The Butte Academy of Beauty Culture

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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1

Defining the Culture ................................................................................................................................ 2

Cultural Markers ..................................................................................... ......................................... 3

Individualistic and Low Context Culture............................................................................................ 3

Beliefs and Values ................................................................................... ......................................... 4

Cultural Conflicts ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Culture Clash .................................................................................................................................... 5

Stereotyping .................................................................................................................................... 6

Communication ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Nonverbal Communication .............................................................................................................. 7

Verbal Communication .................................................................................................................... 8

Reacting to a Stranger ............................................................................................................................. 9

Final Thoughts ....................................................................................................................................... 10


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Introduction

The Butte Academy of Beauty Culture is a secondary college for cosmetology.

Cosmetology is defined as the study or art of cosmetics and their use. A common term that is

associated with cosmetology is a hairdresser. A common misconception of a hairdresser is they

deal strictly with hair. This is untrue. After completing school, an individual is licensed to

perform services on the hair, face, hands, and feet.

To become a licensed cosmetologist, one must complete 2000 hours of schooling

(estimated to about one year) and take a required state test to ensure competency of the covered

material. After an individual has successfully completed all requirements they are then sent out

into the work force leaving behind the cultural experience in beauty school.

I have attended the Butte Academy of Beauty Culture, and successfully completed the

requirements approximately five years ago. When leaving the school to begin a new career, I

never looked back on the culture I left behind, until recently. There have been times that I have

visited the beauty school but never divulged myself into the environment, but because of the

cultural immersion project, I now have a new understanding of the culture thriving within the

beauty school.

The beauty school does not operate on a typical Monday through Friday schedule. The

schedule they have adhered to since the opening of the school is Tuesday through Saturday from

8:30am to 5pm. Tuesday through Thursday the students attend morning class, starting at 8:45am

to 10:45am. They are allowed a break until 1pm to eat lunch and attend to incoming clients.

From 1pm to 4:30pm half of the students go to afternoon class while the remaining students stay


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and wait to perform services on clients. The school offers a wide range of services including:

haircuts, perms, colors, facials, manicures, acrylic nails, facial waxing.

The freshman students are required to work on mannequins for the first three months of

schooling and after that they are required to take practical exam to determine if they are qualified

to work on clients. If they succeed, the freshman move from the basement to the upper floor

where they are designated a booth. From my observations, it seems as though clients prefer a

senior student. Unfortunately, the freshman students are not as busy and as a result they are

forced to work on mannequins once again.

Defining the Culture

Since leaving the school nearly five years ago, all notions that I once had concerning the

beauty school had disappeared. And being that I am now in the profession, I needed to somehow

completely distance myself from the cosmetology realm altogether. I needed to evolve into a

stranger of the cultural. I was unsure how I was going to approach something I have infinite

knowledge about. However, I began to realize that I knew more about being a hairdresser than I

knew what it was like to be a student at the beauty school. I further thought into my approach

and began to realize that I had no idea what the culture was about; I only knew how to function

within the culture.

Now I was ready to approach the beauty school, possessing no former knowledge. My

first step was to identify the culture as a culture. By doing so I needed to define the culture.


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Cultural Markers

Each student wears a maroon smock which identifies them as a student. The instructors wear

a variety of colors of smocks (different from that of a student) to identify them as instructors.

Every single female in the building has multi-colored hair. By this I mean brown shades with

highlights, red, blond, and brown stripes, basically any color that can be put into hair exists

within that school.

New students are kept separate from the more advanced students. They dwell in the basement

of the building working diligently on mannequins. These students seem to concentrate more on

the technique of a process (cutting hair, blow drying) rather than the time it takes to complete it;

whereas, the more advanced students (kept on the main floor) are more concerned with time and

not so much on the technique.

The students in the basement are identified as new students particularly on the basis that the

basics of cosmetology are beginning to be understood. However, the label that is carried by the

new states sticks until they graduate to the upper floor where it is permissible to work on clients.

This label signifies that the new students are culturally marked within their culture.

Individualistic and Low Context Culture

From the field notes I was able identify the culture as both individualistic and low context.

Our book states that the United States as a whole is considered to be both types of cultures,

although the beauty school dwells within the larger culture of the United States, the meaning

portrays different traits.

The individualistic culture within the beauty school does hold true to the definition found

within our book, although there are no collective goals. Each individual is there to obtain some


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type of schooling in hopes to better their future. From the moment they step foot in the school it

is clearly set out that they are there for themselves. There is no gain for groups only individuals.

It is everyone for themselves to make it to the end.

The students that attend the beauty school are extremely vocal. They seem to have no

distinction between student and instructor. To be quite honest the students have a lack of respect

for individuals linked to the culture. They state what thoughts are on their minds and spare no

expense to others feelings. Because of the type of assertiveness and directness portrayed, this is

most definitely a low context cultural.

Beliefs and Values

Although there is a lack of sensitivity contained by the beauty school culture, the overall

beliefs and values stretch in unity among the students. They believe there is an end to the hell

hole they are currently stationed in and seem to have a notion that the real world will be much

easier. But in order to achieve the status of a graduate in cosmetology, the students have to create

a belief system of their own. They must believe in themselves in knowing that one day they will

be a successful hairdresser.

One would guess that due to the lack of respect the girls show that there is no way possible

that values have room to exist. However, they value their work. By work I am referring to being

able to produce an almost perfect haircut or beautiful style. The students take pride in their work.

They skillfully take the time to work so diligently on mannequins for an extended amount of

time to build confidence in themselves in order to produce acceptable work on clients. Because

of this, a type of value system has been defined as whole. Although the students are more

focused on individualistic goals they all are quite aware of what is expected as good or bad.


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Cultural Conflicts

Culture Clash

Within every culture conflict exists. The beauty school is no different. The students

create in-groups and out-groups. There is no particular requirement to be apart of either one, it

simply boils down to who accepts you first. Of course all groups created are considered in-

groups, but if an individual is not part of a group, they subconsciously identify it as an out-group.

Once apart of a group, the student is a member for the duration of school.

If an individual is ousted by their group they become the main target for all groups

involved. It is very rare that another group accepts the rejected student on the basis that they have

probably created enemies when part of their original group. Picture a piece of red, bloody meat

thrown into a swarm of circling sharks. That is about the same circumstances an ousted

individual faces. Usually when a situation like this occurs, the instructors get involved. It doesnt

cure the problem but it helps to mask it.

Among these groups is where conflict arises. The problem usually starts with gossip.

Words can be used as deadly weapons when women are involved. Sometimes, I believe that

women are extremely vicious with their words. The gossip is what creates the culture clash. For

instance, one group may consist of girls that do their homework, pay attention in class, and show

up for school. Another group may do the complete opposite, not show up for school, never pay

attention, and homework is not a thought.

The two groups would go the rounds based off of their differences. A small riot

sometimes occurs in the lunch room, or physical activity may result in the parking lot. Bottom


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line, if one belongs to a particular group, they will fight as a group. There is no such thing as

being part of all groups in beauty school; it is simply not accepted.

Under the circumstances, that this is a school environment, some type of order is

maintained. The students understand that they must demonstrate a certain amount of respect in

order to keep their status as students. If bad behavior becomes a problem among students

disciplinary action is taken. This usually involves a suspension and in extreme cases the student

may face expulsion. Although the culture clashes occur on an everyday basis, it is done on low

radar as not to face harsh consequences.

Stereotyping

Stereotyping in an environment of women is almost inevitable, especially in beauty

school. Girls are constantly judging one another based on such simple things as clothes, shoes,

hair, or make-up. Referring back to the groups stated above, each group is labeled something.

Some terms are nice and some are not.

For example, one group might be labeled as the new kids another may hold the title of

fat girls. Unfortunately each group has no say in what their group will be called; the other

groups assign the names. This is evolved through stereotyping. Based on the way girls present

themselves, act, or speak determines how they will be labeled. The school as a whole does frown

upon this, but regrettably the authoritarians have no control over it.

Communication

Our book defines communication as the process through which participants create and share

information with one another as they move toward reaching mutual understanding. I do believe


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that this definition holds true with the beauty school. Because this is a learning environment, the

goal is to reach a common understanding of the material being offered. During my observations

at the beauty school, I encountered many moving mouths. Verbal communication is taken

advantage of but yet practiced with no hesitation. However, I also discovered some students that

tend to rely more on nonverbal communication rather than verbal. Among the population of

students, age varies. Students ages range from 18-40 years and all intermingle on the same level.

It didnt seem to matter, as far as communication was concerned, on the age difference.

Nonverbal Communication

The students are very dramatic. The use of hand gestures was present in all conversations

as were facial expressions. They acted out what they were saying as they said it. It reminded me

of watching a circus when the clown acts preformed, if you can imagine that then you will be

able to visualize these girls conversations.

The use of their body language was quite interesting. Some portrayed high confidence

levels and thus was noticeable by the way they presented themselves; the way the hips would

swing, hold their head high, gaze at themselves in almost every mirror that was pasted, how the

hair was flung back over the shoulder, loud and out-spoken, and how the hair was styled and

make-up was applied.

The students that didnt seem to have as much confidence also displayed this in the way

they presented themselves. The hips for the most part remained unmoved, mirrors were avoided,

constantly pulling at the bottom of their shirt (even though the entire outfit is covered by a

smock), hair was slicked back and stuck to the head, little or no make-up existed, the head


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seemed to hang a bit and, appeared to be quiet and timid. Although there were such vast

differences between the two groups, the flow of communication remained unaffected.

The students seem to observe one another at all times. They would look each other up

and down or focus completely on one another; it was an amazing display of silent interaction.

The communication was far from any type of professional environment, they interacted more

like a family; a very close family.

Verbal Communication

As stated above, verbal communication is taken advantage of but yet practiced with no

hesitation among the students at the beauty school. During my observations I often wondered if

they spoke because they had something important to say or if enjoyment was gained by listening

to themselves speak. I believe that linguistic relativity plays an enormous role in how they

students perceive one another as well as the environment.

The use of language demonstrated by the students expresses more of a way of life rather

than having casual conversation and passing time. By practicing the talk and silence method

explained by our book, ideas are transferred and then begin to take on a new meaning. This

results in symbolic interactions between the designated groups found within the beauty school

and how objects such as scissors, combs, or mannequins are perceived.

I was amazed at the amount of information volunteered by each student towards one

another. This is also referred to as self disclosure. It didnt seem that any secretes were kept from

the inner group and the students showed no embarrassment from any information given. The

types of discussions I encountered (I will offer a small insight and leave the rest to your


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imagination), pertained to what happened the night before, what type of change their body was

going through, personal feelings about intimate issues, and so forth.

Despite the fact that I was there to observe, my presence did not seem to have any impact

on the amount of information being exchanged. Sometimes I even felt as though they wanted me

to comment, because the tone and pitch of the voice would change.

Reacting to a Stranger

My presence had no affect on any of the students or instructors. Most ignored me but

there were a few curious ones. I found the curious students to be very interesting. There was one

student that from time to time would come observe me. No words were exchanged but she

studied me from head to toe lasting about two minutes. It was actually quite humorous, although

I never showed it. I could tell by her body language, that she wanted to ask why I was there but

she refrained.

I attended several morning classes to observe how the learning atmosphere functioned.

This opened the window of conversation for students to interact with me. The students that did

not previously know me had the idea I was there visiting with intentions of enrolling in beauty

school. The students that felt they had something in common with me and had a basic

understanding of who I was investigated of why I was there. The conversations engaged had

little to no importance and seemed more like a pre-gossip session. After the conversations had

ended, I was left feeling confused and empty, more than likely because the material discussed

had no under-lying meaning.


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Once the surrounding students had received a logical explanation of my presence, they

went about their business. Of course this worked out well because my main focus was on

observing and not making new friends at the beauty school. Overall, my presence was accepted

then forgotten. If the students did not come in direct contact with me, no words were ever

exchanged. I basically took the roll of a fly on the wall.

Final Thoughts

The beauty school possesses the characteristics of defining itself as a culture. Not only

was I able to identify the type of culture the beauty school demonstrates, but also describe

conflicts and types of communication found within.

The students seem to come together as a whole and function as a family. They all care for

one another and this is true to the instructor-student relationship. It is much different than how

we college students maintain relationships with our professors. There always seem to be some

distance and a certain amount of respect given to college professors. At the beauty school

everyone is in everyones business and respect is not the word I would use for how the students

treat the instructors.

Divulging myself into a culture I believed to already have a firm grasp on, proved to be

eye-widening. I found that taking something so small within a larger system and dissecting it

down to the very core of its being was an experience that gave me tools to sharpen my perception

on life and the systems that make it up.


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The Butte Academy of Beauty Culture

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