d give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head f

The fairytale Rapunzel, centered around the secret love between a young woman and her prince, Rapunzel was held captive in a tower with no doors by a powerful evil enchantress. Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair called the prince, she did and the prince climbed up her hair and into the tower of his love, they made plans to runaway together. The powerful evil enchantress was less than happy to discover the young lady’s new found love and plans. She punished Rapunzel by cutting off all of her hair before banishing her to the desert, if you forget how the story goes it was a good one, don't worry it has a happy ending,

What if the story took a different turn? What if the powerful and evil enchantress let her keep her hair, and kept her in the tower and killed her beloved price instead? Well for one thing you would not get the happy ending we have all grown to love and we may have seen Rapunzel escape the way she planned only to run screaming to her hairstylist demanding a shave off or perhaps she would have saved herself the trip, popped open some wine and taken the scissors to her hair herself.

Shave it off NOW!

I have shaved my head myself and on a couple of other occasions cut most of my hair off myself at different times in my life. A friend of mine had started to first cut the sides then a bit here and a bit there without any particular form or structure until it was a bit of a mess. I have had clients do the same and I have had to “fix” it, sometimes with a shorter more even hair cut and sometimes with extentions. I had a client with cancer that wanted me to shave her head. She said she wanted to be the one that decided to go bald; it was not the cancer’s decision. I shaved the beautiful blond locks that I had seen every eight weeks right off. Her eyes filled with tears along with my own, but we both smiled because it was her decision, she also decided in that moment to live and fight the cancer. She felt like a warrior with her new hairless statement, and she lived.

I have had many mostly female clients admit to a hair chopping or two. Some of the more passive ones will come in and ask to have their long blonde hair cut to their chin and colored brown, My comment is generally “So how is life treating you”? Nine times out of ten it is a break up, a death, the husband cheated, or on one occasion my client’s cat died and the next thing I knew her hair was gone. Recently a famously troubled pop star did it too, off with her hair! So why does this happen? Is it serious? Is it a form of independence and freedom or is it a clue to an impending nervous break down? Perhaps it is a way to release a painful part of your life and start new. I have found that it is mostly women that do this when they are in a state of stress. Should this be looked at as a mental health issue in women? To truly form an opinion I think we must first look at the history of the act itself. Head shaving.

For centuries the cutting of hair and the act of shaving one’s head has been an act of punishment, creed and a visible distinction between the wealthy and the poor. The earliest example of head shaving was in ancient Egypt and Greece. If one had long beautiful hair it was a symbol of wealth and power, if you were lower class, a worker or a slave chances are your head was shaved. In the 1700’s hair was worn with many wigs, attachment, extentions and adornments, the bigger and more elaborate the hair the finer and wealthier gentleman or lady you must be.

For Religion

If you look carefully you will notice that head shaving is a part of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jain and Hindu traditions. Buddhist and Christian monks generally undergo some form of head shaving during their ordination. When a prince that became the Buddha left the castle to seek a way beyond aging sickness and eventual death one of the first things he did was shave his head and beard off this is why Buddhist monks completely shave their heads and beards, to show their commitment for their beliefs. In some religions you shave your head when your father or loved one dies. The concept behind shaving one’s head is a symbol of renunciation, hair is a symbol of attachment and to shed it is to shed your life of worldly attachment. So on one hand it can be a noble thing to have it shorn off for your religious values, for ordination and ritual, in the dark ages it was not uncommon for a wife to cut off her braid and give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head fo

her hair herself.

Shave it off NOW!

I have shaved my head myself and on a couple of other occasions cut most of my hair off myself at different times in my life. A friend of mine had started to first cut the sides then a bit here and a bit there without any particular form or structure until it was a bit of a mess. I have had clients do the same and I have had to “fix” it, sometimes with a shorter more even hair cut and sometimes with extentions. I had a client with cancer that wanted me to shave her head. She said she wanted to be the one that decided to go bald; it was not the cancer’s decision. I shaved the beautiful blond locks that I had seen every eight weeks right off. Her eyes filled with tears along with my own, but we both smiled because it was her decision, she also decided in that moment to live and fight the cancer. She felt like a warrior with her new hairless statement, and she lived.

I have had many mostly female clients admit to a hair chopping or two. Some of the more passive ones will come in and ask to have their long blonde hair cut to their chin and colored brown, My comment is generally “So how is life treating you”? Nine times out of ten it is a break up, a death, the husband cheated, or on one occasion my client’s cat died and the next thing I knew her hair was gone. Recently a famously troubled pop star did it too, off with her hair! So why does this happen? Is it serious? Is it a form of independence and freedom or is it a clue to an impending nervous break down? Perhaps it is a way to release a painful part of your life and start new. I have found that it is mostly women that do this when they are in a state of stress. Should this be looked at as a mental health issue in women? To truly form an opinion I think we must first look at the history of the act itself. Head shaving.

For centuries the cutting of hair and the act of shaving one’s head has been an act of punishment, creed and a visible distinction between the wealthy and the poor. The earliest example of head shaving was in ancient Egypt and Greece. If one had long beautiful hair it was a symbol of wealth and power, if you were lower class, a worker or a slave chances are your head was shaved. In the 1700’s hair was worn with many wigs, attachment, extentions and adornments, the bigger and more elaborate the hair the finer and wealthier gentleman or lady you must be.

For Religion

If you look carefully you will notice that head shaving is a part of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jain and Hindu traditions. Buddhist and Christian monks generally undergo some form of head shaving during their ordination. When a prince that became the Buddha left the castle to seek a way beyond aging sickness and eventual death one of the first things he did was shave his head and beard off this is why Buddhist monks completely shave their heads and beards, to show their commitment for their beliefs. In some religions you shave your head when your father or loved one dies. The concept behind shaving one’s head is a symbol of renunciation, hair is a symbol of attachment and to shed it is to shed your life of worldly attachment. So on one hand it can be a noble thing to have it shorn off for your religious values, for ordination and ritual, in the dark ages it was not uncommon for a wife to cut off her braid and give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head f

wn, My comment is generally “So how is life treating you”? Nine times out of ten it is a break up, a death, the husband cheated, or on one occasion my client’s cat died and the next thing I knew her hair was gone. Recently a famously troubled pop star did it too, off with her hair! So why does this happen? Is it serious? Is it a form of independence and freedom or is it a clue to an impending nervous break down? Perhaps it is a way to release a painful part of your life and start new. I have found that it is mostly women that do this when they are in a state of stress. Should this be looked at as a mental health issue in women? To truly form an opinion I think we must first look at the history of the act itself. Head shaving.

For centuries the cutting of hair and the act of shaving one’s head has been an act of punishment, creed and a visible distinction between the wealthy and the poor. The earliest example of head shaving was in ancient Egypt and Greece. If one had long beautiful hair it was a symbol of wealth and power, if you were lower class, a worker or a slave chances are your head was shaved. In the 1700’s hair was worn with many wigs, attachment, extentions and adornments, the bigger and more elaborate the hair the finer and wealthier gentleman or lady you must be.

For Religion

If you look carefully you will notice that head shaving is a part of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jain and Hindu traditions. Buddhist and Christian monks generally undergo some form of head shaving during their ordination. When a prince that became the Buddha left the castle to seek a way beyond aging sickness and eventual death one of the first things he did was shave his head and beard off this is why Buddhist monks completely shave their heads and beards, to show their commitment for their beliefs. In some religions you shave your head when your father or loved one dies. The concept behind shaving one’s head is a symbol of renunciation, hair is a symbol of attachment and to shed it is to shed your life of worldly attachment. So on one hand it can be a noble thing to have it shorn off for your religious values, for ordination and ritual, in the dark ages it was not uncommon for a wife to cut off her braid and give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head f

’s hair was worn with many wigs, attachment, extentions and adornments, the bigger and more elaborate the hair the finer and wealthier gentleman or lady you must be.

For Religion

If you look carefully you will notice that head shaving is a part of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jain and Hindu traditions. Buddhist and Christian monks generally undergo some form of head shaving during their ordination. When a prince that became the Buddha left the castle to seek a way beyond aging sickness and eventual death one of the first things he did was shave his head and beard off this is why Buddhist monks completely shave their heads and beards, to show their commitment for their beliefs. In some religions you shave your head when your father or loved one dies. The concept behind shaving one’s head is a symbol of renunciation, hair is a symbol of attachment and to shed it is to shed your life of worldly attachment. So on one hand it can be a noble thing to have it shorn off for your religious values, for ordination and ritual, in the dark ages it was not uncommon for a wife to cut off her braid and give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head f

d give it to her husband that was forging in to battle for good luck and to protect him on his journey. In the 1800’s people wore lockets that encased locks of their loved ones hair. We still even today keep locks of hair as keep sake; our child’s first hair clipping is usually saved and kept as a memento. On the other hand it can be a symbol of punishment, disgrace, humiliation and degradation.

Punishment

Prisoners, the insane and the ww2 concentration camps all practiced head shaving as part of punishment and for hygienic reasons this act prevented the spread of lice. As of the 2006, several countries such as the United States, Russia and Libya still shaved the heads of prison inmates as a punishment as well as the boot camps for juvenile delinquents. The practice of shaving heads has been used in the military, mostly for new recruits. And any hair they are allowed has to be military standard which is just about 4cm of hair on the top.

Many women over the centuries have had this kind of punishment bestowed upon them for many reasons, it was common for men to shave a women’s head for the act of adultery, prosutution even disobedience. A textile mill in England in 1849 used to house male and female workers most of them were young children and teens. They were forced to work 10-14 hours per day and the ones that had a home outside the mill would have to walk and hour there and back, they needed to earn enough for food as families were large in that day and if you were able you worked. There was physical abuse used in the mills (flogging, the strap, and other beatings) for being late, not working fast enough and talking back, but the worst and most feared punishments of all was when you disobeyed, tried to escape or lied you got your head shaved. The girls were proud of their hair and hoped it that it would help them to get a husband and out of the horrible conditions of the mill one day.

During ww2 in France from 1943 -1946 about 20,000 women of all ages and professions were accused of sexual, economical and over all collaborating with the occupying Germans. Most often it was the men who carried out the punishment of shaving the accused head sometimes in the town square among a cheering crowd to humiliate, degrade and make an example of their betrayal and sometimes it was a matter that was carried out within the home at the hands of the accused woman’s father or husband. The act of shaving their heads was in it self was a punishment but also a reminder of the offence to the accused as it grew out and to the public that would throw things at these women as the passed by wearing a scarf if they were allowed, to cover the shame.

Fashion

In the late 70’s early 80’s shaved heads and British inspired punk rock became a no hold barred way to rebel against parents, authority and everything that you thought was oppressing you, people shaved their heads to declare their independence over their own identities and abandoned ideas and actions that were expected. The skinhead was born. And what about the athletes like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley that made the bald head the in thing and tons of young men all over were imitating the cool new athletic look, However when a women goes a shave her head people look but has the look really been copied? What about Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, Demi Moore in GI. Jane, or Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta, I do recall when Sinead O’Connor was popular seeing some people pulling off the look but it did not cause our scissors to need constant sharpening like the “Rachael” did in the 90’s.

How we help others by “chopping”our hair

Donating our natural, 10-12 inches worth of hair to organizations that assist in making wigs for children with cancer is one way to help. I have had clients do this, one particularly unselfish young lady all of 10 years old wanted to donate her hair to the Locks of Love Foundation. She cut her waist length hair to her chin to help another child feel a bit better while fighting for his or her life. I was truly inspired by her generosity. In August of 2006 thousands of prisoners had been shaving their heads and chests to donate hair to help mop up the Philippines' worst oil spill. The collection was in response to a nationwide drive. Tons of hair and feathers were used to absorb more than 200,000 liters of industrial fuel that leaked from a tanker when it sank off the central island of Guimara 15,000 inmates at a maximum security prison in southern Manila, including 1,000 on death row, began donating hair. Combine the hair with the oil and your going to get the biggest clog in history and you thought it was gross when you had to unclog your shower drain. About 500 hair salons in Manila have joined the "Stop the Oil Spill” drive by collecting hair clippings from their shops.

So depending on when and why you shaved your head or if you did it at all or you are just thinking about doing it, There are some common traits that seem to appear regardless of the actual reason, 1) control, whether wanting to be in control or emotionally out of control, 2) usually some kind of life marker, event, call to action or sometimes even a traumatic life experience. What ever the reason it is an experience that one ever forgets.

©Roxanne Muir of Karma Kollective Hair Studio. All rights reserved.

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