20190410.0430

One of the articles LinkedIN has pointed out to me in recent days is Kate Bolick's 5 April 2019 "Everything That's Wrong about the Myth of the 'Dumb Hairdresser.'" In the article, Bolick explicates the trope of the title, the "Dumb Hairdresser," before arguing that it does not manifest as much in reality as might be thought. She states the initial argument after laying out the excellent job prospects for hair-cutters, citing US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures to note both the high job growth in the field and the reasonably decent wage range as she does so. Bolick then pivots to listing professional stereotypes before railing against that applied to stylists. Said railing takes the form of interrogating and dispensing with the patriarchal underpinnings of the stigma against hair-cutters--indeed, against most nurturing work--and examining, if briefly, the sociocultural circumstances that valorize collegiate study--and in STEM fields--above all else. She then focuses on anecdotes from LeMoine that accentuate the value of skilled tonsorial artisans, ending on a laudatory message well worth hearing.
As I read the article, I am put in mind once again of Mark Edmundson's piece that I have cited so many times in this webspace as I have. Even in the first instance of it, nearly nine years ago (and it is strange to think that I have been at this for so long), I find myself opposed to the proposition that the work of the hands is somehow of less dignity and nobility than that of the mind. And I think I feel that more deeply now that my work is less of the mind, even running to cutting hair daily, if not quite for the same reasons that LeMoine and the others Bolick discusses do. There is a great difference between working to make people feel better about the ways they look and clipping a few strands to see what chemicals have been present in the body that built them. Even in that work, though, I find myself working with the work of those who cut hair more normally, trying not to alter or interfere with the work they have done as I do mine. I know that many people's self-concept inheres in their appearance to a great degree, and I know that many of the people I see in my regular work already have enough struggles; I try not to add to them.
I also find myself considering Bolick's comments about the patriarchal overtones that have accrued to tonsorial work. For me--anymore; I know matters differed in my youth, given how much of an ass I was as a kid--getting a haircut is an experience of pampering and vulnerability. I get my ears lowered, as the saying is, and I get my beard trimmed--and I generally get a brief massage and a hot towel treatment, as well. In each, I make myself less able to see, and I put myself into the hands of another whom I do not necessarily know, hands which I know hold blades close to parts of me that would not interact well with them. I know that I am not alone in doing so. I also know that I am not alone in worrying about physical safety, and I have to wonder how many others prefer to have women cut their hair because they perceive women as less likely to enact violence upon them. I do not know if the idea changes anything or how much, but I think it has to be present in the minds of some. Unfortunate as that is...