Hug me? I don't think so.

The salon is one of the most highly sexualized work environments next to say the set of a porno or a prison. I prefer to work with women as I think men begin to degrade the work environment. Their presence can make women act in an embarrassing way. I am humiliated by how goofy we can become with a male in our presence.

I want to point one thing out. When women go to a hair convention and see the "men of Matrix" or whatever go on stage and do a little dance they lose their minds!! It is like they have never seen a man before this moment. The hormones go crazy and they are away from husbands and family for a couple of days. I guess this happens because we work with so many women and the men can often be gay. But are we that desperate? Or are we just having fun?

As women stylists we are strong and successful. We can take care of ourselves without a man. We drive nice cars and buy nice clothes. We are smart. UNTIL "John" comes in and wants a hug. We will let him hug us and tell us how nice our ass looks in those black pants. Or how nice our boobs look today. This is sickening that we just feed on such compliments. The work place becomes a beauty pageant. Does this kind of talk go on in a law firm? Is it even legal? I had a co-worker that would routinely say "boy, the things I would do to you" "you still got that boyfriend?" "I bet you are good in bed". I felt diminished as a stylist knowing this person helped in the hiring process. All of a sudden I am questioning my talent. Maybe I got hired because I do look good in a pair of tight pants???

I soon became the stylist that everyone knew not to hug. I actually looked down on the girls that were all huggy with the guys. I wondered why they would give these men the cheap thrill. I am not a prude but it really started to become disgusting. The constant comments of a sexualized nature makes a woman less. The girls I worked with were all beautiful. We always made sure we were hot and sexy because we know that the tips will be better the better we look.

Oh did I mention we were in Vegas? But this goes on everywhere. I worked in Nebraska at one time and the same kind of sexualized environment was there too. The men think it is fun. If a girl has any sense of self she knows this is not "fun" but a form of harassment. I know you boys don't think so. BUT it is wrong.

I also want to mention something else I have seen regularly in the salon. It is wrong to let a gay guy feel your boobs at work (especially in front of everyone) even if he says "but I don't have any and I like them".

If you think you are trying to make me feel good by saying my "boobs look nice" then maybe you have never read a card at Hallmark.