The sexual politics of hair – are all cuts created equally?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/sexual-politics-hair-cuts-denmark

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A few years ago in east London, I walked into a hair salon and had someone cut off most of my hair, leaving only a few centimetres all round. Following the cut, I got a "keratin treatment", had some gel applied at my temples, and was charged appropriately. In the euphoria of recent hair loss, I didn't think about how much it had cost, or whether I would have been better off going to a barbershop for my buzz cut. If only I'd waited until last month: if I'd had my haircut in Copenhagen, I'd have paid exactly the same amount as any man.

The Danish Board of Equal Treatment decided that price differences in men and women's haircuts were effectively illegal. Their ruling came after a female customer complained about the price disparity (428 krone (£41.35) for men but 528 krone (£51.01) for women, with an extra surcharge for long hair). The salon was ordered to pay the complainant 2,500 krone (£241.46). Naturally, not everyone is pleased. Connie Mikkelsen, chair of the organisation for independent hairdressers and cosmetologists, has said it will only end in "a series of conflicts with customers. It takes, quite simply, longer time with women." In any case, the decision from the board is now being appealed and a Danish court will have to decide on a fairer way to decide how much to charge for a haircut. This will be interesting. Hair is hair is hair – but is men and women's hair equal?

Haircuts aren't the only thing that women seem to routinely pay more for. From dry cleaning to high-street denim to even basic deodorant, there are certain products and services that we just end up opening our purses a little wider for. Salons usually have a price list, proclaimed formally (mounted on the wall or on little cards by the mirrors) or more casually, usually to foster a good relationship (repeat business and loyalty go a long way when it comes to the bottom line).

The prices at various salons claim to reflect the different techniques and skills required of the stylist: a basic relaxer application is different to a cut-and-colour, which is not the same as a wash-and-set or braids or a weave. But having said that, a wash-and-set for a woman with 14 inches of hair can cost the same as a wash-and-set for a woman with far less hair. The same is true of weaves and braids. Hair colouring has a fixed rate, whether you are Rapunzel or Demi Moore in GI Jane. Is that fair? You could argue, as some are already, that what matters is not the length of hair, but the technique and skill involved. Question: are all haircuts created equal? Answer: yes, but some seem to be more equal than others.

Back in 2007, Anna Giscombe took her daughter to a Toni & Guy salon in Watford for a cut (advertised as £48) and was charged £7 more. The salon explained the add-on was on account of the girl's "thicker" (afro) hair which "took longer to cut". Giscombe's response? "They didn't say 'thicker' than what." A spokeswoman later insisted that race had not been a factor: "If a stylist is presented with a client with exceptionally long or thick hair (regardless of race) and the service given runs over the normal appointment time, a nominal charge will be added to the bill." It's not Giscombe's daughter's "fault" that her hair was "thicker"; was it unfair of the salon to charge extra? Marks and Spencer had a similar quandary a few years back, when it charged £2 more for bras over a DD cup size. If you recall, they were forced to back down after a public outcry.

But haircuts (individual, personal) are not bras (mass-produced, impersonal). We live in a world where the norms dictate longer hair for women and shorter hair for men. I have never had a salon visit that took less than an hour, and I've never known a man whose haircut took longer than 30 minutes. Should we be basing how much it costs on the time it takes? Mikkelsen doesn't think so, claiming it will lead to "pricing chaos". "Measuring time will lead to a discussion of hair length," she said. "What is medium length, and what is long?" Quite. As the owner of a thick head of hair with about 80% shrinkage, I am breathlessly awaiting the outcome of this whole thing.