Coming Out as Hairless Beauties

Here at our table for four, where we find ourselves referring to the rest of the world as “haired,” we superhuman alopecians discuss all that we have in common. The ability to shower in 30 seconds. Irritation at the way sweat drips off a hairless scalp when doing downward dog. Exasperation at the all-too-familiar lascivious inquiry, “You mean you don’t have hair anywhere?”

And a deep appreciation for living in New York City, where a bald woman is rarely the oddest thing anyone has seen on a given day. 

…Despite our inner evolutions toward the decision not to cover our heads, we still live in a hair-normative culture, with hair directly connected to femininity. A bald woman threatens the typical norms of beauty. 

 From Helen Phillips, “Four Women Bond Over the Beauty in Their Baldness,” New York Times, July 30, 2015.