Felicia, I totally stumbled upon this post just now (via something in OOT) and if I had read it earlier today I probably would have asked my hair stylist to shave my head (my boyfriend would have loved this) instead of going with my trendy, shorter (for me) haircut that I got today. Very inspiring!!
I have always been extremely self conscious of my hair. I've had lions mane curls for most of my life, living with what my dad calls "mao mao" hair. I had one bad cut in my teens, and did not get a hair cut for years after that. I was attached to my hair, it being expected from a supposed 'feminine' skater and dancer, I perceived that it made me more girly, when I most certainly was not.
My family (mostly women) are extremely judgemental about hair. If you've got b00bs, you have to have long, flowing, blonde hair. I finally found a good stylist though, and experiment far more with my hair now than I used to. Hair is still serious business to my family, though! Today, I have 'boy' hair in the back and I know that later, when I see my mother, she will probably make some comment about it. She'll tell my aunts, cousins and grandmother about it, and there will be no appreciation that it looks better on me as a 5 foot tall petite girl than face covering, shapeless hair.
I've long thought about going extremely short (ie, shaving) with my hair, but have to admit I'm scared a bit. Not really about losing my hair, because I think I'm over that, but it not looking good either short or until it starts to grow out a bit. Other girlfriends I have ask if I would feel worried about being perceived as being gay or less feminine or less stylish...but those don't really figure in, to be honest. It astounds me as well to see how many people are so attached to their hair and what perception they feel it gives the world about them.
Thank you for posting this. For what it's worth, I loved the Susan Powter blonde spike look you had going for a bit there. It's beautiful and looks very empowering and therefore sexy.
And for all the men, I have to say that there is nothing sexier than a bald or shaved head, IMO. I kind of feel sad for a guy when he starts to lose his hair and isn't sure of what to do. I still admire trendy or fashion-forward cuts though.
Some good examples of dudes who have either accepted it or not:
Kelly Slater
I couldn't find any balding photos (there are a lot of hat pictures on Google) but I think he rocks the shaved bald look really well.
Scott Anderson (from a CDN band called Finger Eleven)
He was shaved for a long time, and it was fabulous. On their latest release I was disgusted to see that he grew his hair out to be some sort of weird fluffy balding hair.
(when it was shaved)
(in the middle, post-grow back)
And how could we forget...
(Just joshin)