Egalitarian Haircut

I was at the haircutters today and got to thinking about the job of a haircutter. In China^* this job is pretty low on the social hierarchy and people who do this job tend to stay pretty low on the social hierarchy their entire lives.

In the US this job, at least to me, doesn’t seem so low on the social hierarchy, and certainly people who do these jobs don’t necessarily stay low on the social hierarchy their entire lives, even if some do start there. Haircutting in the States seems to be a respected career for some, and for others a good way to make some money while studying or working towards a higher paying, higher status career.

My haircutter and I talked a bit about where we were from and what kind of weekend we had had. “Restful,” we both said, and agreed that that was the best kind.

Given her comment, I wondered whether she, like myself, was studying in addition to working and was generally exhausted throughout the week as a result. That’s why when I tipped my haircutter two dollars and she said, “Thanks, I really appreciate it,” I couldn’t help thinking that that two dollars was going towards tuition somewhere.

^*See Ben Ross’s blog for an interesting perspective on haircutters in China.

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Tags Egalitarianism, American Culture, China

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