How to

BE MORE GENDER INCLUSIVE

It’s important to make everyone within your business feel comfortable and welcome, regardless of how they identify.

Beauty expert Sam Marshall and short hair specialist Keri Blue off er their insight.

1TRAIN UP Increasing your awareness of gender non-conformity and the terminology used is a good starting point. Sam Marshall (she/her) is founder of Th e Beauty Guru and teaches gender inclusivity training as part of Be Trans Aware, together with Keri Blue (they/them), founder of Hair Has No Gender. ‘Having trans and non-binary awareness training can help to increase your understanding,’ says Sam. ‘You’ll also benefi t from spotting what you might be doing that’s wrong or could be changed.’ 2 CHECK PRONOUNS Adding pronouns to your booking system (she/her, he/ him, they/them) will help clients to feel welcome and respected. You can also introduce pronouns for staff as part of email signatures, or in team member biographies online.

‘You can avoid discriminating against gender by using pronouns and learning what they mean and why they are important,’ says Keri.

If your client forms ask for title information, add a gender-neutral option by including Mx (pronounced ‘mix’) along with Mr, Mrs and Ms.

3REPRESENT VISUALLY Keri advises refl ecting on the imagery you use. ‘It’s important to have an honest representation of everyone who comes in and out of your business, especially in terms of hair. A lot of the time we use the same stock images, and we subsequently attract the same clients.’

4USE GENDER-NEUTRAL PRICING Base your pricing on what you do, not on gender. In terms of hair salons and barbering, Keri advises charging by time rather than using male and female pricing. ‘A long haircut could take 20 minutes, but a short cut could take an hour because it’s more technical. Th at’s why I charge per hour of my time so I’m not discriminating against anyone.’

5RETHINK WORDING Beauty treatments are commonly, and unnecessarily, separated by gender, says Sam. ‘Skin is skin, and it can vary from person to person. We really don’t need to separate treatments such as facials with male and female skin options. By off ering male and female treatment pricing, you’re also excluding anyone who’s non-binary or gender-fl uid.’

Intimate waxing does require body parts to be listed, but this can be written in inclusive language, says 7 SHOW YOUR INCLUSIVITY Having an employment diversity and inclusion policy that’s readily available for prospective employees and clients to read will show that your business is gender-inclusive and welcoming to all. ‘If your workplace is known to be gender-inclusive, staff are more likely to feel able to be themselves,’ says Sam. ‘You could also add a gender inclusivity statement on your website that welcomes everyone,’ adds Keri. ‘A benefi t of being gender-neutral is it will help to broaden your client and staff base.’

Sam. For example, with a Brazilian wax (vulva area), you can ‘indicate the treatment is suitable for anyone with a vulva, including non-binary people, women and trans men.’

Th e word ‘unisex’ can be misleading, adds Keri. ‘When you see males and females under the same roof but charge diff erent prices, it’s discriminating against people like myself who are openly nonbinary and gender-queer. We advise saying a salon is gender-neutral rather than unisex.’

6BE TRULY SOCIAL Consider the way you speak to clients, suggest Keri and Sam – particularly on social media. A punchy, gender-based phrase such as ‘Hi ladies!’ is not inclusive language. Meanwhile, in barbershops, clients are regularly described as ‘gents’, ‘lads’ or ‘sir’. ‘Look at where you use language,’ says Sam. ‘It’s important not to assume that you know someone’s gender just by how they look.’

RESOURCES

 NHBF blog on the importance of inclusivity in barbershops and salons:

nhbf.co.uk/importance-ofinclusivity

 Equality policy in section 24 of the NHBF employment contracts: nhbf.co.uk/contracts

 Training for businesses:

betransaware.co.uk

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination (direct or indirect) when they receive goods and services from a business. It aims to reduce inequality and ensure people are not disadvantaged or treated unlawfully in any way. Age, disability, race, sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment (including social transition) are all protected characteristics under the Act.