: ‘You booked the appointment, implying that you accepted the price. Then you tried to renegotiate at the last minute.
‘When you look at this way, it should make more sense why they reacted how they did.
‘It has nothing to do with what’s fair, as far as male vs female -you forced them into a situation where they have to agree to your new price, or they burn the appointment slot.’