Penis on the elbow...

I got my hair cut yesterday. By a woman.
I remember talking to my someone when I was in high school (his name was Paul). And he just couldn't let a woman cut his hair. Loved the barbershop and the men being men sort of thing. With a woman, he felt, he would get a "feminine" haircut. He went on to say that he couldn't go to a male stylist. It had to be a barber. Stylist, he said, was too "feminine".
Setting aside his sexism and homophobia, (both of which were evident in many other ways and which I admittedly tolerated too much) I just don't understand the problem. I've been going to this woman for six months or so, and she's really good. I like the way she makes my hair look. And she does the chit-chat thing just fine--letting me talk about useless stuff, but not demanding constant chatter. And really her gender doesn't affect the haircut experience in any meaningful ways. There are really only two ways I can think seeing a woman makes any difference.
1. I don't have to talk about sports. I like sports, baseball especially. But, I don't like to talk about them with everyone. I'm not exactly sure why that is. I think it's the feeling that I have to talk about them. And being that I live in Chicago and root for none of the teams here, that probably doesn't help much. And really, a lot of people don't know as much about sports as they think they do. When someone's holding a razor, it's not a good time to tell them Ronny Cedeno could well be the next Shawn Dunston, but that's not such a good thing.
2. Penis on the elbow. I don't know how Paul got around this. Maybe I just went to horny barbers (Gary did seem a little sleazy and he had Penthouse as one of his magazines on the table, which is weird now that I think about it). Or they were just physically awkward in a way that made them put their private parts on my elbow. I don't know. It's really an issue that men don't talk about that much. Not even in locker rooms...though that does sound like a good start to a gay porn (Copyright!). Anyway, maybe the penis on the elbow just gave him confirmation that he was among men. But, it always bothered me. (It's not homophobic to not want someone to consistently put their hang-down on you. Especially if you're supposed to pay and tip them*.) I did used to go to a fat barber in Des Moines, and he couldn't get close enough to get his lower half on me, but there was plenty of belly-rubbing (could be why he purred. Or he was wheezing. Hard to tell). And I guess you could look for a long-armed barber, but that's a lot of trouble to go to.
So, I'll just continue going to this nice lady. It's just easier.

*Pun not intended.