A device used to curl hair, typically a tube-shaped roller that hair is wrapped around, or a person who curls something.
From curl + -er (agent noun suffix). The -er suffix creates nouns meaning either 'a device that does X' or 'a person who does X.'
Hair curlers were invented in the 1800s and revolutionized beauty—before that, women had to set their hair in pin curls or sleep in braids. The electric curler came along and made the whole process faster, changing how people styled their hair.
Hair curler associations intensified in 20th-century beauty culture where women's appearance work became gendered labor; marketing naturalized curlers as female grooming objects despite gender-neutral functionality.
Use neutrally to describe the tool or person who curls; avoid assuming gender of curler users or beauty-work performers.
["hair-curling device","person who curls"]
Women hairstylists and beauty workers have historically created innovation in curling techniques and tools while remaining economically undervalued; acknowledge their technical expertise.
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