#i have had my haircut every six odd weeks basically since i cut it short.

[lovelaceisntdead]

OKAY I'm supposed to be getting my haircut on monday but I'm thinking. I skip it.

#this is scary for me!!! #i have had my haircut every six odd weeks basically since i cut it short. #I've been wanting to grow it out a bit for so long but I'm very scared because i know it is going to really bother me #but i need to just bute the bullet and deal with my hair being longer. otherwise my hair won't get longer. #idk!!! #feeling weird tonight anyway and mum made me doubt myself earlier so i think i just need some reassurance or something #and when i say grow my hair longer i mean literally like an inch. #i know this may not seem like a big deal but it is to me! #my hair is the longest it's been in years as it is so it is an adjustment for me. #the only reason I'm hesitant is because i know if it does bother me it is going to really bother me and i may perhaps be unbearable. #but I'm hoping that i will be able to push through? #idk!!! idk i just needed to get some thoughts out #I'm feeling really out of it and overwhelmed this evening #i might have to skip watch party idk. either way I'm gonna get upset about it so fuck me i guess

[thessalian]

Thess vs Gendered Products

Given the pandemic and everything, and my own annoyance at having to pay upwards of £30 for a haircut every 6-8 weeks since I decided to start keeping my hair short, I decided that a great cost-saving measure would be to get one of those electronic trimmer things and at least keep the back trimmed myself, so I can save the salon visits for when the front bits start getting too long. At least it cuts down on the amount I have to visit the hairdresser, which is great on a number of levels. So I figured that since I won’t be able to get anything until Thursday when my benefits come in, I’d do some comparison shopping first.

Every single trimmer is marketed or at least labelled ‘for men’.

This ... irrationally annoys me, given the number of women I know who keep their hair short enough for the damn things to be necessary. I mean, obviously it having “FOR MEN” somewhere on the box doesn’t stop me from using it anyway, but it’s still aggravating. Why do we have to gender what is effectively a high-tech pair of scissors? Women have short hair. Some of them would like to maintain their short hair themselves instead of paying above the odds for a salon appointment.

And see ... that’s the whole issue, isn’t it? I mean, on one level I should be glad that the fucking things are marketed for men because that avoids the ‘pink tax’ that seems to turn up on everything that was marketed for women - from clothes to deodorant to razors and just about everything else you could possibly subject to a gender divide. On the other hand ... part of the message seems to be that men can get away with a quick buzz with the clippers and not seeing a professional stylist for ... basically ever, but gods forbid a woman do any less than spend an hour at a salon having her coiffure maintained by trained professionals. Gods forbid a woman not expend the time and money to ensure that her appearance is just so.

Thing is, I hate going to the hairdresser. The one good thing about having long hair for me was that I only had to do it once a year. I love having my hair shampooed but everything else about it blows. I find it awkward having someone hovering over my head with a pair of scissors for a half-hour or so; I never know whether or not to attempt making conversation. I dislike it when the junior stylist that was all I could reasonably afford to book can’t figure out what I’m asking her for no matter how I try to explain it until I just have to give up and say, “It’s close enough”. Worst of all for me is that every single time, after the haircut is done, they automatically reach for the styling product and I have to have the debate because they are trained (I’d say ‘conditioned’ but the pun’s too awful even for me) to always put in the product and shape the hair appropriately and I don’t want it. So I have to just basically keep repeating, “I don’t use product in my hair and I don’t blow-dry it; I would like just a rough dry, please”. Some of them listen. A lot of them don’t until about the third time because they keep cajoling about it. Probably because they then get to recommend the product they’re using for my everyday use. Again, training for upselling.

So yes! Yes, I would very much like to do the bulk of my hairstyle maintenance at home. And I will buy a set of trimmers and I will do that very thing, thus saving myself a fairly large amount of money in the long run. But it still annoys me that they’re all marketed for men when it doesn’t have to be that way. What, are men the only people allowed to see trips to professional stylists as wastes of time and money that they’d rather do as little as possible? Is my appearance where all of my money is supposed to go just because of my gender expression? Yeah, looking good is fine and everything, but even leaving aside my hobbies, which cost time and money eaten into by six-weekly visits to the salon ... people, it’s COVID-time, and I’d rather eat.

#Thess gets aerated