A main form of expression for women everywhere is how they choose to display their hair. I’ve personally tried out a few different styles; from long hair that touched my waist to a pixie cut that just barely grazed my ears, and everything in between. The new trend, however, is the polar opposite of the “traditional” feminine haircut. Women around the world are once again turning the “norm” on their head by going the way of the clippers and shaving their heads. Instagram search #baldierevolution and #baldiemovement finds thousands of women rocking the minimal hair look. Through these hashtags, women are coming together to support each other as they make this empowering change. Deciding to shave it all off has morphed into a movement.
You don’t always realize how connected you are to your hair until it comes time to cut it off, and it becomes an emotional moment. When I decided to make the switch from shoulder length hair to an Audrey Hepburn style pixie, I felt almost frozen in time as I watched the hairdresser bring the scissors up to my two ponytails. As she snipped them off, one by one, I felt elated. Making the switch to a pixie cut may not be considered as extreme as buzzing it all off, but the process was still equally as emotional. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Danai Gurira talked about what it was like to shave her head for her role as Okoye in Black Panther. “The beauty of it was we got to wear these awesome tattoos on our heads, so I was one of the first people in there to start training. I was feeling it out, growing my ‘fro out a little bit, and [director Ryan Coogler] said, ‘It’s coming,’ and I was like, ‘I got you, but for now I got my ‘fro.’ And you can’t really prepare for it. And then they gave me twenty-four hours, like, ‘Danai, it’s tomorrow,’ and I was like, ‘Huh? Tomorrow? Oh, okay.’ I thought I was ready, I thought I could take this, then you start seeing these chunks falling to the floor.”
Danai continued, telling Kimmel how, “I’ve had a shortcut for a long time, but there’s a big difference between a shortcut and dolphin-smooth bald.” “At first I was like, ‘Okay this is good,’ but then the astounding Mr. Ken came in, who did my design on my head and he needed to get the mold of my skull, and he said, ‘Oh no. No, no, no. That’s not short enough.’ And he started to do a little shavey-shave.” What was striking was how Danai goes on to say, “Day by day, all my wonderful women in my army, started to come in with long hair one day and like me the next. We just started to have some solidarity… “You don’t see a lot of bald women walk around all the time.” Denai’s defining moment was realizing that she was not alone in this change and that there was a group of bald women supporting each other; when I went on Instagram, that is what I saw. I saw women coming together to celebrate each other even though they were not in the same room, because of this one similarity.
Women around the globe are finding this new hair trend to be empowering, freeing, strong, and confident. Movies like Black Panther with Okoye and her Dora Milaje are showing how powerful and kickass women with short hair can be. These individuals and many more are reimagining their definitions of “beauty” by redefining it as confidence and self-love. Check out #baldierevolution and #baldiemovement and take a look at a pretty awesome group of powerful women.