Fags on hair

>> Gay hairdressers talk about their queer careers

by GENEVIEVE PAIEMENT

A recent study concluded that gay men are 16 times more likely than straight men to become hairdressers. When the Mirror got wind of this, we immediately knew something had to be done--and fast. We knew this to be a tale worthy of in-depth journalistic research, investigative interviews and, well, pictures.

The study in question appeared in the May issue of Demography, the journal of the Population Association of America. Besides finding that gay men are highly educated but earn less than their (less-educated) straight brethren and that lesbians apparently earn more than their straight sisters, it found that--surprise!--lots of gays live in San Francisco. Gary Gates, co-author of the study and doctoral candidate at the H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, called us back and confirmed that "relative to college-educated men, gay men are very over-represented in the hairdressing field."

So here goes: two queer coiffeurs and one queer colourist on the controversial gay hairdressing gene.

Punk pansy

Philippe, hairdresser at Coupe Bizarre

(3770 St-Laurent) and guitarist in One-976

Mirror: How did you come to hairdressing?

Philippe: Guitar and hair are my life. I've always been into punk hair but I've been hairdressing for about five years now. It's so great, being gay, being a hairdresser, being punk. I love it. I specialize in punk-rock hair. I do my band's hair, I do all the punk rock bands in Montreal. They know I know that stuff. If someone asks me for a Buzzcocks, 1977 haircut, or if they ask for Joan Jett, I know what it is.

M: What about the controversial gay hairdressing gene?

P: A hairdressing gene, no. But a beauty and creativity gene, yes. Of course, there do exist some gay men with no taste who will wear brown pants and an orange T-shirt, you know, just don't give a fuck, over-the-top, atroce. But I would say the majority of gay men know what is aesthetically beautiful. Then again, I say this, but when I picture a gay club, I think the guys there all look the same...

M: Yeah, but the straight guys in baseball caps and badly cut GAP jeans are worse.

P: Yeah--jocks! But I don't think that I fit the stereotype of the gay hairdresser in the tight shirt and wooden bead necklace, doing like, purely brushing, 'sti. Maybe the cliché image of the gay hairdresser comes from our very close relationship to our clients, the way people open up to us like we were psychiatrists. I know being gay has something to do with me being a hairdresser, but I'm not sure exactly what. I do know many straight hairdressers though, but of the 15 guys at Coupe Bizarre in Toronto, I think about half are gay. At Coupe Bizarre Montreal though, we're all gay. It's great.



It's a gay job

Brett, colourist at Eclectic

(5142 St-Laurent)

Mirror: How did you become a colourist?

Brett: When I was 16 in Peterborough, Ontario, I saw a hairdresser who was very out and I was fascinated because I hadn't come out yet. To see someone in a place of business like that, I was thinking, "I could do that." But it starts when you're young; I was fascinated by women as a child. I was attracted to women and their hair, long hair, big hair. My mother wore wigs and I did whatever I could to get the wig on my head.

M: What do you think about the gay-hairdressing connection?

B: Dealing with hair is very physical, there's a lot of touching involved and often the salon is a safe zone for gay men and straight women. Like, in the same way that straight women love to go dancing in gay bars--because they can go there and not be hit on and not have their ass grabbed. I chose this career is because I can go to work every day and just be myself. It's not the same for my lover, who works in a big company.

M: So, for you, being gay played a big part in getting into hair.

B: I think so. I was also thinking of being an airline steward. The thing about the "gay professions" is that they're very people-oriented. You know, waitering, airline steward, working in a hair salon, nursing. I don't know if we're very drawn to them or if our career choices are limited. If you're going to be a big-shot lawyer, if you wanna be part of the boys' club, you're gonna have to hide it.



Gay or European?

Wayne, hairdresser at Tonic

(3613 St-Laurent)

Mirror: How long have you been doing it and how did you get into hairdressing?

Wayne: I've been doing it for nearly five years now and I've wanted to be a hairdresser since I was about 14. But when I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to have my own Barbies, so I would go to friends' houses and play with their Barbies and braid and style their hair. But my parents were pressuring me to do something else, my father wanted me to do a more "manly" job. So I went into nursing instead--which I know is still on the faggier side of professions. But I hated it and a year later I finally went into hairdressing. It's a good career 'cause you can be who you wanna be and do what you want, and wear what you want.

M: Do you think there's a gay hairdressing gene?

W: Well, this is my theory: it's a little silly, but from the salons that I've been in, the men seem to be either gay or, if they're straight, they're from somewhere else--like Spanish or Italian. Gay men, and maybe European men, are more inclined toward fashion and aesthetics. We admire women--often people think we don't like women, but for me, it's the opposite. I think the female form is beautiful and I just want to make it more beautiful. But I don't think there's a gay hairdressing gene, it's just because of our creativity and openness. Many of us have been through so much to be able to accept ourselves, in coming out and all that, we may have an openness our straight counterparts don't have. We're not afraid of being called a sissy or something like that.. We're a little more like, "Fuck it. I'll do what I want." l

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