The Social Dynamics of a Beauty Salon Within the mostly Hispanic neighborhood Washington Heights there is a multitude of beauty salons and beauty supplies stores. As I am fairly familiar to the area I chose to observe the social interactions of Dominican women getting their hair done instead of my initial reaction to the neighborhood. Starting at Nine am on the rainy Thursday, I observed five women each choosing their respective hairdresser and proceeding to do their hair. The women whom attend the salon are well dressed;with heels, jewelry, and stellar outfits(as if going to brunch instead of sitting under a hood dryer for 2 hours). Once entering the salon they all immediately begin to speaking Spanish, regardless of fluency. Each …show more content…
This is especially true for Dominican salons Usually in salons, people keep to themselves only talking to their respective hairdressers however, within a Spanish beauty salon you are expected to talk, eat and share food with everyone. You are accepted into their mini community only if you participate. and interact with others. Treating the hairdressers with as much respect as you would give a teacher. The norms include a complete code switch from the typical Spanish-American dialect to one that is completely Spanish. Ranging from hair coloring to perms, and straightening procedure, the general intention for even attending a beauty salon is to make your self visually acceptable to others. Especially the opposite sex. The entrance of a male is met with unwelcome vibe from the females in the salon. He is an unwanted figure, and publicly shamed by glares and stares from the females. They feel exposed, caught without their preverbal "face on". Unpresentable to anyone else outside the salon, much less to the male in what they consider to be an almost "sacred" place. His presence alters the interactive dimension of the salon. The social significance of beauty salon displays the importance of physical beauty within society. It’s clear that physical beauty holds great importance in our society. Physical attractiveness influences many aspects of our social life, including our interpersonal relations. On average people prefer to date, befriend and even employ physically attractive people. How we look is vital to all of our social interactions and relations and in a society where straight hair is ideal a salon is an invaluable resource. Especially in Washington Heights, it is a revived and often visited place that is a staple for women as their self worth is tied into their physical
Mrs. Roth started working as a cosmetologist in 2009, so she has 8 years of experience.
It all began my freshman year of high school when I was told about elective classes that would help me decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I always had a passion for doing hair, make-up, and nails so that was easy for me to choose an elective. My freshman and sophomore year I decided I would take cosmetology classes. I would spend two hours each day of school in the cosmetology lab, which was always cold and smelled like hairspray, burnt hair from the straighteners or a strong acetone smell that someone gets a whiff of at a nail salon. We learned so much material and I had a good time practicing my skills on manikins and other classmates. One thing I didn’t enjoy was the gossip and drama, but of course one would expect that from a class
Hispanic girls dying their hair blonde. Is it a fashion statement or is there a meaning behind it? In a society where racial prejudice booms in politics, communities, and popular culture, it is difficult for racial minorities to avoid absorbing the racist messages that constantly bombard them. Internalized Racism does exist, if not, what would it be called for people that dislike their ethnicity? This type of racism are minority groups that loathe the physical characteristics that make them racially distinct such as skin color, hair texture or eye shape and buy into the belief that whites are superior
work at, you discuss benefits with the person who hires you, but if you own your
A lot of women love to look good on a day to day basis, so a cosmetologist is what they need. A cosmetologist is a beauty specialist who is educated in doing hair, makeup, and nails. It’s very interesting because you get to be creative, have fun, have people looking gorgeous, and get paid for doing something you love. In this paper, you will be introduced to a lot of information in the field of cosmetology. Learning about the history and background, requirements to obtain the career and job positions will be covered throughout this paper. Towards the end you’ll get a touch of the job reflection and outlook. A lot of great information is listed, so there should be plenty of it learned.
Tracy Patton's explanatory article, ''Hey Girl I am More Than My Hair?'', is centered on the close examination of the negative impact Euro-American standards of beauty has on African American women. Patton critically analyzes beauty from its historical context to help determine whether or not modern day interpretations of beauty are continually being determined by the hegemonic role of white supremacy. The main objective of her article is to bring to light the economic, physical, and psychological impact women of color face when they adhere to beauty standards that advocate the suppression of their culturally distinct features. By refusing to assimilate, black women forgo employment opportunities, experience heightened stress, and risk social
According to 10 Weird and Wacky Beauty Facts by Andrea Lavinthal, in ancient Greece, the most sought-after hair color was blond. Not many Greeks were naturally blond, so light hair was probably perceived as beautiful because it was so exotic. Women would lighten their hair using plant extracts or arsenic. They also washed their locks with a mixture of ashes, olive oil, and water. She also explained how “it was a shame that extension weren’t available during the Heian period when a Japanese woman’s beauty was judges by the length of her hair, since the ideal was considered almost two feet longer than her waist. We’re assuming that ponytails were a popular hairstyle back then.” There are many other crazy facts about beauty facts like Vaseline makes your eyelashes grow and can take off makeup, or if your finger nails are discolored from using dark polish, use a slice of lemon on them and they will regain their color (The beauty magazine, Roselyn Miller, pg. 67). Going into the field of Cosmetology helps you express yourself and it brings out your inner creativity. That is one of the many reason I love this line of work, because when I do hair it lets me express myself while creating a hairstyle of my own. The first time I started doing hair was when I was about 10 or 11, I was a natural! I want to be able to know my clients and exactly what will look right on my clients and read people, so I would know what they do like just by talking to them. I need to learn to separate family from business. I do know some things about this field I before this assignment that cosmetology is not just about doing hair, it’s also about learning about the Skin; Doing make up, eye lashes, etc. You also learn about nails; doing a...
The site I have chosen for my mini-ethnography is a beauty salon named Grace Hair Design and Beauty Parlour, which is located in Mississauga at 4646 Heritage Hills Blvd. This beauty parlour is very popular among women in Mississauga as this parlour is very well known for their eye brow shaping and threading services. Many women travel from far distances to get their eye brows threaded and waxed at Grace Beauty Parlour. It is a very busy salon and therefore has a specific method to accommodate customers. The research theme I have chosen to explore is gender differences in use of space and social roles. Furthermore, I would like to research and analyze how men and women (employees and customers) utilize space differently from one another, and how social roles and responsibilities differ between men and women in Grace Beauty Parlour.
High fashion model Jourdan Dunn has had enough with white hair stylist damaging her natural hair and opted out for wigs to avoid the dilemma that Afro-hair causes for her white hair stylist, this does not mention the fact that these same white stylist have no problem styling white model’s hair without any damage done to it. As stated in Privilege, Power and Difference “the ease of not being aware of privilege itself [is] what some call ‘the luxury of obliviousness’” (Johnson) with that said white women are oblivious to the fact that both White and Black hairstylist are capable of styling their hair whereas Black women’s only option are other Black hairstylist. It is also stated that “race privilege gives whites little reason to pay a lot of attention to African-Americans…” (Johnson) which holds true to the unspoken code of “white hair only” in numerous upscale salons. Following the advice of magazines ranging from Harper’s Bazaar to Allure, Aja Mangum visited top-notch salons to get her hair styled but instead of walking out of the salon with the Promised Land equivalent of hair she walked out with “a dull, dry, puffy mess” (Mangum). Thus, the lack of effort put forth into the knowledge of urban hair is definitely alarming for this day and age but expected. It goes as far as to show that White hairdressers refuse to “lower their standards”, “skill” and associate with Black hair while Black hair stylist (in order to make a name for themselves) have experience in both White and Black hair. Take a look at WE TV’s reality show, L.A Hair, Kim Kimble a renowned hair stylist shows off her diverse skill set as she works on both White and Black hair. In contrast, Kimble’s new business partner, Jonathan Antin, (Another one of Hollywood’s hairstylist) has strictly dealt with white hair fully supporting
The Latino women and girls in the novel are extremely concerned about their appearances, because they feel that if they aren't attractive then they won't be noticed by men, and they are raised to believe that they need a man to fulfil their life, and that they need a husband to support them, and if they don't look attractive then they are not going to be noticed, and if they are not noticed, then they think they won't end up getting married. A good example of this is Marin. When Marin talks about a real job Marin says that the best place to work is downtown, not because of the work that is there, but because "you always get to look beautiful and were nice clothes." She also tells the girls that the only thing that matters is if your skirts are short, and your eyes are pretty, so that you are noticed by guys.
Society have an idea of men being gentleman, polite therefore they use that to sell their product. Moreover society sees woman as beauty. Therefore hairless. They use that idea to sell their product. The image society has on men and woman is use on certain aspect of selling razors. The idea that you need to use Gillette or Venus to become that gentleman or goddess. The product seller tells how gender role should act. Razors are an everyday life object that everybody needs to use everyday. Judith Butler wrote a book: “Gender Trouble” explaining how women’s and men are performing gender. Men are not born men and women are not born women it’s social construction. Based on our biological sex we learn how to express our gender
... the women and men with good looking at their company especially the position such as the waitress, pilot, receptionist, weatherman and more. Some audiences are not spending less money on beauty product because there are many customers still go to salon and nail shop to spend their money for their beauty. Dressing nicely doesn’t mean only self-respect appearance and it is causing some people to show themselves as they care about their look.
It is time, at last, to speak the truth about toxic chemicals behind personal care and beauty products. The daily products of an average person consists of face wash, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, floss, toothpaste, and deodorant. Surprisingly, all of these products listed contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to our body. If we use these products to maintain our hygiene, does that mean we are not clean without these products? For example, a common shampoo many people use is Head and Shoulders. However, do we know if the shampoo is cleaning our hair from beginning to end or is it damaging our hair? How often do you read the ingredients labeled on your personal care products and wonder if they are safe to use? More importantly, if you
Beauty product can be defined as cosmetics; materials and devices made and sold for the purpose of enhancing the physical attractiveness of users or in other words, as any product, especially a cream or lotion, intended to improve a person's appearance . We live in society where people nowadays are very obsessed with beauty and spending so much money on beauty products. Since we were children, the society taught us that beauty is happiness, wellness and everything. This creates a mindset that only attractive physical appearance is beauty, even though ‘beauty’ is a very subjective word where it can apply to many things. It is a rare sight these days to
While growing up, I realized the benefits a person has when they personally own their own business. You can make your own schedule, personally control your finances, and essentially have complete control of your business Of course upon this realization; I came to the conclusion that I was going to be my own boss. I have always taken pride in how I present myself including how I dress. The limitless nature of fashion and its versatility has always intrigued me. One empowering aspect of clothing that is so fascinating is how it enables people to express themselves. Because of these interests, I have come to the conclusion that I wish to own a fashion boutique. In order to pursuit the path of becoming a fashion boutique owner, it is essential that I obtain a degree in business management, evaluate my own skills that make me ideal for the job, and