Oh my God!
I’ve always wanted to shave my hair-
like seriously.
[Crying] Oh my God.
Woo!
The removal of hair has always been seen as an act of defiance.
For women, choosing to go bald can be a political statement.
From Sinéad O'Connor's punk-pop movement
to Danai Gurira's Wakandan warrior.
The act of not having hair didn’t just appear in modern culture.
But it has great historical and religious significance around the globe.
Unfortunately, there’s a stereotype that goes along with those who close cut.
The reception is that women who have shave heads
are angry,
queer, and emotionally distraught.
This is Mane and today we’re discussing the reasons behind the buzz.
The history, the stereotypes and the preconceptions that come with the cut.
Joining me today are Amanda,
Janai,
and Aubree.
Both of you have had shaved heads for about a year, right?
AMANDA: I’m a week in.
Amanda, you're a week in-
Fresh.
Very fresh.
So Amanda, this is you a week ago.
And this is you today.
That is a wild transformation.
Can I just say - like - it is so fitting on you.
Thank you, thank you.
You really look like yourself with short hair.
Was there a person — whether a celebrity or a person in your life —
that had short hair that really impacted how you viewed the aesthetic?
Or made you want to have short hair?
We'll start with you, Amanda.
Wow, I had a lot of influences of short hair.
I loved a comic called Tank Girl;
I’ve always loved Grace Jones;
I’ve always loved G.I. Jane.
So I had a lot of experiences with seeing and loving short hair- I’ve always wanted to do it, but
you know, I just never had the courage to, pretty much.
Well for me, my mom. She’s had a shaved head her whole life.
Ever since I was born, so I kind of just looked at her and saw how different she was
and how nice it looked—
Right.
Mom’s typically tend to be a huge impact in terms of our aesthetic.
Shaving my and going to the Bronx, I do get a lot of dirty looks
because you don’t really see that in the Bronx, you only see African American girls with the extensions,
you always see the Dominicans, the Puerto Ricans with the long, long hair.
And that normally, really defined femininity
in the Bronx.
But I’ve always wanted to shave my hair, since I was younger.
I was just like, ‘you know what? It’s time to cut it off.'
So, I’m here to get my head shaved.
I’ve been procrastinating for seven years to get it.
But you know, I just decided, ‘you know what? F it.'
I’m just going to do it.
I have a picture here of Emma Gonzalez.
So notice, she’s pretty much almost one length all around, a little bit shorter on the sides than the top.
I want you to feel most comfortable with—
How about a three and a four?
Yes!
I was just like 'can you please do a three and a four?'
Because I didn’t want to do it too low.
I never knew the number, I’d be like, ‘just cut it all off!'
I never knew numbers—
There’s- there’s levels!
Do you feel feminine with shaved hair?
[Everyone] Yes.
Absolutely.
”Yes” across the board!
Aubree, I’m going to start with you.
Growing up- I’m actually grew up in a predominately white area, so
long, straight hair
was the way and I remember when people— my mom would come with me on field trips and stuff
people would give me strange looks like, ‘oh my God, is that your mom?'
People would make jokes.
But now that I embrace it, I feel like people also embrace it, too.
Yeah, I agree.
I just feel like, if I had the same look, but I didn’t portray my confidence, people would look at me differently, but
since I know I have short hair, I still feel feminine; I still feel confident.
That was actually one of my biggest fears.
Being more - like - masculine.
I feel even more feminine, actually.
Okay, so we’re going in with the number four, even on the sides.
I wanted to see how everything was going down so I was looking in the mirror when she cut the pony tail,
it was like from the bob and the bob and she just kept getting shorter, shorter.
When I first saw my hair shaved, like when I put my earrings on, like,
I cried.
I felt like it was just me.
[Exclaims]
Oh my God!
Now wait, so you’ve had your haircut short for a week, how did your family-
how did your immediate community react?
My mom loved it, my sister loved it, everybody loved it.
Everybody loved it.
My mom didn’t like mine when I cut mine off-
Really?
She was like, ‘why’d you cut it so low?’
I was like, ‘why not?’
Have you found that your own perceptions of femininity have changed?
And also your community, the people around you: your friends and family,
has your buzz head changed their perceptions of femininity?
I kind of feel like I always knew that a woman could be a woman no matter what she looked like.
So, actually being able to live it and do it, that kind of was freeing to me.
There are a lot of misconceptions that I think are associated with having no hair
or a shaved head.
Misconceptions or perceptions about your sexuality
probably being the main one.
I stopped myself
all these years just because of what other people would say to me.
Or tell me how they would feel.
I remember one of my friends asked another friend, like, ‘oh my God, is she gay?'
That’s so wild.
And like one: if I was, why should it matter?
and then two: no.
Whether queer meaning your sexuality, queer meaning your interest,
it’s corky, it’s queer, it is not the norm.
Or what people consider to be a social norm.
And I don’t think that’s necessarily a negative connotation.
How has short hair impacted your personal style?
For me, it’s actually the opposite of what I’m wearing now, I’m very chill,
edgy.
I feel like my short hair has allowed me to focus more on my face, I’ll wear more jewelry.
And then chill on the clothes.
I’m going to say a name and we’ll start with you, Amanda, tell me your first reaction:
Amber Rose.
[Exclaims]
That’s wifey.
[Laughing]
That’s wifey.
I seriously- I put her on my screensaver, like, I love Amber Rose.
Just because of that buzz cut.
Britney Spears.
I would say 'bold'.
Bold.
Because she did it and she went with it.
Unapologetically.
Exaclty, yeah, that’s a good one: unapologetic.
Emma Gonzalez.
She’s so like bold, powerful—
I feel like with her buzzcut, it puts the cherry on top of like 'badass'.
Pretty much.
Fearless.
She’s like an idol to look at for somebody who wants to get their hair shaved.
Absolutely.
Let’s talk about the rebel stereotype.
Does having a buzzed head equate to being a rebel?
I never thought of it as rebellious, but I always thought other people thought of it as rebellious.
I was really nervous about what a lot of older people would think- like my grandparents
Because when I first shaved it off — my boyfriend’s parents are older, they’re in their 70s —
so I was like, ‘what are they going to think?’
I was like, they’re going to think I’m losing my mind.
I didn’t know what they were going to think.
But I’m glad you brought that up because that’s such a valid point.
When we go back to the stereotype of Britney Spears
and the ‘mental breakdown,'
’I’m going through something.'
So therefore I have buzzed my head.
What do you feel about the connotation of like breakdown=buzzed head?
Aubree.
I- I don’t like it because I feel like why can’t we just live our lives?
And you know what? That stereotype does not hold true for me.
No one says, ‘oh, he buzzed his hair? John must be going through something.'
So why is it that women have to adhere to this idea of
’oh if you cut your hair, you're all the way to the left.'
You’re either losing it or you’re like ‘F everyone.'
I remember the one that told me he would never cut me bald, he was like,
'women are supposed to have hair.'
And I was like, 'interesting.'
And I never went back to him.
Right.
[Laughing]
Do any of you think you would ever go back to having longer hair?
Absolutely not.
Oh, that was strong, why was that so strong?
Why ‘absolutely not.'?
I don’t know why, I just feel like it’s me.
I’m not going to say 'never,' I just don’t have the patience.
I don’t see myself waiting all these years for it to grow out, when I can just go to the barber shop right now and get it cut.
So maybe someday, but right now, no. I like how it frames my face.
I’m waiting for it to grow so I can just cut it in different styles and work my way up
until it gets longer.
If it gets longer, I’ll probably just end up shaving it and doing it all over again.
Thank you all so much for being so candid and open and sharing your experiences having buzzed heads.
To all the women with buzzed heads:
[Laughing]