This is starting to get ridiculous...
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- Created on Friday, 09 August 2013 01:51
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Not again?! This is starting to get ridiculous. Correction: it already was ridiculous; this is starting to become asinine. There is no fundamental human right to the barber of your choice!
I thought that a similar complaint in Toronto a few months back about this alleged fundamental human right of getting-a-hair-cut-by-the-barber-of-your-choice-with-or-without-their-willing-consent might have been a silly anomaly. But maybe it was a test case to see how much money can be shaken out of honest businessmen in Ontario trying to specialize in a niche market of male haircuts.
Anyway, this story should make your blood boil: Another woman, self-described as “a sex positive queer feminist activist”, thinks her right to a male haircut in a men’s only barbershop trumps a barber’s rights to private contract, to freely associate with men, to private property, to freedom of expression and to liberty (as well as the male customers' right to freedom of association).
The reason for the barber’s refusal to cut the complainant’s hair is simple: "I didn't want to cut her hair," said Phil Angemi, who's owned the Westdale Barber Shop for the past 12 years. "That's my reason."
I love that defence. And it should be a perfectly acceptable defence in a free country, without any nosy government bureaucrat meddling in these affairs. As later reports indicate, Phil admits he’s just not good at cutting women’s hair. He specializes in cutting men’s hair.
But meddling seems to be exactly what the HRCs are designed to do – rile up the very few discontented, winey, professional “victims”. These bureaucrats, and the professional victimhood hucksters they embolden, are moral busy-bodies, specializing in growing the grievance industry. This lady was clearly hunting for anything male-specific that she can destroy. Indeed, subsequent media spots on local radio and television demonstrated she was soaking up the spotlight and loving it. Clearly this was more about the notoriety than the issue.
Subsequent reports state that the barber apologized, offered to cut this lady’s hair and promised to cut other women’s hair if they want it. In some part, I’m sad to see that this all just worked out. For a while there, male barbershops were a last holdout for male-only space. That’s gone now too it seems. (Incidentally, that road is a one-way street: there are many women-only gyms, spas, salons, etc. That’s perfectly fine of course, but the courtesy should extend back to men too.)
Who knows – maybe one of these nutty activists will attempt to shakedown the wrong person one day and finally meet their match. Here’s to hoping.
