Hair Today

I buzzed off all of my hair yesterday. Well, I didn't do it, Stacey the hair stylist did it for me. It's not the first time I've done it, either. I took some clippers to my hair about nine years ago and experienced the radical change, both on the inside and the outside, that can come with such a drastic move.

Though the word "drastic" conjures up images of measures taken in extreme situations it really means "likely to have a strong effect" and that is exactly what occurs when a woman has a #1 buzz cut.

The cut I sport today is not a #1. Stacey did a very careful job with scissors and though she did use a little device that made a buzzing noise the resulting effect is more of a #4.

Here is the breakdown of lengths and corresponding blades, taken from Wikipedia, FYI:

• #0 or bareblade (shortest)
• #1 (3 mm)
• #2 (6 mm)
• #3 (9 mm)
• #4 (12 mm)
• #5 (15 mm)
• #6 (19 mm)

Yes, my hair is now 12 mm long. And boy does it feel good.

I remember experiencing this feeling the first time I took the plunge and went this short. It's freedom, pure and simple. Freedom from hassle, freedom from vanity, freedom from hair in the sink, on the sweater, in the food. It's a joy.

It's also intense. It's not easy to be a woman with a buzz cut. People have very strong reactions. I was having coffee with an ex-lover back when I had the #1 and he told me flat out, "I can't look at you."

The Globe & Mail even went so far as to publish an article featuring a couple of high-profile women who've gone the Sinéad O'Connor route of late. The piece talked about how empowering it is for a woman to have a shaved head but how the style ultimately challenges people's expectations of what femininity is supposed to look like.

Funnily enough, I feel more feminine with this cut than the one I had previous, which was still very short but long enough on top to spike up or comb down. I felt really masculine with that cut. I felt like a guy.

Now, with no hair, man, I feel like a woman.

Inspiring Message of the Day: Despite the fact that I think my attractiveness has something to do with how I look, I am mistaken. We are not our hair. Our light comes from within. Shine your beautiful light!