AND I DON’T HAVE TO CONTEND WITH MASSES OF UNRULY HAIR!!!!

Words…cannot find the words…to describe my JOY :-D

The comparisons are flowing thick and fast - Sinead, Ripley, V for Vendetta, Nefertiti…everything bald and beautiful.

I am quite frankly amazed.

It is interesting to recall some of the reactions I got from people who saw me in the flesh yesterday - the group of elderly people who did not return my bright smile  as I strode past them, the friend who asked if my bright lip gloss was me ‘over-compensating for looking a bit like a man’ (it wasn’t - it just no longer gets my hair stuck in it!) and the knowing look I got from funky bass playing guy on Northumberland street - a man I have stood and watched play and never held eye contact with before suddenly held my gaze with interested eyes for a good few feet, mumbled some greeting and smiled broadly.

The shaven head is a cultural signifier of many things - it can provide liberation from the sexual meaning of long hair as a sign of fertility and good health; it can signify repression and control by government systems (prison, hospital); it can be a badge of sexuality, queerness and androgyny, particularly in women who continue to adorn themselves in the trappings of femininity whilst being bald (my lipgloss and short skirt being two of these); it also has conotations from musical subcultures, representing the working class, docker style embraced by the punks and the skins.

What I find most interesting is that it holds such a contrast of meanings - to some it mean liberation and rebellion and has become a badge we all respond to with knowledge that this person holds particular political views.  But to some it means control and sexual impotence - historically, an adulterous husband was forced to cut his wife’s hair a symbol of his dirty secret, further castrating himself at the expense of his wife.  Or consider Freudian theory surrounding female homosexuality, the ‘lack’ of the penis is represented by removal of the hair, castrating her further to become the queer.

Now I doubt anyone will look upon me and think ‘her husband did that’, but I’m pretty sure the word ‘lesbian’ will have rung in many a head as I passed.

As long as no-one thinks ‘Nazi’, we’re cool…

Contemplating what the rain might feel like on head - what a joy it is to not give a fuck about my hair getting wrecked

Great exchange with my Nan today (annotated for clarity) -

“You’ll have to be sure to wear a hat in social or work situations, out of respect”

“What do you mean Nan? Bald men don’t cover up. It’s only a head, I don’t see what the difference is just because I’m female.”

“You’re such a feminist.”

She’s not even seen my head because she lives in London!  To give her her due though, she is sending a donation for Myeloma UK which is fantastic.  But she said she thought I was only getting a haircut…hahaha

Last night was incredible - as I sat on the bar stool sandwiched between the band as the played and DeeDee with the clippers, I felt so many things but fear wasn’t one of them.

Watching the faces of shock, the eyes that glowed with pride, the nods of respect, the raised metal horns…well, it just made me feel like a total warrior.

And it’s only hair…

I wonder how reactions will be once I venture out into unknown territory - excited to find out!

Life as a baldie is coming up win

One seriously shaven neck…

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

My tiny cheesegrater - it makes me feel like a giant

6 hours til I am bald - wondering who will tell me the truth

Counting how many people plaster on a false smile to tell me I “still look beautiful”

(Although I don’t care)

I will look and feel very weird

This is gonna be interesting…