This Hair Salon Made One Major Change After The Election

High-end atelier or Supercuts, it doesn’t matter: Walk into just about any hair salon and you’ll find that women’s haircuts are priced significantly higher than men’s. The idea is that men’s cuts are cheaper because there’s just not as much to cut. Women have long hair, dudes have short hair, and that’s that. Wait, what?

Hello! Welcome to 2017, where people of any gender or no gender can have whatever hair cut or color they want. You can shave your head, get bangs, grow your bangs out, give yourself a bouffant that looks like a fucking Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino — the sky’s the limit. There’s just no reason you should have to pay an extra $30 to get a trim just because you were born with two X chromosomes.

Masami Hosono, the creative director of Manhattan-based hair salon Vacancy Project, agrees — which is why she decided to do away with gendered pricing and offer a flat rate on all cuts instead. “I always wondered why we separate our hairstyles based on gender, like who decided that long hair is necessarily a women's haircut, while a short haircut is men’s?” she told Allure in an interview. “I have both long hair male clients and short hair female clients — and many of my clients also identify gender neutral or transgender."

Not only did Hosono find the divide nonsensical (and clearly very outdated), but she also noticed that, starting around November 9, more of her female clients than ever were making the decision to lose their length. “After the election, so many female clients came in to chop off their hair. I think people needed a change — they were like, fuck it,” she said. “They wanted to do something defiant to feel stronger.”

Now, you can get a cut at Vacancy Project by Hosono herself for $80, regardless of your age, sex, or creed. Her move toward a gender-neutral salon is a progressive way to encourage gender equality and make everyone feel welcome — and with similar measures taking place all over the country, she’s certainly not alone. “This is not just my project. If more people support this idea, it will be power,” Hosono said. There’s strength in numbers — and in good hair.