Edwards' hair cuts both ways

Americans may be ready to elect a woman or African-American as president.

Dandies, primpers and swells still face mighty obstacles.

As Hillary and Obama rise in the polls, John Edwards is being dragged down by reports that he paid a Beverly Hills stylist $175 and more to cut his lush brown locks. Could the price of vanity be the presidency?

This haircut affair has largely been seen as a political issue, with critics saying Edwards' pricey trims belie his populist message. But it is also cultural, involving Americans' deep-seated ideas about masculinity, beauty and whether those qualities are reconcilable.

"It's all about machismo and sexuality, frontier ideals about what it means to be a real man," said James A. Morone, a professor of history at Brown University. "There's a fear that anyone who cares that much about his hair isn't tough enough to win a fistfight with terrorists or anyone else who threatens America. "

Many Americans, he said, are not convinced that real men primp.

That belief may be weakening. Increasingly, there are two Americas -- at least when it comes to men. In the first group are hardy traditionalists whose idea of grooming is slapping a little Speed Stick under their arms. "I have been cutting hair for 41 years," said Richard Creech, owner of the Man-Mur barber shop in Raleigh, where cuts cost $14. "I can't even imagine what you would do to possibly charge someone $175." He paused, then added with a smile, "I wish I could figure out a way to charge" that much.

Then there are the guys who primp, dudes whose morning routine includes gels and mousse, who add a splash of color to their hair, are get pedicures at their local spas and own "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" on DVD.

Ranks growing

Traditionalists still hold sway, but the ranks of primpers are growing. Spending on grooming products for men has almost doubled since 1997, to $4.7 billion per year, according to Euromonitor International, a London-based marketing and research company.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that men had 1.1 million cosmetic procedures -- including Botox injections, liposuction, forehead lifts and breast reductions -- last year, an 8 percent increase from 2000.

Image-conscious cities such as New York and Los Angeles remain the capitals of primpdom, but the Triangle is catching up. At the tony ds Parada Color Cafe in the Five Points section of Raleigh, many men want more than just a haircut, which can cost up to $50. "Lots more men now want their hair colored," said Collene Barbour, manager of the salon.

Barbour said men between 30 and 70 come in asking to have the gray in their hair "toned down." Younger men, she said, are increasingly interested in adding highlights to their manes. "It's not a taboo subject with men anymore," she said. "They know they have the right to look good, like women do, if they choose to. Once they do it, and they see it's not extreme, then they are hooked just like women."

That doesn't mean that they are all comfortable with the idea from the get-go. "Lots of times we're cutting a man's hair and he'll just casually ask, like he's curious -- do men get their hair colored? That's the ice-breaker."

Betty Roman, owner of B Roman Skin and Body Therapy in Cary, said men are increasingly interested in her services, which include deep-pore cleaning facials, pedicures and mud masks. When she opened her business in 1991, she had almost no male customers. Now, about 15 to 20 percent of her customers are men.

"Our first male customers would almost always say, 'I hope my co-workers don't find out about this,' " Roman said. "Now they don't feel like they have to sneak in."