Rosignol’s Faraz Ally may be great at doing hair and nails
Faraz Ally is meticulous when it comes to giving haircuts
Faraz Ally is meticulous when it comes to giving haircuts

–but he is no stereotype

JUST as women in Guyana and all across the world are shattering barriers relating to gender stereotypes, Faraz Ally is making his subtle contributions to ensure that men, too, are not placed in boxes and prevented from entering a certain line of work.
For more than a decade, the 30-year-old man has been leading by example, working in his wife’s salon located at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice.

“After my wife start doing the business, and I used to come and wait for her and stuff after work, I find that I could do certain things that she was doing. So we decide that she could train me, and instead of getting a worker, I could be working with her,” Faraz explained during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle.
The then 20-year-old would later quit his job at a reputable rice mill in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, to take up the task of learning how to paint nails and do facials, as well as wash, treat and style women’s hair.

Faraz and his wife, Bibi, hard at work!

“I find myself that when I start helping, she does certain things, and I eventually get to really like what I was doing,” Faraz recalled.
Although excited to delve into a new field of work, Faraz’s debut at his wife’s salon was not at all smooth sailing. As projected, his new portfolio attracted a host of unnecessary attention, which ultimately led to some patrons questioning his sexuality and gender identity.

“At first people would come up to me and say, ‘I want ask you a personal question’. And they would ask me things like, ‘You is a gay?’” the young man recalled.
However, grounded firmly in his identity and sexual preference, Faraz said he allowed the questions and the generalisations to continue, while he remained focused on perfecting a new-found craft. The young man related that with the support of his wife, Bibi, he was able to maintain his composure and remain respectful in his responses to the many, many inquiries.
“Eventually, everybody know that she [Bibi] is my wife and suh, so nobody never really come back with that question,” Faraz related.

He said that once the surprise of seeing a ‘straight’, married man working at a salon wore off, patrons allowed him to do his work without interrogation. After work, before work, and during their “spare time” at the salon, Faraz’s wife would teach him all that she knew about salon work.
“I train him for five years, and then I said, ‘Now you can go; you can go and be perfect,’” Bibi related.

With the training wheels off, Faraz is now able to handle all aspects of the salon on his own. Over the years, he has even been able to develop some techniques of his own.
“I do everything now: I do hair, I do nails, pedicures, facials, everything I do; I is an all-rounder actually, in the salon,” he boasted.
Soon enough, Faraz’s presence at the salon would garner some amount of popularity, and eventually, he would have a long list of his own clients; women who only wanted him to do their hair, nails and facials.

“People would recommend me, so it have some girls would now come directly to me. It get some girls that would come, and they don’t want anybody else do anything for them; just me,” a smiling Faraz said. He indicated that although he loves styling hair, he is far better at doing nails.
Although working as a hair and nail technician for more than a decade, Faraz said he is always intrigued by new and emerging techniques, which keep him fascinated with his work at the salon. “Every day you learn something new; is not one thing that you keep doing all the time. Every day is something new you learn. I get to learn things that I never know about; different types of hair, how to treat hair loss and all sorts of things,” Faraz said.
Moreover, the young man said that being able to run a successful business in partnership with his wife has brought him much joy over the years, and he plans to continue for a very long time.

FLIRTS AND A GLIMPSE OF THE FEMALE MIND
Faraz also pointed to the understanding nature of his wife, who supports him even in the most peculiar of situations. Oftentimes, such “situations” arise when unfamiliar clients take the liberty of openly flirting with Faraz while he works, typically oblivious to the fact that his wife not only exists, but is frequently present at the salon.
Notwithstanding this, the couple said that they could not be any happier in their relationship.

“It’s business, so it doesn’t really affect us. Both of us have this understanding that you have to be nice to customers, and be nice to people, but at the end of the day, we know that is both ah we going home together, and coming back to work in the morning… Together!” Faraz told the Sunday Chronicle.
Further, Faraz is thankful that his current job has allowed him to be exposed to something other than a patriarchal mindset.

Because salons are to women what barbershops are to men, a safe space to vent, Faraz’s job has ultimately made him a better, more considerate man.
“Just from the conversations that the women would have; they don’t have to know you, so they would come and feel comfortable and just start talking about their problems,” Faraz related.
He said that oftentimes, the women would complain about the men in their lives, and how they have been hurt, and in many cases, abused.

“Dey got a lot of things that I gain from them when they come and sit and start talk their story. All things they sit and talk about; is things that I would listen and think about and learn, and take into consideration,” Faraz said, adding: “That is how I gain experience, too, that all women are not the same.”
Both Faraz and his wife plan to continue investing in their business, and their craft, which allows them to serve the women of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and even further afiel

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