Género, trabajo emocional y corporal en peluquerías y salones de belleza

Abstract

Based on qualitative research carried out in Bogota in 2010, the article analyzes work in hair salons and spas and the sexual division of labor and occupations that take place in them. Categories of emotional and body work, proposed by feminist criticism of the concept of work, are used to interpret the multiple abilities, skills and meanings that the hair dressers, stylists, barbers and mani-curists incorporate in performing their work. The analysis explores the articulations among gender, class, sexuality and race and proposes certain hypotheses regarding their incidence in the differentiation of the work practices and meanings, emphasizing the relationship between worker and customer.