Saw this topic on Slate this afternoon but the discussion was more about economic theory construction and did not come to any useful conclusion as to the huge price differential between dry cleaning men’s and women’s shirts and why this exists in a supposedly competitive business like dry cleaning.
Dry cleaners said:
1: Women’s shirts are more delicate and require special handling.
2: Women douse their shirts with perfume which has to be removed.
3: Women are more particular and their shirts need special attention and hand pressing vs machine pressing.
4: Just because…go away.
The writer S. Landsberg really didn’t believe any of these explanations could fully justify the large cost differential.
Personally, I get 5 shirts a week cleaned and pressed and I would make a WAG that women don’t process anywhere near the same volume of shirts that men do and this is partially reflected in the price differential … but can it really cost that much more to clean and press a “female” cotton dress shirt than a male cotton dress shirt. Are women really that much more demanding with cleaners?
Can the SD readership offer a definitive reason why this cost differential exists in a competitive market?
Why do women’s haircuts cost more (and a lot more) than men’s?
My reason is because dry cleaners and hairstylists can charge these prices and they don’t lose any business because of it.
All it would take would be for one dry cleaner to charge the same price for men’s and women’s shirts and we could find it out if that pricing scheme is financially viable.
I’ve heard dry cleaners say that it’s because women’s shirts are smaller, and won’t fit onto the automatic pressers, and must be pressed by hand. I say, maybe the dry cleaners should get another automatic presser in a smaller size.
Astro–a question–what do you mean when you say that “women don’t process anywhere near the same volume of shirts that men do?” I think women wear one shirt a day, just like men.
The haircut price differential really bugs me. A common explanation is that “a woman expects more consultation and a more careful haircut, so it must cost more.” It seems that this discriminates against men. Aren’t they entitled to the same care as a woman?
Re women’s haircuts just from empirical observation there is good reason why they are more expensive. They generally take considerably longer and are far more detailed in terms of the entire process.
When a man gets a haircut there is usually a brief consultation at the beginning as to how to proceed and after that point other than sitting higher or lower or getting his eyebrows trimmed, little more is said of the process and other subjects are discussed (depending on how gregarious the barber/stylist is)until the cut is over, which is generally done in 1/2 to 1/4 the time it takes to complete the average female cut.
The female cut/style typically involves a lot more interaction with regard to how short -how long- how curled how this and how crimped that.
Female - male haircut price differentials are no mystery. It’s time based.
My hair is a simple shoulder-length bob. The “consultation” usually goes like this:
Me: Take about 2 inches off, all around.
Stylist: Okay.
The haircut itself takes about 3 minutes.
Most men’s haircuts, on the other hand, require layering and clipping. That is more complicated.
Just for the record, I have decided not to go to salons anymore for my haircuts. It is way too expensive and the chemical smells in the salons give me a headache. I am trying to talk my husband into learning to cut my hair. If he won’t do it, I am going to go see if the nice barber who waves at me when I walk by his shop every day will cut my hair.
Like I said it was a WAG ;> but the women I deal with professionally usually wear a pressed shirt once or twice a week at best. The rest of the time it’s a dress or a sweater or some other outfit whereas the men are “shirted” all five days and I extrapolated this to the entire universe…just like that!
Re the haircut… I actually had the opportunity to experience a “female style” cut. About a year ago I was to meet some friends at a local nightspot and wanted to get a haircut. It was Friday at 8 PM and all the usual barber shops were closed
On the way home I noticed the most exclusive salon in town was still open. I figured
“What the hell… why not… hair is hair”. I was the last customer in the door. The owner was the only one still working and was being paid by a large red headed women gushing about how great the cut she had gotten was. She left and he locked the door behind her and languidly motioned for me to arise.
I told him I wanted a “basic short men’s cut” and he said “Well… we’ll see”. He washed my hair three times… slowly (it wasn’t dirty) and massaged my scalp gently but vigorously.
Over the next 45 minutes I had more attention paid to my scalp and eyebrows than I have ever experienced. It was uncomfortable in one sense because he insisted on resting his hand and knee on the top of my thigh to get purchase get to my eyebrows and front hairline (I’m fairly tall and he was med-short) and I had no illusions about why he was doing this … but I really needed the hair cut and quite frankly the experience was somewhat intoxicating… the gentle music, the expert scissor work (no clippers!) and the intense focus he had just on me, making sure every stand was just so.
He finally finished up and I asked him how much I owed . He said “Well normally I charge $ 50.00 but…” and cocked his head to the side. Before another word came out of this mouth I said “That’s fine” and paid him (yes I tipped him too) and walked to the front door to be let out.
Men simply don’t experience this level of attention as a matter of course. I can see why women are willing to pay for going to the salon. It’s more than just a haircut, someone pays ATTENTION to you.
In retrospect it was maybe a little too much attention but it was still interesting and it was the best haircut (as haircuts go)I ever had. I had the impression of being “finished” whereas with a regular haircut you’re just “nice and neat”.
I think some of it is the difference between laundering and dry cleaning. Men usually send shirts to the dry cleaners just to be washed and pressed. The shirts are generally cotton or some sort of blend, but don’t require dry cleaning. Women tend to wash shirts like that at home and only take the delicate stuff, like silk, to be dry cleaned.
Hair cuts, though. I remember once going to a barbershop with my boyfriend for a hair cut - his was $15, mine $25 and at the time I had shorter hair than he did. When I asked the barber “how come?” he just jerked his thumb at the price chart posted on the wall. I paid up and never went back - which I believe was his intention in the first place.
I’d say that it costs women more because women are willing to pay more. A woman could very easily go to Floyd the barber and pay $5 for a haircut, but they don’t. They could also go to Bob’s house of Dry Cleaning and get discounted service, but they don’t.
(All allowances for generalizations, please.)
This is the way things are going to be, unless it isn’t.
A female friend of mine who is very tall and somewhat husky* often wears men’s dress shirts, especially to work. Not women’s shirts in a masculine style, but actual shirts purchased in the menswear department.
Her cleaners (the same one I go to) once charged her the women’s shirt rate even though they were all men’s shirts, on the grounds that a shirt worn by a woman is ipso facto a women’s shirt! Thereafter, when she brought in her shirts, she said they were her boyfriend’s shirts and she was charged the men’s shirt rate. Oy veh!
*NOT a euphemism for “obese,” “fat,” “overweight,” or even “pleasingly plump.” Husky is husky. Statuesque, if you prefer the term. Think the woman on “Third Rock from the Sun.”
Hmmmmmnn… I’m “husky”. I know husky. The actress on Third RocK from The Sun ain’t “husky”. Amazonian maybe. Husky implies a level of thickness and girth (not necessarily fatness) she doesn’t have.
ATTGuy: Trouble with the “Bob’s Discount Cleaning” explanation is that the same dry cleaners do both men’s and women’s clothes. Women aren’t all taking theirs to a “women’s dry cleaning salon” that charges higher rates. The practice of charging more to dry-clean women’s clothes is universal and plainly discriminatory. I suspect that the only reason dry cleaners haven’t been socked with price-fixing charges is that, aside from the women’s prices always being slightly higher than the men’s, dry cleaners do demonstrably compete with one another on price. Ugly little loophole.
I can see only one logical solution to this debate; I’m going to have to start wearing women’s blouses and see what I get charged to have them cleaned. As soon as I get around to it, I’ll let y’all know.
