I’m a dude who has had many questionable hair choices. Whether it was because I was young, dumb, poor, cheap, whatever… My last barber fled the country after having an incredibly traumatic experience where one of her dogs drowned and she nearly went down as well. I got a farewell cut the day she sold her shop, and now she’s in Mexico with a mid-life crisis thing going on.
That happened last summer, and my hair at the moment is maaaaaybe long enough to braid, but there is some impending legislation to change who can do that.
The Oklahoman has the details:
Soon after Sojourna Worthy moved to Oklahoma from California, she was stopped in the grocery store by a woman admiring her braided hair and asking if Worthy took clients.
Worthy, in her early 20s at the time, quickly had a growing group of women who would come to her home to have her braid their hair.
“The next thing I know, I’m doing all kinds of people’s hair,” said Worthy, now 48 and owner of Twist It Sistah salon in Del City. “But then I did a woman’s hair, and after I finished – seven to eight hours of work – she said ‘Do you know what you just did is illegal?’ And I’m looking at her like ‘What are you talking about?’”
At the time, a person in Oklahoma was required to have a license or certificate to do services involving hair.
“When she left my home, I called every person who was planning on coming to get their hair done and told them ‘I’m sorry, I can’t braid your hair,’” Worthy recalled.
Who is this narc who went through the long process of getting a beautiful braid and then turns to the stylist like, “This was illegal.” If you’re a white woman and dream about becoming a meme, that’s the way to do it. Please do not be Braid Banishing Brandie.
Senator Micheal Bergstrom is looking to deregulate the hair industry in regards to people who do braids:
He filed legislation for the 2020 session that would slightly expand the services a hair braiding technician could offer to include mild trimming of hair and use of hair extensions while also completely deregulating the practice.
His bill would also get rid of any regulations for cosmeticians, who practice makeup application, cutting and shampooing hair and blowouts.
“This is an approach that is being taken elsewhere around the country,” said Bergstrom, R-Adair. “We are putting an unnecessary burden on people. If it is something that needs to be regulated, then we regulate it. Otherwise, we need to stop charging for licenses that we don’t need to have in the first place.
Normally, I do not agree with these ‘DEREGULATE THE WORLD!’ Republicans that populate Oklahoma, but for once… Maybe I agree!
I’ve got a lot of friends who spent a lot of time going through cosmetic school to learn their trade, and they’re all talented and fantastic, and I understand why they would want to keep their trade protected. But there are a lot of problematic, racial elements to licensing who gets to do braids and who doesn’t. Even on the wider (whiter) scale, I want to know that the person who is cutting my hair knows what they are doing, but it only takes one awful haircut for me to find a new stylist.
Maybe Oklahoma has been in the pocket of Big Supercuts money for a long time, but I’m gonna cross the aisle and agree with Senator Bergstrom and say that it shouldn’t be illegal for people to braid hair without a license.
How strange that a woman would sit for eight hours worth of braids and then upbraid the braider.
Good one!
My guess is that the freshly-braided customer hoped to avoid paying for the “illegal” service that she received.
That’s my thought…that client wanted a free service and knew if she ended up charging her for the braiding session she could refuse and call the cops for illegal braiding.
This is great news! Most cases for deregulation of business activities involve a clear path for someone wealthy and powerful to reap a financial windfall from deregulation. (Think about pesky environmental regulations involving oil production, Farm Bureau interests, or charter school profiteers for example.)
Here we have a literal cottage industry – hair braiding – with no rich and powerful interests behind the push for deregulation. Let’s hope that this catches on. It would be nice to hear “Let’s get the government’s boot off the necks of our salt-of-the-earth businesspersons,” and have it apply to someone besides an oil company.
Why do beauticians need to be licensed in the first place? (That’s a serious question. There may be a good reason for it, but it isn’t clear to me what the reason is.)
Beauticians, barbers and cosmetologists all deal with sanitation and hygiene. Equipment has to be sanitized between uses and proper procedures followed to prevent the spread of infection and infestation. Also, many of chemicals used in the coloring and straightening procedures can be harmful if not used correctly.
Of course, it is nice to know that you can walk into a licensed establishment and have a little confidence that the person working on your head has at least some level of competency. Doesn’t guarantee a good service, but at least you shouldn’t be physically harmed.
Not sure. I know my barber is licensed and thankfully so. When that straight razor is up against your jugular you want someone with a little training!
Yeah, but what happens when Big Hair comes in and takes over the market?
I would say that sort of legislation is meant to dehumanize native americans….. think why would that thinking even exist…. in one of the largest Indian populations in amerika…. look at the battle between Stitt and the money Indian Casino’s are taxed…. nothing’s changed there in a hundred years
“meant to dehumanize native americans”
That seems a bit of a stretch…
If you are saying only Native Americans have braids then that is stereotyping at the least and racist at worst. Guess you didn’t see the gal in the picture above the article?
vonHugenstein explained it well in his/her post above.
but your’re right – nothing has changed in 100 years.
I see where you’re going with this. I perceive Bazz’s remark more about the origin of the law, maybe?
I can see a logical path with this thinking…provided it is indeed around the law’s origin.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/giddy-up-tsa-agent-snaps-native-american-womans-braids-like-reins-during-pat-down
Which has everything to do with this post.
The hair braiding regulation predates the article you quoted.
Correlation does not equal causation.
Never mind.
🤦♂️🏳️🏳️
Of course the hair braiding article predates the regulation… using jokelahomas history with native americans sets a precedent , even the most mundane regulation concerning ones hair is a violation of human rights … keep it up round eye…. I wonder if Chinese rail workers were ever scalped….
Now they need to make it legal to cut your own hair. Oklahoma has a law making that illegal.
https://www.ok.gov/cosmo/Licensing_&_Fee_Information/index.html
I know this isn’t a job where people become millionaires, but a license to become a barber or cosmetologist is $60. The biggest barrier would be the training and apprenticeship requirements which, honestly, I really do want them to have regardless of license status.
One part of me really would prefer deregulation just because I feel like governments use unnecessary fees to make money under the guise of promoting safety. On the other hand, the barrier of a license isn’t excessively onerous here. A small and reasonable barrier to entry to enter a profession to (theoretically) ensure that people who do it do it safely and with some degree of knowledge isn’t necessarily a bad thing . Like VonHugenstein said, hair dressers use a lot of chemicals, some of which can be very caustic, so there is a reason to ensure that they know what they’re doing.
I, doofus that I am, didn’t actually know that *braiding* hair in one’s home without a licence was illegal.
Then again, I have almost no hair to style … unless someone wants to turn some well-trained worker ants with artistic skills onto my scalp and see what they can do with hair that’s about 2″ long at its longest and .50 at its shortest.
Of course the hair braiding article predates the regulation… using jokelahomas history with native americans sets a precedent , even the most mundane regulation concerning ones hair is a violation of human rights … keep it up round eye…. I wonder if Chinese rail workers were ever scalped….