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A Magazine for Sheffield

Good hair day for trans people at salon with gender-neutral pricing

Sheffield salon changes pricing to counter the 'pink tax' and gender binaries.

A person sitting by a wooden table with a coffee cup, looking away from the camera

Gender-neutral photo shoot at Laundry in Sheffield.

Sophia French

Regardless of hair length, type or style, women can easily pay three or four times the amount their male friends pay for a haircut, an example of the 'pink tax', where products and services aimed at women cost more.

Laundry, a Sheffield salon, have heard this complaint and introduced gender-neutral pricing. But it goes further than equalising the cost of looking good between men and women; it is also explicitly a move to support the city’s LGBTQI community.

Two people looking at the camera, one wearing a cream blouse and the other a rust-coloured jumper

Photo shoot at Laundry in Sheffield featuring trans and non-binary models.

Sophia French

Marcus Short, a stylist at Laundry, told Now Then that they had a growing number of clients who are trans men and had been turned away from barbers.

“I was absolutely astounded, it just broke my heart. And over time, we’ve heard it more and more.”

So the salon made a surprisingly radical decision - they introduced gender-neutral pricing, both to stop charging women more than men by default, and to make their booking system inclusive to trans people.

"Laundry has always been a very inclusive salon from the get-go. We've had myself and another guy that identify as gay, we've got a girl that works here who’s pansexual. So it's always been an inclusive salon, always been very welcoming to anyone in the community.”

This latest move aims to solidify that support for the LGBT+ community and was celebrated with a day cutting and styling hair for a photoshoot using exclusively trans and non-binary models.

Whereas before the gender-neutral pricing system was launched, clients would have to choose between male and female on the website to book an appointment, there is now a choice of 'for her', 'for him', or 'for them'. Short haircuts will be charged at £35, long haircuts at £50.

A close-up photograph of somebody facing the left but looking towards the camera

Gender-neutral photo shoot at Laundry in Sheffield, featuring trans and non-binary models.

Sophia French

“It takes away any assumption that we’re gendering you, you know, because that's not down to us, that’s down to you”, Short explains. “It's just basically to make people feel seen and valid and accepted.”

Ultimately, getting your hair done should leave you feeling glowing, not undermined and disapproved of.

“It should be a beautiful experience: walking in, not feeling so great, then walking out feeling on top of the world.”

Now Then has published a list of trans-friendly barbers and hairdressers in Sheffield.

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