The thing is, I’ve always wanted to shave my head. It’s true. Some wild, unexpressed part of my personality wonders what I’d look like bald. Part of it is rebellion. But part of it is that my hair is a large part of my identity. It’s long. It’s thick. Strangers have been know to ask to touch it while I’m out and about. Yeah, I know, that last bit is weird. But in the end, I’ve never shaved my head and probably never will. Thing is, I like my hair. I like myself. And, OK, I worry that I might have a misshapen scalp or weird birthmark hiding under there.This lengthy and unsolicited mediation on my hair brings me to my point. Britney Spears and her newly-shaved head makes me sad. While I understand the urge, her very public shearing seems to be both an act of rebellion and a shedding of identity. I try not to blog too much about the paparazzi princesses - Paris, Lindsay, Britney, Nicole, et al. I do so mainly because I think they’re uninteresting and unimportant. I find no joy in yet another shot of some sad person drunk/naked/covered in her own sick.
But Britney’s recent downward spiral complete with photos and video and her clipped locks for sale on eBay screams out for commentary. And mine is this: People who love Britney Spears, please help her. While I’ve never met the woman and am in no way privy to the inner workings of her soul, I can tell you that shaving your head in some little salon in Tarzana in full view of the cameras is a probably cry for help. So, someone, help her.
5 comments:
Yea me too! I have had an inclination to shave my head bald for the longest time. But my mum's all antsy about it and I do love having my hair (and I suspect I might flat-headed as well). But finally... another baldie-wannabe (that is, if you don't mind me saying that...)
Shaving one's head can be a kind of rite of passage. It was to me, and a friend of mine shaved her head in what she calls her "angry feminist days" (she was royally p/o at getting cat called by men). It can be a very liberating exprerience... In Britney's case I don't think it's a rite of passage. I think she's really lost the way, and she needs to realize she needs help.
I know Britney hasn't done much to deserve the benefit of the doubt, but I'm gonna give it to her anyway. I hope she knew exactly what she was doing and that there's a little bit of a defiant feminist undercurrent there, whether she recognizes it as explicitly "feminist" or not. I am choosing to celebrate her guts rather than lament her "lostness" or fallen womanhood. Why must we assume this is a cry for help? I rather think the look she paraded around before was more a cry for help. Just sayin'.
I agree with Blank. The shedding of identity is definitely beneficial for some people (most people) at some point. And maybe Brit can become the poster child for angry, lesbian, feminist rebellion or something. Although the publicity of her "rebellion" isn't very encouraging . . . At any rate, she kine rocks that look. Not like Natalie Portman rocks or anything, but this is a look that can work for her.
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