“Ugh, I look better with no hair.” Powerful and to the point, singer Doja Cat sang this infamous line in her song “Paint the Town Red,” directly referencing the criticisms she received from shaving her head. Instead of considering that this could be a style choice, many jumped to the conclusion that this was a possible indicator that the singer’s mental health was deteriorating. Even in spite of Doja Cat revealing her new look on an Instagram Live and being quoted as saying, “I feel like I was never supposed to have hair.”
One notable past example of the media associating women shaving their head bald with mental decline was Britney Spears’ alleged breakdown in 2007. The media seized on this incident to reinforce the narrative of her unstable behavior, ultimately leading her father to claim that a conservatorship was necessary. A conservatorship that gave her father the ability to have complete control over her body and money. As she writes in her memoir, The Woman in Me, Spears asserted that in reality she shaved her head as an act of control, in the midst of a media who had turned against her.
This justification aligns with why many other women shave their heads — to feel liberated. In 2018, Glamour Magazine interviewed nine women for their own reasons and confirmed this amongst their sample pool. Consistent aftermath themes included men telling these women no man will be attracted to them again, being presumed as gay, and having to dismantle the idea that being bald isn’t “feminine.”
As far as many historians can tell, women across time have strived to have long hair. From a biological standpoint, estrogen can increase hair thickness and the maximum length hair can reach, whereas testosterone typically causes sparser hair associated with male pattern baldness. Despite this, many male Vikings and Spartans wore their hair long. Due to the visibility of hair though, the importance of it became susceptible to and exaggerated by cultural expectations.
Former pathology and dermatology professor at Yale, Kurt Stenn, theorizes that long hair posed as a sign of wealth, an implication that you had the means to take care of it. Pre-20th century, women were also thought of as something to be cared for, thus over time long hair began to become an indication of femininity. Long hair can also symbolize youth, a quality that women have historically been expected to embody. Women only started to cut their hair in the 20th-century, as a method to push back against the idea that they were dependent on men.
Presenting yourself as feminine is now correlated with being perceived as attractive, which itself has been shown to provide some external benefits. This is what is referred to as the “halo effect,” when one good trait such as attractiveness can cause others to automatically believe you possess other positive traits. Since hair is perceived as feminine and therefore attractive, if you lose your long hair, you’re more likely to be associated with negative traits.
Miley Cyrus experienced this firsthand once she made the big chop after Hannah Montana. Before, she was known for her goofy persona, but was consequently reframed to be obnoxious and attention-seeking as part of her transition away from childhood icon status. The media continued down this “out-of-control” pipeline by claiming Cyrus’ new look was a rejection of femininity or a political statement, when in actuality, she donated her hair to a cancer charity.
This plays into the negativity people who disrupt their femininity or the gender binary may experience. The disruption makes many feel uncomfortable because of internalized transphobia, which can stem from both a belief in gender/sex essentialism and a need for closure. Humans have often demonstrated their affinity for clear-cut answers, and binary thinking has often been an effective tool for exerting control and providing a sense of closure to those in power. Some studies have shown that the act of categorization can help manage cognitive load as well.
For a major portion of history, long hair has been seen as a necessity for being feminine, but the bounds of what it means to be any gender has become blurred as we as a human race redefine our understanding of gender. So, if another female celebrity begins to be berated for not only the act of cutting her hair off, but also for her behavior, you may want to engage in a conversation about why. Question if it’s truly her behavior or for a style choice that may disrupt some societal standards, but has no effect on the quality of their achievements and behavior.