That’s what this salon owner claims. Any truth to this assertion?
Bias suit filed over cost of haircut -Salon tried to charge black woman extra
I have an insurance client who is black, and owns a hair salon. She says she “specializes in ethnic hair”, which apparently means most of her customers are black women.
I know that most black women go through a lot more to get their look than most white women, what with the straightening and all, but I’m betting that U.S. courts will find it illegal to charge more based on “race”. I mean, what does “black” really mean, anyway? Is Colin Powell “black”? Most people call him “black”, but let’s face it, there is no way to draw a fixed line on what designates a person as member of a certain “race”.
This is not even mentioning the historical baggage of something like this.
I doubt the courts will allow them to get away with an “ethnicity price”. If they want to charge extra for specific styling processes like hair-straightening or braiding then that would be fine, but they can’t automatically charge any African-American woman extra. What if she doesn’t need or want to have her hair straightened or braided? If she just wants a cut, she should pay the same as anyone else.
I agree, basing the price on the ethnictiy is a bad thing; what the manager should be doing is charging based on the difficulty of the cut, that sounds far.
Back a few years ago, when I was still getting my haircuts at Fantastic Sams, I was getting a haircut when a Black woman came in and asked to get her hair done. The manager politely told her that the person who did Black hair had the day off, and to come back in another day. Well, the Black lady got all huffy and pissed off, and stormed out of the place.
BTW, I thought “ethnic” meant culture, not race.
As an African-American woman:
A haircut is a haircut. The difficulty of a haircut can vary based on a lot of factors, and if this woman had straightened hair already, then there was no justification for charging her any more than a white woman with thick hair, or a woman with extremely long hair.
Now hairstyles are a completely different monster. Most salons I’ve seen already have varying charges for styles, but they’re still not ethnicity-based, they’re based on the difficulty of creating the style. Looking at the woman’s picture, I can’t see a thing about her hairstyle which would make it 43-60% more expensive than styling the hair of a white woman.
Hermann Cheruscan, perhaps I’m just a bit thick tonight, but was there some point to your charming little anecdote?
I think the salon owner was wrong for charging an “ethnicity” fee.
However, I’d venture to say that black hair (and by “black” I mean that very fine, very dense, very curly hair that is common among those with African heritage) IS more difficult to work with… for people who don’t also have that type of hair. I have seen Black women just WHIP incredibly elaborate hairdos into their children’s hair in what seems to be split-seconds, but in talking to them I’ve found that A) it takes years of practice, and B) that type of hair is extremely fragile and requires a LOT of special treatment and handling to stay healthy.
Incidentally, those with typically Asian hair also have very special needs and require different handling for their hair. I wonder if that salon charges extra for that?
One of my Girl Scouts tried to do cornrows in my hair, and she finally gave up, saying “You white ladies got some weird hair - it don’t do nothin’ it’s supposed to!”
Asian hair appears (based strictly on visual observation) to be somewhat thick and straight, like a lot of white/caucasian people’s hair. What are these “very special needs” it has?
According to my uncle, who was a cosmetologist (and yeah, that’s the only cite I’m going on here) Asian hair is considerably thicker, heavier and straighter than “white” hair, and the difference is in the both follicles and the cuticle of the hair. Asian hair should not be razor-cut, for instance, because it will not do the same thing as Caucasian hair. It’s a great deal more difficult to color or perm Asian hair - it requires more chemicals to get the same effect.
tlw, I was just recounting a memory of mine, thats all.
The cost of haircuts should be based on difficulty. If Black hairstyles are more difficult, and take longer to do, then the salons are justified in charging a higher price.
BTW, tlw, what country in Africa are you from? And when did you become an American citizen? Just curious.
Now, Hermann Cheruscan, I’m sure that it is not I who is being thick tonight.
Oh, for Og’s sake, let’s not get into that garbage. Let’s just all agree that tlw will use the (some would argue incorrect) term African-American, and Hermann will use the (some would argue offensive) term Black. The whole thing has nothing to do the discussion at hand. Not-so-oblique insults don’t really serve to advance the discussion either, imo.
The lady who used to cut my hair back home ran a beauty school, and she told me that a lot of her students requested special classes about working with black hair. Not just for coloring and styling, but for cutting. That implies to me that it is more difficult to cut black hair well.
Besides, wer’re not just talking about a cut. This woman had a cut and style. So, arguably, the surcharge is for the additional work in styling. How much additional work was involved, I can’t say. I can’t tell from the picture how exactly she was wearing her hair, nor can I be certain that the hairstyle in the picture is the one she got at the salon in question. At any rate, I’d guess more was involved than the quick blowdry and combout that I pay 5-10 bucks for.
I know that there are salons in Montreal that have almost exclusively black women as clientele, and there are a lot of products (and hair-care product shops) that are also marketed exclusively to black women.
I used to go to a hair salon that did specialize in black women, so being the giant white person I am I was rather a novelty, but it didn’t make any difference and they had a very good student rate. I was quite upset when they had a fire and had to close. 
I am partially bald, but have never gotten a discount.
The salon has every right to vary their charges based on the difficulty of the desired style. They do not have the right to vary their charges based on race.
You will not start a race-baiting debate in IMHO, period.
the salon was really stupid. why not base pricing on a competing scale considering the time/difficulty/skill of the average service? Sheesh, a pet groomer,dentist,or landscaper could advise them on how to price the services.
Personal experience story here. I’ve been friends with Lauren since we were in gradeschool, and we often used to do each other’s hair. Our sleep-overs involved lots of attempts to copy styles we found in magazines. Lauren is black, and I am white. We used to comment all the time on the differences in our hair- my hair is difficult to put in braids, and it never stays in for more than an hour or so. Lauren’s hair is easy to braid, and it will stay perfect all day. The last time we hung out was a few weeks ago, and she had just gotten a new hairstyle- a sort of all-over small braids, but not corn-rowed at the top. (The style has a name, but I forget it.)
Here is what Lauren has always told me about “black hair”: the volume can be a pain in the ass to deal with. She could never get a bob-style cut because her hair did not lay flat. She straightened her hair on occasion, and she used a few hair products and this large hair dryer/brush combination, and it took a long time to do. But she has never had a problem getting her hair cut or styled- she just knows what will look good on her and what won’t, and she bases this on many factors such as the shape of her face, the texture and length of her hair, and personal preferences. How this is any different from anyone, I have no idea.
My other friend Joanna is white, but she has the thickest, curliest hair I have ever seen. It is impossible for her to straighten her hair, and she has a massive problem going to salons because no one ever knows what to do with her hair. She tells me of various hair nightmares she’s lived through in salons involving professional hair dressers being unable to get her hair to look right. She tells me that the main problem with her hair is its unfortunate tendency to explode in the presence of humidity.
Joanna always spends more money at salons that Lauren and I do.
I think a hair salon has every right to charge a customer whatever they want based on the difficulty of the style/cut/whatever. They have no right to charge based on anything else.
But the point of my story is that everyone’s hair is different and has “special needs”, and that race/ethnicity doesn’t have much to do with it. There are things I will never be able to get my hair to do, just because of the way it is. Every single person alive has the same problem. I don’t see that it’s all that different. I guess if you really want to, you could make an argument that different races have certain characteristics in common in regards to hair, and you’d be right, but only superficially. What your hair looks like and what goes into getting to look that way is different for everyone. Professional hair dressers should know this better than anyone, and charging more because of “race” just shows a basic ignorance and a lack of talent on the part of the stylers.
I also think there’s no excuse for different rates by sex. I’ve got longer hair than my girlfriend and I doubt that it’s easier to cut or that I’m easier to please, so why do they charge her more?
The net result is that I’m irritable and alert for signs that they are sloughing off and not paying serious attention when they are working on my hair. I think I’m going to go elsewhere although I do like the staff personally.
The salon is wrong because
A) a lot of black people have hair that is not so unlike white folks’ hair. Why should they pay more?
B) a lot of white people have hair that is not so unlike black folks’ hair. Why should they pay less?
Hair and race are two goddamn different things.