Why do women feel the need to spend SO much money on their hair?

Conditioning.

Vanity.

So that they believe they have some value and purpose in the world, and that their lives have meaning.

Because they’re worth it?

Because we want to look our best to ourselves and those around us. And to anyone that is going to say no one notices or looks, bullshit. I know how catty women and men can be. “Did you see her hair? Is there a birds nest hidden in there?” “Why doesn’t she cover those roots?”
My all time favorite when I went to get my hair done at male hair dresser: “honey, have you not brushed your hair at all today?”

Like so many questions, this one seems based on a very small sample – most likely of one. I don’t feel the need to spend SO much money on my hair. I get it cut when it needs it and color it because I want to. That being said, hair, particularly on women, is one of the features that makes us feel attractive. Why the bellicose tone?

The Patriarchy has constructed and maintained a system of treating women like objects, including artificial standards on what constitutes “attractiveness”, which, together with the expectation of subservience, is the main factor in determining a woman’s “value”.
And as such, in order to maintain this system, the Patriarchy also devised a complex web of indoctrination, to ensure that women themselves are forced to internalise and strive to conform to these standards, and define their own self worth by them.
Religion, professional models, “beauty pageants” not only for adults, but also for children, the Make Up industry, the fashion industry, commercials, dolls, dress up dolls, and makeup sets targeted towards children, the movie industry selecting actresses mostly based on appearance.

You are complaining about women adhering to beauty standards, that you, as a member of the oppressor sex, are by association co-responsible its creation and endurance.

“Justify” exactly to whom? Define “SO much money”, please, and really, Zen? <eyeroll>

If it makes them feel good and look good then it’s worth the money.

The nonsense required for women to “fit in” has no rational explanation other than hobbling them in pursuit of more sensible goals.

Don’t you think Patrick would if he could?

(Wonder how differently your question might have been received if it had said “some people” instead of “women.” In fact, I knew a man who was very hair-proud and used seven products on it daily. I couldn’t even think of seven kinds of products I could possibly use on my hair.)

@Jeruba And don’t we think Trump does?

Yes, that depends on your definition. I get a family discount and with eyebrows done, plus cut and color it’s less than $100 per visit (that includes product), only every three months or so do I go.
No fake nails, no fake eyelashes, no threaded eyebrows- you could spend a fortune on all that if you chose to.

Personal preference, and who wouldn’t want to look better? Salon can help you achieve that when you don’t have the time and skill to do that. This is also a generalized thinking, the same as asking why men want to invest so much time in gym just to build some muscle. People also earn different amount of income and have different frequency of visits in salon so there’s no one answer regarding spending too much money in salon.

Vanity. But they could just give it to me…
Why? What else should they do with their money they wish to spend??

NOT every woman spends her life savings on her hair. I have my hair cut about once every 10–12 weeks; so only 4 times a year. I don’t go to expensive salons instead I go to a barber who has studied the female hair He’s been cutting my hair for 26 years & he only charges me $15 per cut (15×4 = $60/yr). I only spend $1.15 a week to keep my hair cut to a decent length. I do my own shampooing & styling 48 out of the 52 weeks in the year. My dryer/styler of choice cost me $40 but I’ve been using it for 5 years ($8/yr/15¢/week).

My biggest expense is the shampoo, conditioner & hairspray. Shampoo & Conditioner costs me $10/ea but they last 4 months each ($30/yr/57¢/week). Hairspray is $3/bottle & lasts 3 months with heavy use ($12/yr/23¢/week)

In place of spending $500 for a hair transplant, I spent $6.00 for a bottle of Essential Oil that has lasted me 6 months & there is still plenty left. On the outside I might spend $12/yr/23¢/week) to keep my hair looking full & healthy plus it has darkened the color of my gray so NO hair coloring.

OK, my grand total for the year is $122/yr/$2.34/week!!!
After I had my stroke & lost the use of my left arm, everybody assured me that I needed to go to a beautician every week to get my hair done. I didn’t like that idea; so, I found myself a barber who helps me keep a cut that I can deal with one handed & take care of myself.

Now, my BFF is another story, she spends $150–200 per visit & visits several times a month & her hair doesn’t look any better than mine!!!

Plenty of friends, both male and female, have constantly well-quaffed hair. I have no idea how often it is done by themself or someone else. Unless it is mentioned, I have no idea how much they spend.

While I can appreciate an interesting hairstyle, it holds little room for judgement unless it is sharing my bed.

Female: spends less than $100USD a year on haircare.

@Pied_Pfeffer I couldn’t even buy decent shampoo for $100 a year. Are you using Suave or something? I mean, I’m pretty frugal, so I’m just curious.

@KNOWITALL Short hair cut four times a year for $20 each. $1 for shampoo. Sometimes I use a gel or wax.

@Pied_Pfeffer
You could buy a hair cut machine and cut your hair yourself.

@Pied_Pfeffer One dollar for shampoo…wow, I can’t imagine that’s good for your hair though. No judgement, but seriously that probably causes you to need that many haircuts.

I’ve used $1 shampoo for decades and my hair is fine.

I know some people are catty and judgemental when it comes to appearance but I’ve learned to not give a damn. If you are going to judge me because I don’t spend a small fortune on my hair you aren’t worthy of my attention.

@KNOWITALL Four hair cuts a year is not many for short hair. When mine is short, I have ti cut every 5 -6 weeks to keep the shape!

Because of the exposure to the elements of wind,heat,rain,snow or desert areas affect the hair as the seasons change.
Thus healthy hair needs conditioning, moisture replenishing if dry etc
And gawd help the female with grey hair! Because of society’s media persona of what a successful female should look like and maintain many women dye their hair in order to stay in the Career sector successfully. Many otherwise just wish to maintain a healthy look and feel.
Poor models are ruining their skin, hair, bodies to have a incredible fake body image especially with artificial implants everywhere on their bodies! It is competitive in the modelling industry and our youth are caught up in the idea of what the fashion industry expects. We should start a modelling agency with natural features being the norm and not skinny starving models sacrificing their health for a throne made of brass not gold.
The industry is thriving by people deluded into thinking what they dictate.
But we don’t have to follow along with their ideal.

Women dress up in competition with other women.
Men appreciate it.

I haven’t been to a hairdresser in years.
I had long, beautiful hair.
I got too physically impaired to care for it myself, so I cut it off.
If what grows naturally from one’s head is a problem, maybe they should just replace it with something they can live with.
My mom always had all these beauty shop appointments, but I never understood the draw.

I don’t view it as something detrimental, necessarily, though I have been treated as being less of a woman at times by people who believe women are duty bound to pay for primping.

I suppose it is a bit primal, that picking bugs from each others fur feeling of being well cared for.

An acquaintance said that “maybe” she could cut back to $500/month in salon expenses when the family income was dropping. Maybe.

I cannot explain or grasp that thinking.

But as spelled out above it’s not “women” it’s “some people”.

I also have a friend who sees a $50 salon day as a huge treat three or four times a year. As for everyone else, I don’t keep track of their budgets.

@Call_Me_Jay Wow!!!! $500 a month- maybe?! She must be well off!

I don’t spend any money on my hair. I cut it with my regular household scissors once in a while. The shampoo I use is from the years my husband was travelling on company business and he gathered up the daily tubes supplied by the hotels. I have a lifetime supply.

I also don’t use any makeup or any other type of cosmetic product. I am very thrifty and spend about $25 a year on clothes as well.

↑↑↑ I do really good with my hair; but, clothes & shoes are my downfall!!!

Best I can tell it’s because they enjoy looking good to themselves and others. It’s about self-image. Secret: guys don’t care that much, hair is one of the last things we look at. Fake hair is like makeup to us. If someone looks good naturally it’s 10x more attractive than seeing an obvious attempt to hide flaws. We like flaws. My wife probably spends $150 a month on hers and I sort of would like her to be natural with the grey and all. I find that attractive but she’ll probably keep getting it colored until she is elderly. It’s what she wants.
Guys get fussy about hair too, especially hipsters. I generally grab a pair of clippers and a couple of guards and cut my own. Sometimes I pay $15 and have someone else cut it all off. Hair is basically a liability for me since I’m outside in the heat and in tick infested areas, wear bicycle and motorcycle helmets and am around rotating machinery often. I also just hate fiddling with it. I usually rock varying degrees of stubble out of laziness even though it looks intentional. I hate shaving.

guys don’t care that much, hair is one of the last things we look at

Tits and then hair. That is my workflow.

Really. I spent a hundred bucks in the last few weeks on computer shit I really didn’t need. As long as you can afford it spend all you want on your hair.

And please yesitszen. Please post your monthly budget. I would like to point out all the shit that you get that is superfluous.

I am bald. My budget is zero.

I’d like to clarify something. Of course there are men who spend a lot of money on haircare too. But the prices for women’s cut and colour is much more expensive. It’s not so much that I don’t understand why they do it, but rather why they are willing to pay the exorbitant costs of haircare.

P.S. Being bald myself I am a bit envious. ☺

My point is more about that life is a fucking ball of hurt if you never treat yourself. I don’t give a shit if you get some candy with your food stamps. Everyone needs a treat.

I shave my head with a number 4. But I do occasionally get a proper cut and a shave with the straight razor.

If we want to talk about wasting money.. Let’s talk about cars.

Exorbitant amounts of money are spent at the hairdresser. This is the subject of MY question. Not buying candy with food stamps nor the price of cars. True, this is Social. But you have gone way off topic, seem to be offended personally, and are being rather rude to me. Nice welcome to an old jelly.

@johnpowell

@yesitszen Lots of money is spent at the dentist too. We don’t set the prices and as mentioned above, some women find cheaper alternatives. Some women spend over $500 month as Jay said but really not many unless they are rich.

Have you taken in the variety of answers you got? It still sounds to me like you have a particular beef with one woman.

The dentist isn’t an elective expense. As one can see from the different answers here and the various spending choices, hair and teeth are two different things.

I guess things have been slow here. I was just musing.

“The dentist isn’t an elective expense”

Ever been to west virginia?

@areyoukiddingme. I live in WV. We have teeth.

There isn’t usually a price differential between men & women at the dentist for identical procedures. Why is a blouse twice as expensive as a shirt to clean at the cleaners? Why are women relegated to hours of wasted time slathering overpriced crap on their mugs?

@chyna OK where I live in Tennessee then.

@stanleybmanly That’s because women don’t have more teeth than men!

Only in case of vagina dentata.

@ragingloli You have a dark, dark mind!

Nah, you are all just too sheltered.

@ragingloli we own a hair shaver. I do my partner’s; he refuses to do mine.

@KNOWITALL Er, no. See @janbb’s response.

I spend the money because my hair must be red.

I’ll bet Stephen Miller spent a lot of money getting his “hair” done!

$4.95, on a spray can?