Males as hairdressers.

I don`t know how much this has been discussed on this board, but I thought I would throw this out there and see what you all have to say about it.

As a male who wants to be a hairdresser (and will hopefully be starting his training in the Summer); what do you all think. I have some people that I know that are vary supportive about it, and want to know how it works out. On the other hand there are some people I know I do not bring it up with them because they come from a different way of thinking than all the supportive, positive people. They seem to have that stereotype that male hairdressers are the limp wristed varity and generally want no part of that. I generally do not disclose my future plans to those sorts of people.

Another thing that has come to my mind is what do women think when they have a male hairedresser? I have a friend that would much rather have a male hairedresser than a female one. Is she an exception or a rule?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully answer.
Ed Azner

BTW: Where did this stereotype of all male hairedressers being Gay come from?

Hey! Don`t put too much stock in what they say, both the good and the bad. Take heart in the good, of course, and ignore the bad. If being a hairstylist is what you want to do, then you go right ahead and do it. Yeah, there is that sort of stereotype that all male stylists are gay, but there`s stereotypes about a lot of things and they mostly come from ignorant people who don`t want to understand or who want the world to exist only as they define it...these things are meaningless. Follow your heart & pursue your dream.
Personally, I would have no problem at all going to a male stylist (I have a couple times before). Quite a few of the world`s most renowned stylists and pioneers in the world of hair have been men (anybody hear of a guy named Vidal Sassoon?). Does it mean that you are maybe sensitive and have an eye for beauty and a desire to create beauty? Sure. Does having these things mean that you must be gay? Not at all! To let you in on a little secret.... a lot of girls want a guy with a sensitivity toward beauty and creativity. We don`t all want beefed-up chest beaters! Anyway, maybe I`m guilty of stereotyping a bit here....
Look, in the end, there`s only you and God to answer to about what you`ve done with yourself. What`s between you and God is between you and God, but what`s between you and yourself is simply this; have you done what you wanted to do? It would be a pity to look back and realize that you`ve denied yourself your own ambitions because of what someone else thought. If any of these people truly care for you, and wish you the best, then they will come to understand, sooner or later. If they can`t understand, its their problem, not yours.
Anway, all the best of luck & many blessing to you in making your decision & in your future. :)

Love,
Ingrid

If it inspires you - than make it your destiny.
Do not allow the opinions of others to chain you.
Go for it.

How do I feel about male hairdressers?
Well, being a hot-blodded female, I feel pretty good about letting a man wash and condition my hair and fiddle with it for an hour or so.
Seriously - I have decided not to cut my hair ever again and the one negative aspect of this is not having that talented young man at Visage hairdressers "do his thang" on me. That man is a god of hair art with his magic sissors!!!
I have had 3 male hairdressers and 3 female. The guys in my experience are more focused, less chatty and very attentive.
I can honestly say (IMHO) that I really appreciate male hairdressers.
The good ones are miracle-workers.
Hope you go be one

I enjoy cutting hair and have done my wife`s for many years. I too thought about becoming a hairdresser. I enjoy the artistry involved and think I do a good job on my wife`s hair (sorry, I hate bragging!) I do not enjoy my current job very much and would like a change - unfortunately my wife has a problem with me being a hairdresser (guys in general) I think it is the perception that they must be gay (I guess)... Since I adore my wife I do not want to put her in a situation that she is embarrassed by me. I tried to bring it up before but the look and answer told me that it is not a good idea. Oh well, I can still enjoy cutting her hair.

Stereotyping hairdressing as unmanly unfortunately is common. In my old unit (military) was one guy, a friend was was 225 and built like a tree, caught some flak from other guys. We worked out at the gym together and he confided it really bothered him. His mom owned a salon and he worked in it to help out the family. Well he was quite good at it, he would cut and color his mom's hair as well as doing the customers that came in. I told him I thought he was still alright and mentioned that the other guys were probably jealous because he had a job where he could meet beautiful women, play with their hair and get paid for it. WE had a good chuckle. Well I had a girlfriend was a stylist who taught me how to cut her hair by teaching me on her sister's first. I enjoyed doing it and still give haircuts and trims to female friends as well as my wife. As a matter of fact I saw a friend whom I had not seen in a long time this weekend at a mall. I saw her down to her knees, brown hair and walked over to say hello. I mentioned I knew it was her by her hair. She immediately told me she needed a trim badly. I joked that I was sorry I didn't bring my scissors. She replied she didn't want me to cut it right there, but that she would appreciate having me give her a trim. She said I was the one guy she could always trust with the scissors as I always did a great job and wouldn't get scissor happy on her. So I did last week and while I was doing a favor for a friend, I certainly enjoyed brushing it for her and running my fingers through her hair as I trimmed it for her. It had been a long time since her last trim and the ends were quite ragged.I had to take off almost eight inches to get rid of the damage and get the ends looking neat. I told her up front before I cut and she said she expected it would need it. So yes, I believe normal straight guys can be hairdessers. If I did not enjoy my present job, I would consider it as a career change.

I've worked with 6 different Male Stylists through out my carreer, all straight, not that that matters to me...Just an interesting tid bit.

Our current Guy Stylist, Christopher John is married to a beautiful woman, 15 years his junior...and he knocks down some pretty damn good money doing hair on mostly women... who are his own personal FAN CLUB. They Adore Him!!
Its sickening really...TEE HEE just kidding.

Oh MELBAAAA....! The way you do go on, Girl. Tee Hee... They were all pretty cute.....But honestly, Noooo, I never did the Horizontal Sweaty with any of them, Haaaa.

Elissa, sorry to hear you ex was not being willing to take care of his lady. I guess he had doubts about himself or maybe he felt it was too hard. I just got off duty an hour ago, (activated for OEF, still CONUS though) and I found your post quite a pleasant one. I spent some time in Q8 and at the AB I was at there was no "hairdresser" for the women, only a barber for the men. The muslim barber would not even entertain touching a women's hair. Going to Camp Doha for the ladies was limited due to the local terrorist threat. I trimmed one female coworker's mid back ponytail and bangs in the tent area and followed up a couple more women with bangs in their eyes as well as long hair trims. The flying schedule caused me to have wacky hours, otherwise I would have probably done a few more. There were showers and relatively decent hours so I didn't have any one asking me to chop off their long hair. While I really admire long hair on a lady and have refused previously to give short haircuts to long haired friends, wartime ops (long hours, no showers) conditions would be a reason to revisit my longstanding belief on the subject. But thankfully I did not face that tough choice. Love it long and neatly groomed. BTW are you still growing yours long or have you gave in to the pressures to cut off your long locks? I hope you keepingyour locks great.

My hair stylist is a man. I LOVE him. I wouldn't trade my AJ fo rany woman in the world!! Go for it~

I love male hair-dressers. They are so cute when they're all artsy and delicate with our hair. I don't know why, I feel like a man would be more careful to do a woman's head right, being less prone to PMSing and all. I've never experienced a male hair-dresser who didn't listen to me or did as he would, or messed up my hair. (Unlike many female, ugh, long story). So yes, I look for males, most of the time.