The patriarchy hurts men too, and capitalism screws everyone

[sabotabby]

Why is men's hair dye way more expensive than women's? That makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, you'd think it would be cheaper.

P.S. I am awesome at dyeing hair.

Comments

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Less of it sells?

I'm sure you are awesome at hair dyeing. Cuz you are awesome at everything.

[sabotabby]

I guess. Supply and demand. But then, why sell it at all? It's not like there's some fundamental difference between men's and women's hair beyond average length. So you're paying more for less dye just so that you don't need to use the box with the lady on the cover?

IBTP.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Obviously menz and womenz have different hairz! That's why menz can't use girly shampoos!

Sabo, I'm getting drunk over the patriarchy tonight. Wanna come out and join me in my head?

[sabotabby]

Alas, I have sworn off alcohol for a little while (well, I tried to last night and was unsuccessful, so I'm going to try again) until my system recovers a bit from the abuse I have heaped upon it lately. But I will be thinking of you as I sew my corset and curse the patriarchy.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

You sew corsets?

....

*dies*

SABO? CAN I BE YOU & ZINGERELLA WHEN I GROW UP????

[sabotabby]

You can be me. You'll have to ask zingerella for separate permission, though, as we're not yet part of a hive mind. Be warned, though, I'm much further along on my corset than she is on hers, though she's been helping me understand what the pattern says all the way through.

[sabotabby]

P.S. I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue. Well, I managed it once, anyway.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

i have, too.
and it lend to an interesting night with some fellow that i first mistook for a nazi.
actually, the less said about that the better.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, the fact that you can tie a cherry stem in a knot with a tongue is just awesome, really.

[apperception.livejournal.com]

Wanna dye mine? I've got too much grey.

[sabotabby]

Personally, I think that grey is distinguished. I will probably not feel the same way when I have a lot of grey, though, so sure.

[ironed_orchid]

I agree about grey being distinguished. I like it on men. I hope one day my hair goes white.

[marrythebed.livejournal.com]

Cuz they gots %25 more cash?

Oh, and up there I was trying to figure out what IBTP meant, so I looked it up, but accidentally put IBTB. Urban Dictionary said "I'll bring the beer", so I was all, ohhhhh, she'll bring the pot. And then imagined you and your friends getting high and dyeing each other's hair and was like that should be interesting. But I looked it up just in case. And boy was I wrong!

That was a fun waste of a minute!

[sabotabby]

Cuz they gots %25 more cash?

Oh, good point! Who knew that the hair dyeing industry was actually sort of progressive?*

My friends and I would never get high before dyeing each other's hair. Or, well, I wouldn't, and I wouldn't let anyone high near my hair either. No drunken dyeing either; I've made that mistake before. Hair dyeing is serious business.

* It is not. Garnier, which makes my favourite shade of red that looks amazing on me and is dirt cheap, is owned by baby-killing Nestlé.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

"Blah blah market forces blah blah optimal price point blah blah wank wank wank."

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

Best. Answer. Ever.

[sabotabby]

It's hilarious, because it's a product that is not actually needed. But people pay more for it.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

A true story from my youth:

Condoms are cheap to produce. They need a small amount of latex and some very very good quality control. Total cost is perhaps five U.S. cents, not much more. The cheapest you can buy a condom for in the US is *maybe* 50c if you're lucky, probably more like $1 or higher. So there is a pretty crazy markup.

When I was a teenager I was interested to note[*] the entry of a new brand of condoms onto the market; they were called Mates. Not only did they have an amusing name, but they sold at something like half the price of the other brands. However, the public was suspicious of being sold something for half the price and assumed it was a shoddy product. The manager of Mates had to appear on TV and explain that he was raising his prices to match the other brands. What is it with people and why do they behave this way, and how can we persuade them to stop?

[*] out of sociological interest, not personal, sadly

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i am a paranoid schizophrenic and i believe that all brand name products have some kind of addictive or antidepressant chemicals in them so when you buy the cheaper store brand you fail to get the some slight euphoria and end up repulsed

at least that's how i feel

i refuse to accept that cocoa roos are anything more than shit compared to cocoa puffs

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

I have never* dyed my hair. I have amazing, silky, beautiful hair and am scared shit-less of doing anything that might aversely impact that. Plus, it's work.






* Not counting one experiment with colored hairspray in the late 1980s.

[sabotabby]

You don't have any grey yet, do you?

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

Only in my beard and my pubes. I had bought some beard dye once, but threw it away without using it.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i am attempting to grasp the connection between male hair dye price imbalance and patriarchy, failing, and then realizing that the patriarchy in its all encompassing nature is utterly incapable of NOT affecting something like male hair dye and now i am nodding sagely and saying "touche"

[sabotabby]

Here's how I figure it. Most products, and almost all beauty-related products, must be divided into Products for Girls and Products for Boys. It is marginally okay to dress a girl baby in a blue onesie, but it is never okay to dress a boy baby in a pink onesie. The gender division continues into adulthood, when Products for Girls usually cost twice as much and come in pink.

There's no reason, as I confirmed with an experiment on a friend's hair, why men can't use women's hair dye. There are more colours, more varieties, and it's cheaper. Therefore, the only reason men would buy men's hair dye is that they feel that their masculinity would be somehow in doubt if they bought women's hair dye. Hence, patriarchy. Though I like marrythebed's theory better.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

well i buy womens' hair dye and like to kiss boys and girls

[misfratz.livejournal.com]

Someone got Tim a 'mens' toiletries' thing as a present once. We lolled. Of course he ended up never using the shower stuff because it smelt like cat piss, and I used the deodorant/spray thing because he didn't like it (I indoctrinated him into using shampoo that smells like fruit a while ago and he never looked back). But eh, at least they didn't EMASCULATE HIM WITH GIRL TOILETRIES! I mean, if he used Girl Soap, his penis would surely shrivel and die. Hair dye has even more of a penis shrivelling effect because you have to leave it on for longer. This is completely true, and proven by Skience (probably ev.psych).

[sabotabby]

OMG, I forgot about boy soap and girl soap. I've been using Lush stuff lately because sphinctourist works there and gets a discount, but normally I use boy soap. It's cheaper.

[marsianer.livejournal.com]

Where I first fell to Earth, Sitzpinkler (person who sits down to pee) and Schattenparker (person who parks in the shade) are popular derogatory terms. Next time I'm there, I shall propose Frauenhaarfärbemittelbenutzer (person who uses hair dye for women.)

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

Why do we have gender-specific hair dye in the first place? Kinda like the difference between deoderent and anti-perspirent, it makes no sense.

[sabotabby]

What is the difference between deodorant and anti-perspirent anyway? All I know is that when I buy men's deodorant it usually works better but all the smells suck. So again, I pay twice as much for the pink women's one.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i had a girlfriend for a long time that thought it was weird how i loved what old spice smelled like on her, it reminded me of the distinct smell of a dried flower in an old book

if she insisted on using old spice she should have been grateful i didn't get all up in her grill about it

[thebigbadbutch.livejournal.com]

Antiperspirant prevents sweating. Deoderant is made to mask the smell of your pits (or wherever you put the stuff). Most deodorant includes antiperspirant.

My guess on why they are different for men in women is there is an assumption that men sweat more but don't need to smell pretty whereas there is an assumption women need less sweat protection (we glisten) but really want our pits to smell nice. So even when it's ph balance for a man and made for women or whatever the hell there's not really a science behind it.

Personally, I like men smells better so I use that even though I really don't sweat all that much.

[sabotabby]

I sweat like a pig. Wait, do pigs sweat?

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

yes.
yes they do.

[caprinus.livejournal.com]

My guess on why they are different for men in women is there is an assumption that men sweat more but don't need to smell pretty whereas there is an assumption women need less sweat protection (we glisten) but really want our pits to smell nice.

"Pretty" and "nice" sound like tools of the patriarchy!

No, seriously, most women's deodorant smells atrocious to me, a male. There is nothing nice about an armpit that smells like baby powder or a bunch of withered flowers. Now, most men's deodorant smells bad too, but there's no comparison to the most offensive women's deodorants. They make me think of catafalques, moth balls, the boudoirs of old rich widows, or being smothered by a lilac bush.

I don't mind people smelling like themselves provided they wash, but I understand many are embarassed by the sharp tang of even fresh sweat, and to prevent this, I prefer scent free anti-persipirants and deodorants which work by killing the odour-producing bacteria; second to that, the weaker of the "men's" smells, artificial concotions not trying to emulate anything in nature. "Sport" smell, "Spring rain" smell... the closest image these bring to mind is, I dunno, some kind of booze? -- I don't mind smelling like rum.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I know they do different things - one prevents you from sweating, the other changes the smell or something. I can't remember.

The patriarchy hurts men too.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Then they really need to stop.

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[sabotabby]

I tell them that but they really like the free labour.

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i'm doing my best to crush the masculinity in the ones around me but one double agent can only go so far

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

If they really want to help themselves, then they should volunteer.

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Do you recruit? Cuz, I can send some good menz your way if you can turn them into your worthy cause.

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i prefer to work in subtle ways, using comments and leading comparisons to gradually undermine their raw masculinity until they start volunteering to watch pixar movies with their girlfriends

i'm thinking of writing a book called The Definitive Homosexual Agenda just so everyone can stop bitching about it and society will kinda be on the same page

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I'm assured that the homosexual agenda is to RUIN MY MARRIAGE! *woe*

Will you be doing that soon? Cuz, we're going out for drinks and it would be nice if we had separate tabs for once. ;)

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

basically if i do something with a boy that you do with your spouse it ruins it for you, i can't really get married to a boy yet and it'd be kind of dick to do that since it's right before my girlfriend's birthday but i could probably find some way to cheapen foreplay for you and perhaps the separate drink tabs will follow from the resentment of a sub-par sexual experience

Re: The patriarchy hurts men too.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I <3 you. I <3 you so much. <3 <3 <3

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Surely it's because they make more money than women. Because there is less selection and with less selection the consumer is willing to pay more for a "rarity".

As for the Patriarchy hurting men... I'm sure they don't mind working longer hours, so that can pay for more sex.

[sabotabby]

I like the idea of progressive hair dye pricing.

[caprinus.livejournal.com]

Surely it's because they make more money than women

Then why do they pay less for haircuts and dry-cleaning?

No no, since vanity is driven by the objectification of bodies, this has to be determined by more than pure economics or supply/demand curves.

[ebourland.livejournal.com]

You can dye my hair. Also I'd like a weave.

[sabotabby]

I don't know how to do weaves.

[thebigbadbutch.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the commercials for men's hair products? Apparently, any man that doesn't have a thick full head of blonde/brunette hair is terrible at sports, incapable of fulfilling the needs of a woman, a failure at life, and probably going to die of old age soon.

I haven't been around long enough to know men have always bought into this idea or if they buy into this idea now because of the constant bombardment by this message but its a pretty powerful message either way. No wonder men are willing to shell out the extra cash for hair dye they don't really need in the first place.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

i kinda hope that if my hairline recedes i can just slightly alter my long hair style into the half-shaved kung fu braid and then glue it on my face in the shape of a fu manchu and never have a job again

[sabotabby]

People should do that more often. It looks hot on Chow Yung Fat, anyway.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

maybe on chow, but i'm whiter than polka

Speaking of Patriachy,

[shelestel.livejournal.com]

In my motherland they are planning to ban the entrance into any educational institution of a person with identifiable goth or emo visual markers.

Re: Speaking of Patriachy,

[sabotabby]

Baahahaha. OMG. Tell me you have a link to that.

Re: Speaking of Patriachy,

[shelestel.livejournal.com]

“The cost of the sexual services of an underage boy prostitute with Goth attributes is lower than for students in military schools but higher than for usual gay prostitutes” (http://www.kommersant.com/p899256/r_530/youth_policy/)

[billie0.livejournal.com]

Well, women pay more for haircuts so it evens itself out...

[sabotabby]

That is patently unfair, too. I used to have a shaved head, and then short hair for years.

[rbowspryte.livejournal.com]

Good to know.

[sabotabby]

Not my own, though. It's gotten too long.