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Sulaimaniyah Beauticians in Demand
20.7.2006
By Sanger Jamal in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 186,
19-Jul-06) |
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Without no Islamic militants to threaten them,
beauty salons in the Kurdish north are attracting
droves of customers.
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq, -- Fahima
Sleman left her job as a beauty salon manager in
Baghdad eight months ago, after six similar shops in
the same al-Adil neighbourhood were bombed out by
insurgents.
The 37-year-old hairdresser relocated to the Kurdish
city of Sulaimaniyah, known as the safest in Iraq,
where she found work at a hairdresser’s shop.
Although her family is moving to Syria to escape the
sectarian violence now commonplace in other parts of
Iraq, Sleman is planning to stay in Sulaimaniyah,
where she reckons she can survive on her wage of 350
US dollars a month.
Security and economic growth have created a boom in
the beauty business in Sulaimaniyah, in contrast to
the rest of the country where Islamic extremists see
such shops as dens of iniquity to be attacked. There
are now close to 450 salons operating, which
industry observers say represents a big increase on
2003, although there are no comparative figures.
The industry has also been fuelled by the increased
earning power of women, who hold many of the civil
service jobs in a public sector that is the largest
employer in Iraqi Kurdistan.
While the salaries are miniscule, women are willing
to shell out cash to have their hair, make-up and
nails done.
Lanja Ibrahim, a 25-year-old civil servant, makes
only 164,000 dinar (about 110 dollars) a month but
goes to the salon twice monthly to have her hair
cut, dyed or styled. She hates the fact that she has
to wait, even when she has made an appointment.
"Visiting the salon feels like going to a medical
clinic," she said. "I have to wait at least an hour
every time."
Ibrahim also doesn't like the price. She pays about
13,500 dinar (nine dollars) to have her hair cut and
dyed black – but she said that she and other women
are more willing to invest in "taking care of
ourselves, as well as following the latest
fashions".
Women are in fact more likely to complain about
prices than they are to express concerns about
salons being attacked in Sulaimaniyah, even though
hairdressers here have faced threats in the past.
In 1993, Nashmeel Mohammad received an anonymous
threatening letter against the hairdressing business
she ran in her home. Then her house was hit by a
hand-grenade. Mohammad, who has worked in the
business for over two decades, accused Islamists of
being behind the attack and refused to quit her
work.
Osman said that since 2000, there have been three
cases of attacks against salons. In the 1990s, she
said, the rate of attacks was much higher. Radical
Islamists tried to gain control of Sulaimaniyah and
surrounding areas then but have little presence now.
One of the most modern hair and beauty salons is
Style Centre, which is run by beauticians and
hairdressers from the rest of the country. Dhiya'
abdul-Sattar, a manager at the centre, said it has
about 50 customers a day and charges upwards of
125,000 dinar (about 85 dollars) for brides getting
their hair and make-up done.
The centre is also one of many salons that have men
doing hair and make-up. This was a taboo just a few
years ago in Sulaimaniyah and is rarely seen in many
parts of the country, according to Osman.
Abdul-Sattar employs four men and one woman in his
salon and said it hasn't caused any problems.
"It's normal to have men do our customers' make-up,"
he said. "Many [female customers] even demand that
the male employees do their make-up and cut their
hair."
Sanger Jamal is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah.
iwpr net
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