A year and a half ago, Mathilde decided to shorten her long brown hair and opt for a short cut. A month after this change, the thirty-year-old returns to her hair salon to maintain her new cut.
After twenty minutes spent in the establishment, she discovers, stunned, the amount to pay: 48.50 euros Yes, you read correctly. Nearly 50 euros for a shampoo, a few scissors and a blow dry. If Mathilde were a man, she would have paid 28.50 euros. You have to believe that, in salons, only the cut is boyish. Not the price.
A significant price difference
“I find it totally abusive and really unfair,” the young woman gets angry. According to her, her haircut would require neither more time nor more maintenance than that of a man. “Besides, a guy could totally have the same hairstyle as me. »Is Mathilde right to lose her temper? This is the question we wanted to ask ourselves.
When you compare the prices displayed in different hair salons, this is quickly seen. The prices for women’s haircuts are in the extreme majority higher than men’s, regardless of whether the former have three centimeters of hair on their heads and the latter have long mop of hair.
Time spent on the cut
In a study carried out in 2018 in more than 900 hair salons across France, the CLCV association (Consumption, housing and living environment) made the same observation. The “shampoo, cut, styling” package costs on average 20.46 euros for men and 30.07 euros for women, regardless of the length of their hair. A gap of almost 47% all the same.
For Sylvie, 59, who swapped her blond bob about fifteen years ago for a “boyish” cut, nothing surprising. “For me, it makes sense, the hairdresser spends a lot more time on a woman’s hairstyle than on a man’s. I see it clearly when I go there. » According to her, those of women are more varied than those of their male counterparts.
A commercial choice
Technically, is women’s hair more complicated to style? “Contrary to what one might believe, men’s hairdressing is also very technical,” emphasizes Christophe Doré, president of the National Union of Hairdressing Companies (Unec). The technique depends on each client, depending on their location or the difficulty of their hair to be styled. »
The hairdresser recognizes it, it is less a question of gender than an individual question. “Whether the difference in prices is linked to diagnosis, advice, care, time, I don’t know. Each colleague is free to apply the rates they wish. It’s a commercial choice. But if the hairdresser takes ten minutes longer to style a woman with short hair, it’s normal to charge her more. Time is one of the things that the hairdresser must charge for. »
The myth of the finesse of the gesture
According to Anouck, employee cooperator and co-founder of the non-gendered salon Frange Radical, the “myth of the finesse of the gesture” necessary for feminine cuts is taught in hairdressing school. “We are told that a woman’s cut requires more work and finesse and therefore time. But that’s because they summarize the men’s cut as the passing of a clipper when that’s not true. It’s not a question of gender. »
For Florient Clausius, founder and manager of the non-gendered salon L’échevelu(e), this teaching is dated. “The difference in price was explained thirty years ago because women did hair styling, spent an hour under the helmet before the curlers were removed and then had long hairstyles. Now, 95% of women with short hair prefer it to dry naturally. However, prices have not changed. »
More care offered, even imposed
Sylvie and Mathilde see this at every meeting. “There is no formula without blow-drying for women even though I don’t need it at all,” explains the thirty-year-old. An opinion that Christophe Dorée does not share.
“Blow-drying allows you to have control over dry hair, particularly because you won’t play with the gel less than with men” before adding “and if she no longer needs blow-drying once home, it This is precisely because she had a good haircut. »
The pink tax
According to Anouck, the main reason for this difference has a name: the pink tax. “Studies show that women are ready to spend more money on beauty and care products and multinationals have understood this well. »
Masks, massages and other pampering moments are therefore more offered, even imposed, on women. “In the salons in which I worked, we necessarily gave women treatment and massaged their scalp each time,” continues the employee and collaborator of Frange Radical.
Salons with gender-neutral prices
It was precisely an article on the pink tax that raised awareness among Florient Clasius. “I found it disgusting and I told myself I could do something. » The hairdresser decides to change the prices of his salon to non-gendered prices, varying from 32.5 euros for a very short cut to 54 euros for long hair, regardless of gender.
Same concept at the Radical Fringe cooperative. “We attracted a lot of people this way,” recognizes Anouck. We have to wait two weeks to get an appointment even though we’re not open on weekends so it works pretty well. »
An observation shared by the boss of L’échevelu(e). “The old clientele continues to come. We have a lot of women with short hair but also people coming to support the gender-neutral rate. » The big absentees from these new kind of salons are ultimately… men with long hair.