Head shaving, orbald by choice,[1] is theshaving of thehair from aperson's head. People throughout history have shaved all or part of their heads for diverse reasons including aesthetics, convenience, culture, fashion, practicality, punishment, a rite of passage, religion, orstyle.
The earliest historical records describing head shaving are from ancient Mediterranean cultures such asEgypt,Greece, andRome. The Egyptian priest class ritualistically removed all hair from head to toe byplucking it.
ManyBuddhists andVaisnavas, especiallyHare Krishnas, shave their heads. SomeHindu and mostBuddhist monks and nuns shave their heads upon entering their order, and Buddhist monks and nuns in Korea have their heads shaved every 15 days.[2]Muslim men have the choice of shaving their heads after performing theUmrah andHajj, following the tradition of committing toAllah, but are not required to keep it permanently shaved.[3]
In many cultures throughout history, cutting or shaving the hair on men has been seen as a sign of subordination. In ancient Greece and much ofBabylon, long hair was a symbol of economic and social power, while a shaved head was the sign of a slave. This was a way of the slave-owner establishing the slave's body as their property by literally removing a part of their personhood and individuality.[4]
The practice of shaving heads has been widely used in the military. Although sometimes explained as being for hygiene reasons, the image of strict and disciplinedconformity is also accepted as a factor.[5] Upon theAllied invasion of Normandy duringWorld War II, some Allied soldiers shaved their heads to deny anyNazis the opportunity to grab it during hand-to-hand combat.[citation needed] For the new military recruit, it can be arite of passage, and variations of it have become a badge of honor.[6]
Prisoners commonly have their heads shaven to prevent the spread oflice, but it may also be used as a demeaning measure. Having the head shaved can be a punishment prescribed in law.[7] Nazis punished peopleaccused of racial mixing by parading them through the streets with shaved heads and placards around their necks detailing their acts.[8]
During and after World War II, thousands of French women had their heads shaved in front of cheering crowds as punishment for either collaborating with the Nazis or having sexual relationships with Nazi soldiers during the war.[9][10][11] Some Finnish women also had their heads shaved forallegedly having relationships withSoviet prisoners of war during the war.[12]
Competitiveswimmers,sprinters, and joggers sometimes seek to gain an advantage by completely removing all hair from their entire body to reducedrag while competing.
People experiencinghair loss may shave their heads in order to look more presentable, for convenience, or to adhere to a certain style or fashion movement. Those withalopecia areata orpattern hair loss often choose to shave their heads, which has become much more common and socially acceptable since the 1990s.[13]
In modern fiction, shaved heads are often associated with characters who display a stern and disciplined or hardcore attitude. Examples include characters played byYul Brynner,Vin Diesel,Samuel L. Jackson,Telly Savalas,Sigourney Weaver, andBruce Willis, as well as characters such asAgent 47 (whose physical appearance was based on his actor, the aforementioned David Bateson),Mr. Clean,Kratos,Krillin,[15]Saitama,[16] andWalter White. Baldness is sometimes an important part of these characters' biographies; for example, Saitama wanted to be a superhero and lost all of his hair in exchange for receiving superpowers. Shaved heads are also often associated with villains in fiction,[17] such asErnst Stavro Blofeld,Colonel Kurtz,Lex Luthor,Thanos,Bullseye, portrayed byColin Farrell, andAlex Macqueen's version ofthe Master. A notable exception isDaddy Warbucks.
Agoatee, usually of theVan Dyke variety, is often worn to complement the look or add sophistication; this look was popularized in the 1990s by professional wrestler"Stone Cold" Steve Austin. For most of the crime drama seriesBreaking Bad,[18] Walter White (played byBryan Cranston) wore a Van Dyke with a shaved head.[19] In futuristic settings, shaved heads are often associated with bland uniformity, especially in sterile settings such asV for Vendetta andTHX 1138.[20] In the 1927 sci-fi filmMetropolis, hundreds ofextras had their heads shaved to represent the oppressed masses of a futuredystopia. It is less common for female characters to have shaved heads, though some actresses have shaved their heads[21] or usedbald caps for roles.[22]
In the 1960s, some British working-class youths developed theskinhead subculture, whose members were distinguished by short cropped hair (although they did not shave their heads down to the scalp at the time). This look was partly influenced by the Jamaicanrude boy style.[23][24] It was not until the skinhead revival in the late 1970s—with the appearance ofpunk-influencedOi! skinheads—that many skinheads started shaving their hair right down to the scalp. Head shaving has also appeared in other youth-orientedsubcultures such as thehardcore,black metal,metalcore,nu metal,hip hop,techno, andneo-nazi scenes.
A sexual fetish involving head shaving is calledhaircut fetishism.
While a shaved head on a man is often seen as a sign of authority and virility,[citation needed] a shaved head on a woman typically connotesandrogyny, especially when combined with traditionally femininesignifiers. In theBDSM community, shaving a submissive or slave's head is often used to demonstrate powerlessness or submission to the will of a dominant.[why?][citation needed]
Baldness is perhaps the most famous side effect of thechemotherapy treatment for cancer, and some people shave their heads before undergoing such treatment or after the hair loss starts to become apparent; some people chose to shave their heads in solidarity with cancer sufferers, especially as part of a fundraising effort.
During the early days of theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries imposed strictlockdown procedures and actively encouraged members of the public to self-isolate. Many people, particularly men, began to shave their heads during lockdown due to boredom and/or being unable to have their hair cut as barbershops were forced to stay closed.[25] In the UK, a fundraising effort began to support itsNational Health Service, which suffered from the enormous pressure of the pandemic. The effort was started onJust Giving with a goal of £100,000; it encouraged people to shave their heads whilst also donating money to the NHS and was dubbed the "Covhead-19 Challenge". Various celebrities also took part.[26]