Stuff Female People Like - No. 5: Their Hairdressers

This series is inspired by the blog/book Stuff White People Like.

5. Their Hairdressers

The relationship between Female People and their Hairdressers is a very special one.

The Importance of Hair

Hair is a very powerful symbol of a Female Person's sexuality and a key source of her self-esteem.

Ask any Female Person and she'll tell you a nightmare hair story, one which made them cry. It might be a hairdresser who tried to get "creative", a miscalculation with home hair dye or a party with too much alcohol, a pair of hair clippers and an ill-advised sense of homage to Sinead O'Connor, but it's a right of passage all Female People have to go through.

By definition, Female People have to like their hairdressers because they are trusting this person with their hair. You don't just let any old person touch one of your finest assets.

The Lasting Bond

Most Female People have a long-standing relationship with their Hairdressers.

There are those, of course, who flit from hair salon to hair salon, but these are often the Female People who are either (a) trying to find themselves, or (b), trying to find a Hairdresser who knows how to make the best of their precious asset.

The Hairdresser-Female Person relationship can last for decades, can span many miles (with the Female Person making a special trip to her old home town to see her Hairdresser) and can morph into a very real friendship.

The Deep Bond

But even if the Female Person doesn't ever see her Hairdresser out of the salon, this relationship is very much like a deep friendship. Secrets are shared, advice is sought, laughter is shared.

A Female Person's Hairdresser knows everything about her.

Sometimes I wonder if the tip added to the bill is for the great hair, or for the unspoken guarantee of confidentiality.

Male People seem to instinctively know about this bond. Witness their awkwardness on meeting the Hairdresser when they come to collect their Female Person. Deep down, they know. They know that the Hairdressers knows:

• what they earn
• what they drive
• every tiny thing they do that irrates their Female Person
• how they are in bed.

The Caring Bond

The Hairdresser knows how much stress the Female Person is dealing with by simply combing through her roots.

The Hairdresser knows when the Female Person has a need for change in her life, and kicks this off with a brand new hairstyle.

The Hairdresser knows when the Female Person is on the edge and using bad judgement, and refuses to tie her hair up in a ponytail and snip the whole thing off.

The Hairdresser is ready with the glass of champagne, might take an extra moment to massage the head and shampoo cares away and really wants what's best for the Female Person in both her hairstyle, and her life.

The Female Persons loves her hairdresser because this person makes her look wonderful, lets her talk about anything and takes very, very good care of her.