Women go through a lot. They play plenty of roles in this society. They’re mothers, daughters, wives, employees, friends, caregivers, doctors, and the list goes on. Many of them perform most of these roles at the same time, which can be exhausting and demanding. Things get worse when a woman needs to take a break or enjoy some alone time, but no one understands or appreciates what she’s going through. Others may even impose more responsibilities on her, blame her, suppress her, beat her, and traumatize her. All of which can cause her to feel very sad, or worse, depressed.
When a woman goes through depression, she becomes unstable and unbalanced. Her decisions are not wise and her reactions are reckless. As a person who’s dealing with a depressed woman, you should expect to see several insane actions that cannot be justified. Nonetheless, depressed women are excused! Their shocking actions result from the oppression, abuse, cruelty, and injustice they face in this society.
One of the most common reactions to depression is shaving! Many women across the world decide to shave their heads when they’re depressed. Some consider shaving as a new beginning, while others stop seeing themselves beautiful with their hair on, so they chop it off.
Going through a divorce is one of the reasons why women decide to shave their heads. The first time we’ve witnessed this incident was when Assala Nasri got divorced from Tarek Alarian after being married for 14 years! Although she didn’t shave her head, she has chosen a pixie cut that is considered daring and impulsive. While divorce is a difficult phase for any couple, Assala has cut her hair rebelliously to let go of this hard experience and have a new, fresh start.
On the contrary, Sherine AbdelWahab has completely shaved her head because she’s been traumatized and oppressed in her relationship with her ex-husband, Hossam Habib. According to Sherine, she is still seeing a psychiatrist to help her move on from this painful experience. She shaved her head as an expression of freedom. With this new, shocking look, she is free from toxicity and self-harm, especially after trying to commit suicide several times.
While women with shaved heads is a shocking look to the Arabs, a huge number of Hollywood celebrities have done it before after experiencing depression. Britney Spears was one of the earlier celebrities to shave her head after the traumatizing experience she lived and her husband refusing to let her see her sons. She has also been placed under conservatorship, where her dad had full control over her personal and financial assets.
Demi Moore is also one of the victims of depression that was caused after her miscarriage and failed marriage. Although she had shaved her head for her role in G.I Jane, which was way before her miscarriage, she is still a victim of depression.
Many other celebrities have shaved their heads for a specific reason, whether it is for a role in a film or to follow the latest trend. Kristen Stewart, Kate Blanchette, and Natalie Portman shaved their heads for certain roles in their movies, while Jessie J shaved to raise half a million pounds for Comic Relief.