Discrimination in the barbering industry has long been a problem both internally and externally.

At Seven, we’re proud to have a reputation as one of the most inclusive Peterborough based barbers. We actively welcome individuals of all genders and are continually working towards creating a safe and inclusive space. We’ve got a good understanding of neurodiversity and adapt our services to give our customers, both children and adults, the best experience possible.

As an Asian owned barbers business, sadly, we’ve always been open to discrimination. It’s not something that’s discussed in mainstream conversations. With the intersections of race, gender and class, discrimination towards barbers is often complex and nuanced.

So, in true ‘Seven’ style, being one for difficult, meaningful (and sometimes uncomfortable) conversations, we thought we’d open this one up wide so we can create more awareness around it.

Discrimination can show up in many ways for barbers, such as cultural stereotyping, sexism, racism, and even being targeted for not meeting those ‘white boutique’ aesthetic standards.

When discrimination happens, it affects businesses deeply. To the point that people’s livelihoods can be lost.

A lot of people don’t think they discriminate, but there are unconscious prejudices that we all harbour without even realising. Once you become aware of what they might be, only then do you have the potential to do something about it.

What’s the difference between discrimination and prejudice?

Before we go any further, let’s have a dive into the difference between these two terms because it’s essential to know and understand the difference when having this conversation.

Prejudice is a belief, a feeling or even an attitude that someone has about a group of people. It’s usually based on stereotypes or assumptions, and very often, it’s negative or harmful.

For example:

• Some people hold a belief that a woman isn’t as good at a particular job as a man would be.
• Some people might think that because someone is fat, it means they’re lazy.
• Or some people might feel uneasy when they hear a foreign accent.

You might not know or even understand why you have these prejudices or where they come from. It might only be when someone challenges you that you start to think about it more critically.

You can also have prejudices and never act on them.

Discrimination however is when someone DOES act on those beliefs. It’s the action that comes after the prejudice.

Discrimination, very simply, is when someone is treated unfairly because of who they are. It doesn’t have to be a verbal form of abuse; it can be subtle and almost hidden in things like policies or systems.

Examples of discrimination might be:

• Refusing to serve someone because of their race
• Refusing to accept services from someone because they’re a woman
• Refusing to rent a shop to someone because of their surname

These things can be carried out covertly, but the underlying reason is discrimination.

You can also unintentionally discriminate against a group of people.

This is called ‘indirect discrimination’. So the prejudice might be missing, but the policy or system in place may unintentionally be biased.

For example:

A company might have a dress policy that says ‘no hats or head coverings’. This unintentionally discriminates against Muslim women or any employee who wears religious coverings.

How does discrimination show up in the barbering world?

Now we’ve talked about the differences between prejudice and discrimination., let’s talk about the different types of discrimination and how they show up in the barbering world.

Assuming accents or language barriers equate to a lack of ability

A long-held prejudice some people have is that having an accent, or English as a second language, means that someone is less intelligent. Or not capable. Or unprofessional. People might assume that the barber only has ‘basic’ skills. Of course, this is entirely wrong (and logically makes no sense) – but who said prejudices were logical?

Racism from customers

Asian owned barber businesses like ours are not the only ones to experience microaggressions. Microaggressions are everyday subtle comments (or behaviours) that display prejudices. They can come across as harmless but often are hurtful. For example:

• A customer might refuse to see an Asian barber, without any reason, and ask to wait for a different barber.
• Someone might assume that the barbers should be ‘cheaper’ because they are somehow less skilled, due to their race.
• Some Asian (black or other minority) barbers report that they receive fewer tips than their white colleagues.
• Saying dismissive comments like ‘Oh I don’t see race, I treat everyone the same’. This might sound inclusive, but it dismisses the lived experience of that person, and the racism they’ve experienced. It shuts down the conversation as if there’s no problem.

We’re incredibly lucky that it’s rare for us to experience racism from customers in the shop. But we know many barbers still do. Many don’t call it out because they need the money. So they experience these microaggressions daily, which undermines their abilities, their confidence; it even affects their mental health.

Sexism in the barbering industry

“Women can’t cut men’s hair”.

I don’t know how this is still a thing, but it is.

We have always maintained a good balance of male and female barbers in our shop.

Everyone is trained to the same high standards. But there is this deep prejudice against women.

Why? Perhaps it’s because there was a time when women didn’t enter men’s spaces. The pub and the barbers being two of them. But we’d like to think we’ve come a long way since then!

There seems to be this gender bias that, for some reason, women can’t be as skilled as men.

And when you add in additional intersections like being a woman of colour, or queer, or even just being younger, this adds even more layers of bias to this prejudice pie.

All of this is born from deeply embedded and often unconscious stereotypes that we’ve been fed historically. Meaning women end up having to work a lot harder to prove themselves.

In summary

Discrimination, stereotyping and prejudices are something that people from minority groups will always have to deal with.

You can help by:

• Being aware of your own unconscious prejudices, the ones you didn’t even realise were there.
• Supporting businesses that are owned by minority groups. We have to work twice as hard to be seen and taken seriously.

The great news is that as a barber shop leading with and highlighting our values means we generally attract the most amazing, loyal and brilliant customers, and filter out the ones we don’t want!

Book with Confidence

Whether you live in Peterborough, Stamford, or the surrounding areas, our Peterborough barbers is based at the bottom of Werrington Village and easily accessible on your way home or to work with free parking.

Just click here to book.