5 ms·

I always thought it was weird barbers and hair salons need licenses. I get the historical context but still?

by comrh 12y ago

joezydeco 12y ago
NPR did a good story on this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/06/21/154826233/why-its-illegal-to-braid-hair-without-a-license http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/06/21/154826233/why-its-...
trhway 12y ago
barbers at least operate sharp tools in dangerous vicinity of your ears and they required to have at least some training as a condition of the license. What could go wrong what is supposedly stripper's license saving us from, and what kind of training government requires here?
- rverghes 12y ago
  I would guess that it's to keep underage girls out of the stripping business. Probably previously the onus was on the owner to avoid hiring underage girls. But a couple scandals later, the government responded by requiring licensing.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  That and chemicals for dying, perming and straightening hair, which can have dangers to both customer and hairdresser if misused. On the other hand incumbents sometimes band together and demand regulations to keep out new entrants to a business, as in a recent controversy over whether a license should be required to braid hair (a popular service in the black community).
darklajid 12y ago
Why? I, as a customer, would like to know that the person in front of me actually went through some sort of 'test' instead of hoping that a crappy business would be out of business by now.. I had lots of fun discussions with both Israeli and US acquaintances about the fact that 'Business Administration' (as in, 'front desk & more') is something you have to learn in Germany (usually 3 years, apprenticeship split between working and learning at a school). These people usually said 'WTF? So, I know Word, Excel and can communicate quite decently - that's all it would take to get a job like that here'. Expectations matter and are - to make matters more complicated - often heavily influenced by culture as well. (You wouldn't be able to tell that I care about a barber that knows what he's doing, tbh. My wife claims I fail selecting the correct shop anyway, whatever I try. But I do support the 'please prove that you have a basic understanding of what you are doing' system)

I always thought it was weird barbers and hair salons need licenses. I get the historical context but still?

by comrh 12y ago

I always thought it was weird barbers and hair salons need licenses. I get the historical context but still?

NPR did a good story on this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/06/21/154826233/why-its-illegal-to-braid-hair-without-a-license http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/06/21/154826233/why-its-...

trhway 12y ago

barbers at least operate sharp tools in dangerous vicinity of your ears and they required to have at least some training as a condition of the license. What could go wrong what is supposedly stripper's license saving us from, and what kind of training government requires here?

rverghes 12y ago
I would guess that it's to keep underage girls out of the stripping business. Probably previously the onus was on the owner to avoid hiring underage girls. But a couple scandals later, the government responded by requiring licensing.
anigbrowl 12y ago
That and chemicals for dying, perming and straightening hair, which can have dangers to both customer and hairdresser if misused. On the other hand incumbents sometimes band together and demand regulations to keep out new entrants to a business, as in a recent controversy over whether a license should be required to braid hair (a popular service in the black community).

darklajid 12y ago

Why? I, as a customer, would like to know that the person in front of me actually went through some sort of 'test' instead of hoping that a crappy business would be out of business by now.. I had lots of fun discussions with both Israeli and US acquaintances about the fact that 'Business Administration' (as in, 'front desk & more') is something you have to learn in Germany (usually 3 years, apprenticeship split between working and learning at a school). These people usually said 'WTF? So, I know Word, Excel and can communicate quite decently - that's all it would take to get a job like that here'. Expectations matter and are - to make matters more complicated - often heavily influenced by culture as well. (You wouldn't be able to tell that I care about a barber that knows what he's doing, tbh. My wife claims I fail selecting the correct shop anyway, whatever I try. But I do support the 'please prove that you have a basic understanding of what you are doing' system)