Kristen Barber

Styling Masculinity investigates the economic and social relations at the heart of the growing multi-billion-dollar male grooming industry. Conducting detailed observations at two upscale men’s salons, Kristen Barber explores both how male customers are encouraged to invest in their appearance and how female employees do much of the work—not only the physical labor of snipping, tweezing, waxing, and exfoliating, but also the emotional labor of pampering their clients and pumping up their masculine egos.