The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Writer

acadet@tribunemedia.net

AS the famed French fashioned designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel once stated, “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.”

Recently, we’ve seen many celebrity women boast of dramatic cuts and often completely shaved heads. While they all have their own personal reasons for the drastic chop, it seems to have been a freeing experience and one that has been good for their mental well-being.

Many psychotherapists and psychologists agree that women shaving their heads can be a sign of going through an emotional transition. They feel like they are shedding a layer of themselves to finally be free from internalised pain and anguish, and becoming a new, stronger version of themselves.

One of the recent bold cuts in the headlines came from singer Doja Cat, who performed in the Bahamas at Atlantis at the start of the year.

The quirky entertainer took to social media to share the reason behind her new, extremely cropped look after her fans expressed concerns about her mental state. Doja – real name Amala Ratna Zandile Dlaminialso – decided to shave off her hair and eyebrows while doing an Instagram Live.

“I feel like I was never supposed to have hair anyway. I don’t like having hair. I never liked having hair. I cannot tell you one time, since the beginning of my life, that I’ve ever been like, ‘this is cool.’ I just do not like to have hair,” she said.

“I just can’t believe that it took me this long to be like, ‘Shave your fking head.’ Because first of all, I don’t wear my hair out. What is the use of having hair if you’re not going to wear it out. I don’t even sport it,” she said.

Doja said she got especially with her hair, the wigs she wore on top, when she exercised.

“I remember feeling so fking exhausted just with like working out. Whenever I went to go train, I had a trainer at one point and I’d be wearing wigs and they would be getting tacky. They would re-tack because of the moisture and then they would start sliding and peeling off of my head while I’m doing this incredibly strenuous thing. I would be working out, but I couldn’t focus because I was more concerned about how I looked or how my hair was doing, and like how to keep it adhered to my scalp,” she said.

She had previously admitted frustration with her 4c type hair, for which she received major backlash on social media.

She defended herself, saying: “It’s frustrating for me. It’s very hard for me. A lot of my friends would agree who have hair like mine that they have a hard time taking care of it. What I think that the mistake may have been that I made was saying it on a social platform, saying it in public…. In no fing way does it mean that I hate my hair. My hair is amazing. I have beautiful hair.”

There are many reasons for a woman to cut her hair. Let’s take Jada Pinkett Smith and her daughter Willow Smith as an example. As a gesture of support for her mom who has battled alopecia for years, Willow and Jada debuted their shaved head looks together.

“ Willow made me do it because it was time to let go but, my 50s are about to be divinely lit with this shed,” said Jada, while Willow shared: “A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

Rapper Sweetie who is known for rocking various looks, popped up on social media this year with an “Amber Rose” cut. When asked by Power 106Fm what inspired the new look, she said: “Meditation, as crazy as it sounds, because I just found so much clarity within myself. I wanted to start over and I did research about hair and hair holds a lot of energy. And I really wanted to just feel new and fresh with this new music. I won’t say new me. But elevated me. I really just wanted to start over again.”

In the thick of the pandemic, actress Tiffany Haddish took to Instagram Live and cut her hair for all her followers to see.

“Today is the day. I been talking about it. Now I’m about to be about it, and cut my hair off. Tiffany why you cutting your hair off, you going through some emotional sht? You going through something? I’m cutting this hair off; I do what I wanna do. What Ya’ll tripping off, e.g.? They acting like this sht don’t grow back,” she said while also in conversation with a group of people in her background of the video.