(Photo from Hair Republic’s Facebook page)
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) | When Blythe Lundy opened Hair Republic last May, she wanted the salon to make everyone feel welcome.
Hair Republic is one of Wilmington’s first gender-neutral hair salons. That means customers are charged based on the time and skill a haircut requires, regardless of their gender.
A woman who gets a buzz cut, for example, will pay the same price as a man who gets a buzz cut, and a man with shoulder-length hair would pay the same price as a woman with the same style to get his hair trimmed.
At other salons, men and women are often charged a different flat rate because of their gender.
Client Hanna Miller, 23, of Wilmington said she’s noticed getting her long hair cut often costs the same price as friends who have shorter hairstyles. That seems unfair, she said.
“If you look at the prices between men’s and women’s haircuts, just because it has the women’s label on it it’s already more expensive,” she said.
Lundy has been cutting Miller’s hair for about a year and a half. She followed Lundy to Hair Republic when the salon opened last year.
The salon worked with Dresscode Project to establish gender-neutral prices, Lundy said. Dresscode Project is a global alliance of salons committed to providing positive and gender-affirming services for people who are part of the LGBTQ community, according to their website.
Lundy, who has worked as a hair stylist in Wilmington for 10 years, has clients who identify as transgender and wanted to create a space where they could feel comfortable getting their hair done.
“Getting your hair done is supposed to be a confidence booster,” she said. “It’s a huge part of how you express yourself, so I think it’s a great thing that you can help people do that in a comfortable, non-judgemental way.”
Mercedes Meza, one of the salon’s four stylists, said a traditional salon experience can be uncomfortable for some clients.
“We each have clients that identify in different ways and have had to come in the salon and they’re asked, ‘Okay, are you a man or a woman?'” she said. “I feel like that’s just a really intrusive way to start out an appointment.”
Beyond pricing, Hair Republic has signs posted throughout the salon emphasizing inclusion and established a gender-neutral bathroom.
“It was just creating a non-judgemental, safer place for people to come to,” Lundy said.
Gender-neutral pricing is becoming more common as salons and barbershops increasingly recognize the issue, Meza said.
New York became the first state to prohibit salons and barbershops from basing the prices of their haircuts on gender when it passed legislation in September.
Miller said she thinks gender-neutral pricing is “incredibly important” and hopes the salon will set an example for other Wilmington-area stylists to follow.
Meza agreed, saying she hopes gender-neutral salons will become the norm in the future.
“I hope very soon that there is no reason to be making a fuss about it,” she said. “I hope that we are one of many that are doing this because it just makes sense.”
