The aroma of shampoo and hairspray hits me the second I walk in the door. Customers are waiting their turns while they look on and eavesdrop on a very intense conversation between two people. The circumstances of the conversation are not typical, for it occurs because of one reason, a haircut. The barbershop/hair salon is a centralized location for gossip because the hairstylists have to gain their patrons’ trust and get them to say things they would not normally confide.

Even films show the barbershop and hair salon as locations for gossip. On one hand the film “Pleasantville” characterizes the barbershop as a place where men can go to escape from their wives, play chess, and discuss the town gossip and what is wrong with kids today. On the other hand, the film “Steel Magnolias” characterizes the hair salon as a place where women can discuss and confess all of their problems to their hairstylist. While both of these films are works of fiction, they are part of popular culture, and they do highlight the fact that gossip is a regular feature of barbershops and hair salons.

A clear-cut distinction exists between the barbershop and the hair salon. Barbershops are far more rustic and have a laid-back approach towards the haircut process. Men do not need an appointment at a barbershop; they simply sit down and wait their turn. It is far simpler than scheduling an appointment at a hair salon months in advance. The haircut process at a barbershop is smooth and quick as the veteran barbers snip away.

A hair salon is a completely different environment than a barbershop. An appointment is required and the process of getting a style is prolonged. Hair stylists do not want to simply give people haircuts; they want them to walk out an entirely different person when they leave. Hair stylists are visionaries who dream up a new look for each person

who walks through the door.

My experience has been that the hair salon caters to an environment of gossip. There is a familiarity, perhaps you have gone there since you were a kid, or it is the place everyone in town goes for a haircut. My hair stylist talks about every person that I know who gets his or her hair cut by her. The worst part is everyone continues to confess to her.

There is a large degree of trust involved in getting a haircut. Trusting a stylist with dye, scissors, and razors is not something that we think about when we go to get a haircut. If the barber screws up your haircut, in some ways, you are humiliated. Perhaps that is why young kids are terrified when they go to get a haircut.

The environment of soft music and intoxicating aromas soothes people. They are refreshed because not only do they walk out with a haircut, but also they have unloaded their worries on the barber or hairstylist. This is the most crucial part. The gossip is the link between every person who gets a haircut in a barbershopn or hair salon because the stylist makes the connections between his or her customers and the gossip they spread about each other. The hair stylist gossip ring will never end because we will always need a haircuts and an open ear to hear all of our problems. When we go to get a haircut, let’s keep in mind that loose lips sink ships.