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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1697 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 20, 2026

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So is there something to be said about barber shops of all places? The Wikipedia article on the social phenomenon known as the third place has featured a photo of a barber shop in Brazil as one illustration for a long time as a reflection of the simple fact that barber shops are among the evident third places for men. These are a subject we have discussed here multiple times as there seems to be broad consensus (outside of this forum as well) that they (i.e. third places for [single] men) are mostly dead by now. Broadly speaking there appears to be two opposing narratives on this; one is that these places are dead because men (and adults in general) no longer want them and no longer think they need them, the other is that adults would actually prefer to visit them but they're dead anyway, and they died off because adults in the past bought into the illusion that these are no longer necessary and now it's impossible to resurrect them.

After visiting the Wikipedia page above I went on to ask myself multiple questions. Who goes to the barber shop anymore? As far as I can tell, barber shops are still around, but only in dense urban core areas. Do they exist in the suburbs and exurbs where walkable neighborhoods do not exist? I guess not. Is it that a growing proportion of men are single and many of them let themselves go to such an extent that they don't bother going to the barber? Are married men reluctant or unable to visit the existing barber shops?

I go to a suburban barber shop. Never really thought about this. There are several in my area. I live in what could be called a "streetcar suburb" of a large Midwestern city, which is not Chicago; the barber shop is five minutes' walk from me, so I will probably always go there as long as they do a decent job.

My barber is, strangely, the most "based" dude I have ever met. Every time I see him, without fail, he ends up talking about how the Anglo-Saxon race deserves to survive, how Andrew Jackson was a hero, how the Jews control the media, and many other similar topics. He does this no matter who else is in the shop - of any age or race. He seems to do a thriving trade, and evidently has good relations with minority-owned businesses that occupy other suites in the building. In general a fascinating guy who I think about often.

I don't hang out at the barbershop, though. I have other things to do. Haircuts are something I just get done and move on. My third place is church, where apart from attending services I serve on committees, put on events, run Bible study, and much else.

I walked into a barber shop in Pittsburgh once. I was the only non-black person. There was a group there just hanging out. They paused their conversation for like 3 minutes after I sat down and then got back to it.

The levels of shooting the shit they were doing was unmatched. I wish I could say more but I ... didn't even understand what they were talking about(??)

All of the other times I've been to a barber shop I only end up talking to the barber, they're usually pretty empty.

I tried wandering into the barber shop by my house and they asked me to make an appointment. Like what. An appointment for a place with a barber pole outside? Wack.

Afaik black hair cuts tend to require more maintenance so it wouldn't shock me if that's a contributor to the creation of a third place.

I go to the hairdresser two or three times a year. If I was trying to maintain a fade or an elaborate beard I'd be in once or twice a month, and also probably a certain social contagion effect where I'd be more likely to go with a friend if it were that frequent and be substantially pickier with my barber

In New Jersey, due to corruption, you need 900 hours of training / apprenticeship at a barber school to be able to cut men’s hair. This only really applies to Whites not in college and East Asians, as everyone else knows a guy who will just cut their hair under the table. So this is like a tax specifically on third places. I imagine there are also bizarre health code requirements that are not actually necessary on top of this. Of course there are still “third place” barbershops if you’re willing to spend more money, but I imagine the barbershop in Brazil doesn’t have the issue of retarded regulations making haircuts more expensive, so for the Brazilian it’s always worth the money. Also, when a chain takes over it does everything possible to increase customer turnover and you might be penalized for spending too long with a customer. The ambience is the brightest possible white light so that you aren’t sued if someone is cut, but this lighting is not conducive to bonding.

there is something to be said about barber shops of all places

The scents of the powders etc increase relaxation and it requires close personal touch and trust. Barbershops are probably unique among places for this.

these places are dead because men (and adults in general) no longer want them

This is another factor because men are fine making video games their third place

In New Jersey, due to corruption, you need 900 hours of training/apprenticeship at a barber school to be able to cut men’s hair.

Source: 1 2

The local barbershop culture is a casualty of the safety razor. It's a lot harder to build relationships when you go in 8 times a year for a 15 minute cut than when you're going in 3 times a week for a shave and touch up. There's just no opportunity to build comradery.

There's a reason the only barbershops that still retain that sort of community atmosphere are black barbershops. Black hair styles typically require substantially more professional maintenance than those popular with other ethnicities, so guys are back in the shop on a regular basis. Similarly with women's hair salons. If you're going to be there for 2+ hours at a time and have to keep a regular maintenance schedule, that's a lot more opportunity for banter and friendship formation. Meanwhile I tend to wait until the last second before some important event, then stop by whatever chain is most conveneient to my other obligations that day.

I'm reminded of Ring Lardner's story Haircut, which is a barber reminiscing to a new customer about a deceased regular, who the barber remembers as a salt-of-the-earth guy with a great sense of humor but who the reader comes to realize is a total garbage human being.

Yeah, I suspect this plays a big part in it.

I see a decent few around. Sometimes, as has been said, in strip malls, sometimes just small shops on a corner or in a residential area. Can't say how well they function as third places as opposed to just "get in, get the job done quietly, get out" these days, though.

There’s tons of haircutting places in suburban strip malls. Single men go to them because their wife cant very well give them a hair cut(she, after all, doesn’t exist).

I'm pretty sure there's a ton of Barber shops (or male hairdressers) in Europe, at least in the places I've passed through, but mostly in places that have apartment buildings. Suburbs don't really have much of anything besides a restaurant or two.

But like malls or shopping areas tend to be surrounded by apartment buildings, which in turn are full of barber/hairdressers.

Otherwise I've never been to a barber, and usually go to a "female" hairdresser.

Who goes to the barber shop anymore? [...] Is it that a growing proportion of men are single and many of them let themselves go to such an extent that they don't bother going to the barber? Are married men reluctant or unable to visit the existing barber shops?

For barber shops specifically, the answer is mostly that chain salons like Supercuts have taken over the market, no? They're cheap and convenient, and they have tons of locations in the suburbs, but they're not really social spaces. I treat it roughly the same way I'd treat a dentist's office.

I get the impression that the main people who go to traditional barber shops are old men who are used to going to traditional barber shops.

You're never going to build a community around a chore that takes 15 minutes to complete 8-10 times a year. A combination of looser grooming standards (my grandfather got a haircut every 3 weeks like clockwork to keep everything neat and tidy) and cheap/easy at-home shaving killed the barbershop culture. Even when I used to go to an old school barbershop, I didn't go often enough to even recognize the other customers, let alone form relationships with any of them.

I go to barber shops, went to one for a while enough to be quite familiar with the barber. The barber shop I'm going to now is italian, all the barbers and the clients seem to know one another except me, but dammit they're very cheap and they do a good job. The clients are, except me, pretty much all older men or younger immigrants, and they all seem to be there to hang out more than to get a haircut and a shave.

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