Barbershops – a manly place for manly men only
The Barbershop revolution
People who have taken up the challenge to grow their beards definitely know something about these places and the name rings the bell. However, diving deeper into the world of Barbering opens up a world of fascinating and memorable stories. So what is a barber shop, one may ask? Where did barbers come from and who are they? Europe is seeing a reincarnation of this profession with a number of professional spots popping out everywhere. While beard shaving and hair styling have been part and parcel of modern-day hair-dressing salons, places that specialize in just that have been rather scarce and hard to find.
The short history of the profession.
The art of barbering dates back to the 12th century England where barbers were assisting monks and the rest of the community. Their duties included shaving and cutting people’s hair as the common belief was that diseases resided in hair. Therefore, at this time they were a respectable group of individuals. After some time, with the development of medicine their services became much more medically-oriented, i.e. they started to perform minor amputations or leech treatments. However, soon after the codification of medical law and the appearance of physicians, barbers came back to their original duties, such as hair cutting and other cosmetic procedures.
So who is a barber again?
Well, there are a lot of misconceptions about barbers. A lot of people believe that barbers are just hairdressers for men. The reality is far more complex. Barbers do not just fix and cut men’s hair, but also deal with a wide range of grooming procedures. Barbers possess a wide spectrum of skills that incorporate so much more than regular hairdressers. What is also important is that in the olden day's surgeons and barbers were the only individuals who could legally carry a sharp tool capable of cutting (hair or skin).
What do barber shops look like?
Modern-day Barbershops are exclusively male places. The idea tries to replicate and reconstruct the original experience. As a result, Barbershops are super stylish, with old-school wooden furniture similar to the ones found in old American film production. The atmosphere is an intrinsic and an inseparable element of these places, so that men who visit them, become regulars. More and more men decide to groom their facial hair and stylize their hair in such places because they offer a premium and professional service that no hairdresser can provide.
No women allowed!
Entering a barber shop is a special experience. The smell and the surroundings hit your nostrils with the smell of masculinity. As a result, women are not welcomed visitors, as they break the strong bond that is created between the barber and the client. Wives and girlfriends tend to be overly controlling about their husband hairstyles which can be very distracting for the focused and knowledgeable barber doing his job. There are even no women’s magazines in these places. To sum up, a barber shop is not the right place for a lady, it’s a manly place for males to be properly pampered and groomed to perfection.
