site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1725 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 20, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

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?

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.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats