Male hairdressers battling the stigma of homosexuality

Hairdressing in Jamaica is often thought of as a ‘woman’s job’ and male hairdressers most times battle the stigma of being seen as effeminate or homosexual because of their vocation.

“Some people believe that when you do hairdressing 95 per cent of the time you are gay,” said Richard Allen, a hairdresser at Nirvana Day Spa in Kingston. “I know a lot of guys who want to do hairdressing, but they are afraid of being disrespected.”

According to Richards, he too was stereotyped when he first started out.

Veteran hairdresser, Peter Barrett, who has been in the business for over 18 years, agreed with Allen that the stigma of homosexuality is strong in hairdressing.

“Like prostitution, the stigma is always there whatever happens,” said Barrett, who felt that when all is said and done male stylists are becoming more prevalent.

“Male stylists have taken over the population. Most of the main stylists that you hear about are men,” he said, as he named international stylists such as Paul Mitchell, Jerry Redding and Chris Chavez.

While All Woman was unable to ascertain the number of male hairdressers in Jamaica a representative of the Cosmetology Department at the HEART /NTA said that on average there were usually three male students in a batch of 70 students per class.

According to Barrett, he is not biased as far as the male stylists’ expertise are concerned. “Both are good but men stick to it longer.they don’t take time out,” he said, explaining that stylists tend to lose their skills after not practising the profession over a period of time.

Barrett returned home to Jamaica from overseas eight years ago. His international experience includes London, Massachusetts, Manhattan and the Regis Corporation. He is also a member of the Regis President’s Club. He operates Symmetrical Hair Design, which is off Constant Spring Road in Kingston. He has a large clientele of approximately 200 clients per month.

“Men are more meticulous in styling.they always try their best to make the woman look good,” he added. “In some cases, men are more professional than women.”

Allen’s sentiments are similar.

He strongly believes that male stylists do a better job than their female counterparts. “When a male hairdresser touches them they feel more relaxed,” Allen said confidently. “The clients prefer male stylists because we spend more time on them.”

According to Jillian Levy, one of Barrett’s clients, this was definitely true.

“I feel more satisfied when a man does my hair,” she said.

At the same time, Richards joined Barrett in saying that a number of men are top stylists worldwide.

He admitted, too, that there were some men in the profession that were homosexual.

“Yes – people are narrow-minded..they do believe that all male hairdressers are gay, some of us are,’ he admitted.

His boss, Gordia Chevannes-Aquart, agreed that male hairdressers were stereotyped and gave her observations about working with them.

“Women feel more comfortable with their suggestions and they are more apt to do it without question,” she said, adding that the male stylists are a bit steadier. “Men are even-tempered and less temperamental than women. They don’t have as much off days.” She added that both sexes were equals in terms of competence, but noted that most male hair stylists tended to be more flamboyant and were perceived to be more creative. “They (male and female hairdressers) both present two different sets of challenges,” she said.