Still Climbing: Movements, Momentum & The Messy Middle

Progress isn’t linear. Progress is non-binary.

Movements don’t move in straight lines—they stall, fracture, regroup, and keep climbing anyway. In this episode, we talk with Kristin Rankin of The Dresscode Project about gender-affirming hair, the politics of progress, and the emotional labor of pushing an industry that prefers optics over infrastructure.

What’s real change? What’s performative? And who’s still doing the unpaid work?

Because the climb continues. And the middle? It’s messy as hell.

Featuring

Kristin Rankin @kristinrankinhair Founder of @thedresscodeproject

The Dresscode Project

Our mission is to empower hair stylists and barbers to give people haircuts that help them look the way they feel. We envision a world where every hair salon and barbershop is a gender affirming, safer-space for LGBTQ2S+ clients.

We want to provide support, resources and events that help, not only our member salons, but any hairdresser or barber interested in seeking additional knowledge to create safer spaces in their area.

For many queer folks, the professional beauty industry has always been considered a safer space but we still have a long way to go with education, acceptance and understanding and it’s our mission to make sure we continue forward momentum.

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy