Global pop sensation Sam Smith came out as non-binary this week – identifying as neither entirely male nor female. To find out more about how gender identity is slipping into the mainstream, the Hackney Post spoke to three hairdressers at Barberette, a gender-neutral and LGBT-friendly barber shop in Hackney Down.
“Our first priority is building a safe environment,” says Buck, 35. “We want to connect people by really listening to them. A hairdresser’s job is at least fifty per cent about talking and about how you make the client feel.
“Having an open ear and non-judgemental approach is really important in this job. We help to cement what you’re feeling on the inside, so that it is represented on the outside as well.”
Androgyny has been around for a long time, Lauren explains. “It took off in pop culture in the sixties and again in the eighties with the likes of David Bowie and Annie Lennox. Androgyny is often about a certain look, whereas non-binary is about how you feel.
“If you are non-binary, you don’t feel fully like a man or a woman. The term ‘androgyny’ comes from Ancient Greek, meaning literally ‘man/woman’- but in the fashion world it has come to refer mainly to your look.
“People are so categorised by gender from early childhood – but fashion and androgyny can be ways of exploring identity and how you feel about yourself.”
Jack Monroe, Ruby Rose, Cara Delevingne and Miley Cyrus are among the celebrities who have come out as non-binary or genderqueer.
“Coming out as non-binary shouldn’t have to be a big deal – it’s just who you are,” says Buck. “But I think in these situations where famous celebrities come out and start speaking about gender more openly, it can really change how the individual is perceived in the community, as well as the life of that individual. And that is a great thing for anyone coming out in any way – as non-binary, as transgender or as queer.
“When we see celebrities like Laverne Cox in Orange Is the New Black, or Caitlyn Jenner, it makes queer identity more accessible for the general public because it is something that is in their living room in a magazine, it’s something they are being confronted with every day. And it gets people talking, it starts a conversation.”
Sam Smith’s publicity can build “action and exposure” for non-binary folk very quickly, Lauren says. “People that can’t relate to non-binary are seeing someone in the spotlight, who they already know, so that they can perhaps relate to it a lot more.
“It’s like seeing a transgender woman on the catwalk. What’s more, another trans woman, who might have ruled out working in fashion, might see that model and think, ‘Hey, if she can do it, maybe I can do it too’.”
“Our clients can really inspire us,” adds Klara. “This is such an inclusive environment, where people from completely different walks of life meet when they never usually would.
“We’re built for disability access, we cater for some Muslim women who require a haircut without men present. Our clients are aged from 1 ½ years to about 75. We do a haircut that fits their needs. People will come back here for ten years. There’s a real sense of community here.”
Barberette prices all haircuts according to style rather than gender, starting at £24. “Here, you pay for what you’re getting,” says Buck. “Hair doesn’t discriminate, so neither do we!”
