Sociology 8th Edition by Margaret Andersen ,Howard Taylor ,Kim Logio

Exercise 3

Doing Hair, Doing Class
Research Question: Sociologist Debra Gimlin was curious about a common site for social interaction-hair salons. She noticed that the interaction that occurs in hair salons is often marked by differences in the social class status of clients and stylists. Her research question was: How do women attempt to cultivate the cultural ideals of beauty, and in particular, how is this achieved through the interaction between hair stylists and their clients?
Research Method: She did her research by spending more than 200 hours observing social interaction in a hair salon. She watched the interaction between clients and stylists and conducted interviews with the owner, the staff, and twenty women customers. During the course of her fieldwork, she recorded her observations of the conversations and interaction in the salon, frequently asking questions of patrons and staff. The patrons were mostly middle and upper-middle class; the stylists, working class. All the stylists were White, as were most of the clients.
Research Results: "Beauty work" as Gimlin calls it, involves the stylist bridging the gap between those who seek beauty and those who define it; her (or his) role is to be the expert in beauty culture, bringing the latest fashion and technique to clients. Beauticians are also expected to engage in some "emotion work"-that is, they are expected to nurture clients and be interested in their lives; often they are put in the position of sacrificing their professional expertise to meet clients' wishes.
According to Gimlin, because stylists typically have lower class status than their clients, this introduces an element into the relationship that stylists negotiate carefully in their routine social interaction. Hairdressers emphasize their special knowledge of beauty and taste as a way of reducing the status differences between themselves and their clients. In this way, they manage the impressions their clients are thought to have. They also try to nullify the existing class hierarchy by conceiving an alternative hierarchy, not one based on education, income, or occupation but only on the ability to style hair competently. Thus stylists describe clients as perhaps "having a ton of money," but unable to do their hair or know what looks best on them. Stylists become confidantes with clients, who often tell them highly personal information about their lives- another attempt at impression management. Appearing to create personal relationships with their clients, even though they never see them outside the salon, also reduces status differences.
Conclusions and Implications: Gimlin concludes that beauty ideals are shaped in this society by an awareness of social location and cultural distinctions. As she says, "Beauty is … one tool women use as they make claims to particular social statuses" (1996: 525).
Questions to Consider
The next time you get your hair cut, you might observe the social interaction around you and ask how class, gender, and race shape interaction in the salon or barbershop that you use. Try to get someone in class to collaborate with you so that you can compare observations in different salon settings. In doing so, you will be studying how gender, race, and class shape social interaction in everyday life.
Do Gimlin's findings hold in settings where the customers and stylists are not White or where they are all working class?