9 Women on What It Felt Like to Shave Their Heads
Sometimes a hashtag sums it up perfectly. Take #BaldiesGettheJobDone—as soon as Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma González labeled a video of her shaving her head with the hashtag, a meme of Black Panther's Okoye, Mad Max's Imperator Furiosa, Stranger Things' Eleven, and González started making the rounds. A phrase topped the quartet: "The future is female, and it doesn't have time for styling products."
The message is clear. A buzzed head represents a fearless, done-hiding movement, and in both fiction and real life, González isn't alone. A community of women with buzz cuts and shaved heads is growing under hashtags that embrace the look, uniting people in dismissing societal standards and celebrating those who do what they want. Especially considering the beauty ideals that are pushed on women from birth (thanks, shampoo commercials), bald women's blatant refusal to exist for anyone but themselves is groundbreaking. The look isn't new—women have worn their hair shorn since ancient Egypt, and iconic women throughout history have adopted the look—but with the current climate of women rejecting antiquated norms in favor of self-determination, now more than ever is the time for women to own their look.
According to these nine women, this is exactly what that feels like.
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INSTAGRAM / @THAT.BALD.CHIC1/9Morgan Calvert, 25, teacher from Waxahachie, Texas
When did you first shave your head?
"I shaved my head for the first time a little over a week ago. I had thought about it before, but never seriously. While in the salon, I told my stylist that I was ready to try something new with my cut. I liked it, but on the way home that evening, I just thought. You know what's really different? Completely shaving my head."How did it feel to shave it off?
"Honestly, I didn't expect how liberating it would be. I've spent most of my life looking to other people to validate my beauty and define my worth. By no means do I think that shaving my head was necessary in order to be free from that, but it was a symbolic step in the right direction. I laughed out loud the whole time I was shaving it because it felt like such a release from the pressure to be a certain person and look a certain way in order to be considered beautiful. I had no idea how much I used to hide behind my hair before shaving it. It was like a metaphorical shield that I held up whenever I felt like I wasn't good enough. It represented so much more than just hair; it represented a shell that I portrayed to hide the real me. Now the shield is gone, and when I look in the mirror, interact with people, or go in public, it's the most raw version of myself. I've always been a chameleon, changing my personality—and even my physical appearance—to fit in and be accepted. I don't plan to stay bald or even buzzed forever, but I think that it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I can genuinely say that I will never be the same."What was the reception like?
"Some members of my family have yet to comment on my shaved head; some of them won't look me in the eye and literally just shook their head in disappointment. On the other hand, some of my friends, and the Instagram community, have supported my decision 100 percent. I know that, historically, women with long hair have been celebrated as the most beautiful. In a lot of ways, that's still the case today. My hope isn't to shift the focus from one to the other; I don't want to for bald to be the 'new' beautiful. I want genuineness, confidence, and self-love to be the new beautiful." -
INSTAGRAM / @AMBERSINGLETARY2/9Amber Singletary, 40, makeup artist from Washington, D.C.
When did you first shave your head?
"I first shaved my head in 1993, at the age of 17. Fast forward—I shaved my head again in 2009."How did it feel?
"It actually is empowering, and there's a sense of freedom to not be bound by what society views as beauty. As a professional makeup artist, I've met so many women who either have survived cancer or are currently fighting cancer; their struggles dealing with self-esteem issues from losing their hair touched me so much that I wanted donate my huge Afro hair to Locks of Love, a pediatric organization."How did people react when you decided to shave your head?
"Because I had so much hair at the time, I literally could not find a barber who would shave it off. I finally walked into a barbershop and told the barber if he didn’t do it, I was going to just do it and let him fix it right there. I told him why I was doing it, and he gladly shaved it off. I didn’t even look in the mirror. The most negative thing I've experienced is being told by an old male childhood friend that no man would ever want to date me because I'm bald. Ha—the nerve! Many people think a woman with a shaved head must be gay. That has to change."
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INSTAGRAM / @JACEYJULEP3/9Jacey Julep, 25, pet behavioral technician from Asheville, North Carolina
When did you first shave your head?
"I first shaved my head in 2011. It was something I had always wanted to do. I wanted to feel like the most natural form of myself."What does having a shaved head feel like?
"I feel ridiculously confident and empowered, and proud to have a shaved head in a time when loving yourself is a rebellious act. People are still pretty hung up on having longer hair, but with more representation, I feel like we've really influenced a shift. This is probably the truest form of myself that I've ever found."Why did you decide to shave it off?
"I had been going through a weird rough patch in my life. I was unhappy with a lot of things that were out of my control. When I decided to shave my head, it was something I had control over. Shaving it off gave me a feeling like what I assume scientists feel when they discover a breakthrough: It was breathtaking. I felt so strong, and so sure of my decision that it carried over into my everyday life. I've had a couple people tell me that I've inspired them to live their life how they want to, regardless of what people think or society tries to tell them."How do you feel about the way pop culture portrays women with buzz cuts?
"I would really love to see someone with a shaved head portrayed as soft and feminine, but I think it’s awesome that having a shaved head goes hand-in-hand with being incredibly strong in pop culture. In public, I'm often asked if I hate men, because they think I’m a radical feminist. While I am a feminist, I don’t hate anybody. It’s just a hairstyle—it doesn’t have to reflect anything about my life." -
Instagram / @aje_themodel4/9Ajé Alford, 20, model from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
When did you first shave your head?
"I shaved my head back in 2015, right after graduating high school. I had always worn short styles my senior year, but I never would’ve imagined that I would ever cut my hair this low, so it was definitely more of a recent idea."What was it like getting it cut?
"Initially, I was nervous—like, extremely nervous. I asked myself, 'What are you doing?' a few times before the clippers even touched my head. My mom was crying as the barber took off more and more hair. I was surprised that I actually looked pretty. I just looked in the mirror like, 'Wow,' and snapped a selfie. It got a 100 likes within a few minutes. I feel increasingly free every day. I want to do more exciting things, take more trips, and knowing that I don’t have to wake up an hour earlier to flat-iron my hair means the world to me. I feel like I can conquer the world."How do you feel about the tie between long hair and traditional femininity?
"The ideal and perception of long hair being feminine is definitely changing thanks to movies like Black Panther that showcase how powerful women with short hair are. And there are models making a groundbreaking impact in the industry. From Ohwawa to Slick Woods, the list of shaved-head women in the industry goes on and on. You are not your hair."
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Taylor Kigar5/9Taylor Kigar, 25, writer and marketing manager from Chicago
When did you first shave your head?
"I shaved my head on my 25th birthday, last year in June. I had always thought about doing it but never got around to it. I’ve spent a lot of my life in very short pixie cuts, so it’s always been just a step away; I just hadn’t gone full-throttle with it yet."Why did you decide to go buzzed?
"I wasn’t inspired by anything other than it being hot outside, I hate doing my hair, and it was my damn birthday, so why not? I grabbed scissors and cut as much off as I could, then grabbed my boyfriend’s electric razor and went for it. He also helped me reach the parts I couldn't, so it was a team effort. There wasn’t a lot of thinking involved."What was life like afterwards?
"I felt like an alien initially. I started off feeling incredibly paranoid because I felt like everyone was looking at me, but then realized it was all in my head. It gave me this whole new appearance of bold austerity that felt really good. I honestly felt really hot, and I didn’t want to add a bunch of extra stuff to detract from that. It was a new feeling for me, a really fresh one. I think I finally learned what I looked like in both a physical and abstract way. And I learned to show that to people and just be OK with it. I go back now and see pictures of myself with really long hair, and it doesn’t look like me. It just looks like I’m holding dead weight."How have people reacted?
"I’ve had short hair for most of my life, and even 10 years ago, there was a big difference in how people reacted. Back then I constantly had people ask me if I was gay because I had short hair, or ask if I wished I was a boy because I had short hair. But now, I buzzed my head and I didn’t get any gay jokes at all. Obviously, acceptance in media has helped the shift happen. Seeing other people being praised for being brave makes you want to be brave too, but I still feel like it needs to be more widely known that in fashion, this look was spearheaded by predominately black women a long time ago. Grace Jones, Pat Evans—they went through the wringer for this hairstyle and basically used it as a form of protest at times, yet that’s rarely mentioned in any current articles about women shaving their heads now. While I encourage its mainstream appeal and want it to continue to empower more women in whatever way possible, I still want the people who spearheaded it first to be recognized in the same way." -
Instagram / @princessjasminethrifts6/9Jasmine Sessoms, 24, call center representative from Morrisville, North Carolina
When did you first shave your head?
"At the end of February. It's something I've always wanted to do, and I have a pretty close relationship with my barber, who said it would look great."Why did you decide to go through with it?
"I've hidden behind my hair for most of my life. Without having any hair to hide my face, I'm learning to accept that I'm not perfect. Women with buzz cuts are normally portrayed as boyish, and we are seriously sometimes as feminine as it comes. I'm pioneering the look to show other women that I'm still just as fantastic and feminine without any hair. Short hair gives me the confidence that a head full of long, pretty hair could never give me."What would you tell someone who doesn't think they can do it?
"I'd like other women to know that it's OK to stop hiding behind hair and try something new. We may fear doing so because of the names we might be called, but women are not their hair. There are no negatives to a buzz cut. I'm not defined by it. Plus, I get to sleep like a wild animal and not wake up to bed hair."
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INSTAGRAM / @CARPE_MOTHERHOOD7/9Melinda Buell, 31, stay-at-home mom from San Jose
When did you decide to go short?
"Just before this past Christmas, I decided to shave off my long, mid-back-length hair. Going bald was something I always wanted to do, but I never thought I had the guts."What went into your decision?
"I was wearing my hair in a messy bun every day, and I got sick of it. I was telling my husband how I felt like just shaving it all off and being done with it. He fully supports me and said that if I wanted to shave my head that he would stand beside me. I've always loved Demi Moore's buzzcut in G.I. Jane, and I thought I could rock that kind of fierceness, so I grabbed some clippers and shaved my long hair down."Were you nervous?
"I actually wasn't nervous about how people would react. Shaving my head gave me such a strong sense of self-confidence that, for the first time, I didn't care what anyone else thought. I hoped people would be supportive and embrace my buzz cut, but I no longer felt like I needed the approval of others to feel beautiful. Without hair to hide behind, I am free to be myself and no longer afraid for people to see me as who I am."How do you feel about the way pop culture portrays women with buzz cuts?
"I love the way women with buzz cuts are being portrayed in pop culture. Every style has had its revolutionary moment, and I feel like women with shaved heads are having their moment. As more women shave their heads, I hope society changes its standard definition of beauty and recognizes that women don't have to fit a cookie-cutter image to be beautiful." -
Instagram / @mycheriamor6288/9Cherí Pinero-Walker, 32, social worker and dance instructor from New Haven, Connecticut
When did you first shave your head?
"I first cut my hair two weeks ago; I had started to think about cutting it about two months prior. My brother, Victorio, is a barber, and I called and asked him if he would do it. With some urging, he agreed to do it, but it took about two months for him to agree. He's very protective and didn’t want me to regret the decision. I wanted my brother to do it because we have a very close bond, and I knew that it would be emotional for me."What did it feel like to go through with it?
"Immediately after I cut my hair, I felt powerful, like I could accomplish anything. I felt like I finally was able to see myself and appreciate my so-called flaws in a way that I hadn't been able to previously. I felt liberated and free. I fell in love with the woman that was hiding behind all that hair. I feel like a completely different person. I feel capable. I feel important. I feel like I can live life unapologetically, full of purpose and possibilities. I feel like the me I was always meant to be. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner."What went into your decision?
"I decided to cut my hair because I wanted a fresh start in my life. It’s bold and it’s brave. I talked to my two daughters about it before I did it, and they told me not to do it because I wouldn’t be pretty anymore. I explained to them, it’s not hair that makes you pretty."
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Instagram / @thehazelwitch9/9Imogen O’Neal, 18, student from Vancouver
When did you first shave your head?
"I shaved my hair two weeks ago, after deliberating on and off for a few months. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was about 16. I loved the idea of being 'liberated' from my hair, and I finally followed through."What did it feel like?
"When I made the first clip, I was like, 'Oh my God, no going back now.' But when it was all shaved off, I genuinely felt so amazing. The biggest positive has been the ease and comfort of it—hair doesn’t get in my face anymore when I’m running! But the biggest negative has been not having my hair to hide behind, like if I have a huge pimple, I can’t cover it with makeshift bangs. But I guess that's part of this whole movement: accepting my pimples too. I feel so much more confident with this hair. I still feel like the same badass person I’ve always been, but I think it's easier for other people to see me with this style. There's something super powerful about accepting vulnerability, which is what I did when I took the plunge. I think people are mostly scared to do it because as women, we’re taught from such a young age that our femininity is dependent on our hair and our appearance. There isn't an overwhelming number of famous bald women compared to the number of famous women with long, styled hair. I definitely hope, as time goes on, that it starts becoming a more common thing for women to do and starts creating a shift in what we think of when we envision femininity and beauty."What has the reception been like?
"The only people who ever say negative things are men. They say things like, 'Gee, how long till that grows back?'—suggesting that I’ve made a mistake and soon enough I’ll return to my rightful place as a woman with long hair. It’s annoying how many men feel entitled to make suggestions for how I should present myself. But at the same time, the overwhelming support I’ve gotten from other women has reminded me that the thoughts of a few men don’t need to upset me. So many men are still resistant because the idea that women can be strong and challenge their traditional place is horrifying for some of them."
