When glancing through glossy women’s magazines and hairstyles catalogs you will barely find any beauty tips like “What razor works best for shaving your head with no cuts” or “What cosmetic products can make your shaved head skin smooth and soft”. Women with shaved hairstyles are still pretty much outcast in our society. Touching upon this issue in the previous article, I got various reactions and feedbacks, which made me consider continuation of and elaboration on this subject. Even though women are successfully obtaining liberation and equal rights with men, the number of women who practice headshaving is incomparably smaller than a number of men who choose a bold look, making women the focus of social pressure. Writing this I am in no way urging you to reach for clippers and get rid of your locks. It is a matter of personal choice. And that’s what I am trying to point out here.
While attempting to learn more about the subject, I drew out the key words associated with headshaved females: sexual perversity, pornography, extreme feminism. Well, where there’s smoke, there’s must be fire, and all these associations may have a basis. But it brings us back to generalizations and stereotypes that any modern civilized open-minded society should try to eradicate as something primitive and destructive.
Yes, there is certainly a share of eccentricity and extraordinariness in the decision of a woman to shave her hair off, and quite a few women dare to do so. But doing anything uncommon in the society always causes a reaction. I recall myself being a 16-year-old teenager from a small town, wearing red stockings and a nose clip. My parents were shocked and so were people on the street, turning their head like I was from another planet. Now, when then majority of girls wear fluorescent fishnets and half of young people have their bodies pierced here and there, my experience seems ridiculous. But I liked it. Why? Because I could be extravagant. Because it gave me the feeling of being different and special.
Some people consider hair a crucial attribute of female beauty. They say that hair has had social and sexual significance as a sign of manliness in men, and femininity in women. But it varies depending on a society and culture. A lot of aesthetes emphasize the importance of looks that keeps growing around the globe. I am not undervaluing the beauty of well-groomed lustrous hair and I will zealously admit its beauty and sexiness and youth and health that it signifies. I know that a lot of men consider long hair extremely sexually provocative, and the number of female-bold-look lovers is far smaller. But we cannot categorically deny that women with shaved hairstyles can also be beautiful. Different, unusual, edgy and, yet, beautiful. Recall Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, whose name signifies "The Beautiful One is Come". The fame of her beauty surmounted thousands of years and spread across the globe. Looking at the sculptures or images of her hairless head, accentuating the features of her face and the lines of her neck, are we not delighted with her perfect view?
In the modern world, where people migrate and cultures mix, where positive and negative aspects affect the perception of things, the standards of beauty are in a process of constant change. And even thought there is general global appreciation of what is beautiful, the population of the globe is still diverse and standards here are just not applicable.
In modern cultures people have freedom to choose the kind of hairstyle that suits them better and that best expresses their individuality. We choose a hairstyle to convey a certain message and to suit the image we are trying to manifest.
In case of women shaving their head, such provocative and rebellious behavior is viewed by many as expression of inner conflicts, results of low self-esteem or even mental disorders.
One young woman shared some feelings about her choice:
“I loved it when it was done, it was scary, intimate, and liberating. It felt like I was very exposed, open, and it gave me a delicious vulnerable feeling. Similar to just having the short stubble, but even more intense, as you can feel every little breeze and raindrop. Also the reactions you get from passers by.
“My favorite thing about being a bald woman is exciting, intriguing and captivating other people. I enjoy it on a personal sensation level as well, it feels good, sexy, exposed. But the biggest thing I enjoy about it is doing something that is controversial and alternative that arouses a group of people who support me in the process. I guess I'm kinky in that way, I have a fetish for unusual desires and arousals, and being a part of greater fantasies and liberating people’s conventions of what is erotic. I like to be subversive.”
But we cannot make any categorical conclusions or statements regarding abnormality in such behavior. We all have different individualities and fit into different personality categories, if such division exists. Remember the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding?” and shown discrepancy between Greek and American cultures? As long as it doesn’t make any harm, there is no right or wrong in matters of personal preferences, lifestyle or self-expression. Due to diversity our life remains exciting.
I had a friend who shaved her head in her early twenties. She was an intelligent educated feminine woman from a wealthy middle-eastern family. She did it when living in Western Europe and enjoying the freedom of choices and diversity of styles. She referred to some royal personage who also shaved her hair off and, according to my friend, looked utterly chic and elegant, wearing Chanel headscarves. A typical Leo, creative, passionate and expressive young woman, my friend wanted to stand out, to impress others with her originality and individuality, and to accentuate her bright unhackneyed features.
I read a story of one college girl who was to do a project for her Psychology class - to sacrifice for two weeks something valued and important, and then to write about the experience of living without it. She happened to watch Oprah’s show about breast cancer with appearance of two women who lost their hair during chemotherapy. What amazed the girl is how attractive the show heroines still remained without having hair on their head. And that is how she came up with the idea to shave off her beloved blonde curls for the sake of experience and, of course, a good grade.
No need to retell all the details about her experience of removing hair, people’s diverse reactions, harsh remarks and rapturous approvals. I just want to quote this anonymous brave young lady, signing her story as BladesRule:
“I held my head high, though, realizing that what these people thought didn't matter. What mattered is how I felt about myself, and I was beginning to earn a new respect for yours truly! It takes a lot of courage to be a bald woman in our society, and I kept that thought in mind as I passed through the mall, and it gave me strength.”
“When I first had my head shaved, it felt like I was losing part of my femininity, but I soon learned that having hair has nothing to do with being a woman--it's how you feel on the inside that counts. I kept my head shaved for several months after that memorable semester, and experimented with short hairstyles for a few months after that, but eventually returned to shaving my head and maintained the bald look from that point on. Never in my life would I have believed I would enjoy being a bald woman, but a fateful semester changed my life for the better.”
One Russian pop star, who came out with a shaved head in the beginning of the post-Soviet era in 1993 and retained her look up until now said: “I’ve always considered myself a stylish women. Not fashionable, but stylish. Fashion always changes, but style remains with you forever.”
So, in conclusion, I want to encourage you to always be bold in your self-expression and choice of style.
By Jasmeen Vella