A Pregnant Woman Was Shamed by Hair Salon, Proving Mom Shaming Can Never Start Too Early
We women are just so lucky. What would we do without know-it-all men around to make sure we stay in line? When one pregnant woman had the absolute nerve to go to the hair salon to get her roots touched up, a male salon employee made sure to let her know how stupid and vain and wrong she was. Instead of being like, “Oh, thank you smart man! I’m so hashtag blessed to have run into you today,” she instead got pissed and wrote a pitch-perfect response to his ridiculous attempts at mom shaming.
When Jane Helpern walked into the salon she’d been a client at for five years to receive her “peroxide-based ego boost,” she was stunned to be greeted by a man who told her he’d never seen a pregnant woman get her roots done. REALLY? NEVER? I see pregnant women getting their color taken care of just about every time I’m in a salon. Helpern wrote in her essay for Allure, “You can imagine my rage when, I was greeted by a man confessing that in all his years of experience he’d never seen a pregnant woman bleach her roots before and that I really must ”not give a fuck” (about the life and health of my fetus, ostensibly).”
The employee continued to harangue Helpern, telling her an “incoherent story about spilling acid on himself as a child and never being the same again, as if to imply that spilling acid directly onto your skin is even remotely similar to receiving a routine hair treatment during pregnancy.” Helpern pointed out that her obstetrician and the Mayo Clinic say that using hair dye is perfectly fine.
But to be fair, it sounds like this guy got his medical degree at Mansplaining University, so he probably knows what he’s talking about.
Helpern hits the nail on the head when she writes, “There is nothing society enjoys more than policing the behavior of pregnant ladies, or so it seems. The list of behavioral restrictions is as endless and ever-expanding as our bodies ”” spanning the consumption of tuna melts and the taking of hot baths to the changing of cat litter to the ancient practice of gardening.”
I honestly want to know if Helpern punched this dude in the face, because I don’t think I’d have been able to control myself.
Helpern ends her essay by pointing out women are actually smart and capable of taking in information and then making decisions for themselves. WHO KNEW?! “…if you know or happen to encounter a pregnant lady, please keep your opinions to yourself and trust that she knows what’s best for her body and her baby.” PRAISE HANDS. “Let her have that 4 oz. glass of wine and soft cheese plate in peace. Chances are she’s done her research. But more importantly: it’s none of your business. As they say: opinions are like assholes (and if you’re a woman who chooses to reproduce, yours will likely explode during childbirth). That, like paying top dollar to transform her once lush, brunette locks into brittle strands of platinum blonde straw, is her prerogative.”
Jane, please be my friend.
(Image: Instagram / @janeohelp)
