Alopecia World
www.alopeciaworld.com
Bald
Does anyone else feel like they are totally naked when they go outside with nothing on their head?? I feel so exposed at times. I mean its getting better but still I have that feeling. I have bared my baldness to my coworkers due to being so hot I couldn't stand it any longer. They were really supportive and nice, but I still felt naked. How do you all overcome that feeling?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by kastababy on
-
I don't feel exposed in any way when I have to deal with rude stares, but very occasionally I will feel a bit self-conscious. No biggie, I'm used to it by now.
-
Permalink Reply by BaldGirlsDoLunch.org on
-
Time, sunglasses and interesting accessories!
Plus, when you go out bald with a big, relaxed smile as if it was the most normal thing in the world ( and some day it might just be, ladies!) other people are generally filled with admiration. Other people take their vibe and lead off of you. When I'm having a bald day, it's like there's a cocoon of niceness following me wherever I go. Little bandanas telegraph the message "sick" but bald and accessorized telegraphs " healthy and confident". The more you do "bald" the less naked you feel. It's a process...and be sure to give yourself the luxury of time to adapt at your own pace.
Every woman deserves to be 100% comfortable. When you truly believe that your own comforts are #1 and you place a high value on it, the journey to feeling comfortably bald in public gets shorter.
-
Permalink Reply by mandy on
-
Char hun and all you other lovely ladies are so so brave cos i would never dream off going out with out my wig on in fact i have nightmares at the thought off it.
Take care
mandy
-
Permalink Reply by gerald on
-
If women really dress up feminine, you know, with a sexy dress, long earrings, and so forth, they can really look stunning bald, really beautiful.
If you aren't comfortable going out in public bald though, then don't do it. If you find a man who likes bald women, he won't care if you are bald in public or not. He just would like you to be bald at night with him.
-
Permalink Reply by Rachel H. on
-
You are far more brave/confident than I. I really don't know if I will ever get to that point! I sure hope so! I don't want to say I'm envious of your confidence... but heck, I am!
I could barely get myself to leave home when I lost all my hair this time around.... even with a wig on. It probably doesn't help that I have an "anxiety disorder" so I really let things get to me, or everything seems like a far bigger deal than they really are.
-
-
I have to admit to having a naked moment this weekend:
My beloved niece Michaela (who as everyone who knows me knows is my world) is probably the smartest, most perceptive child I have seen in a LONG time. She is currently in kindergarten at the local Montessori school in my hometown, even though she is only 4 (she'll be 5 in November). This weekend, for the first time, she asked me why I was bald. I knew that this day would come eventually, but I actually felt exposed, like if I explained alopecia to her that she would stop loving me. It really touched me I think because I was the exact same age she is now when my alopecia first manifested itself, and I looked remarkably like her. So to answer her question for right now, I told her that God makes everyone different, and just like Nonni (my mother, her grandmother) had different skin I had different hair. Of course, her next question was "Why?" -- to which my answer was "Because if we all looked alike then God would be bored." She was happy with that answer and quickly got distracted by the latest episode of Dora the Explorer.
I'm glad that for right now, my niece accepts the explanation that I give her and loves me unconditionally regardless of what I look like. In her eyes, I will always be "Kastee" (because she can't pronounce Kasta), and she knows that even though I currently live 200 miles away, I will always be there to kiss away scraped knees when I come home, or listen to her sing a song on the phone, or come to her soccer games and gymnastics meets, and I will sit and paint her fingernails and toenails and play with Barbie dolls when she comes to visit. And once again, my naked moment passes. I'm sure more naked moments will come when my other niece and nephew start to ask questions, but rather than prepare now, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
-
Permalink Reply by Emma on
-
You have made an incredible step in being able to bare your head to your coworkers but i am the same the first time i bared to my last lot of coworkers it was completely by accident, i hadn't worked for a while so had gotten used to being able to take my wig off if i got hot or itchy and my head was hot and itchy so i subconciously took it off and sat it on the desk beside me i then had to take documents to another department i had not realized i had taken off my wig and took the documents to my colleague when i got back to my desk the first thing i saw was my wig on the desk and automatically my hand felt my head none of them siad anything derogatory to me infact a couple of the guys - also bald congratulated me on it i then used to wear a wig into work take it off during work hours and put it back on for going home - if i hadn't i would have ended up with a very cold head as it was in the middle of winter, it takes time to get over the whole naked feeling but the process takes time. i don't go out completely bald all the time i think i wont ever i like the feeling of having hair framing my face even though i know, everyone around me knows, i wear wigs
-
Permalink Reply by Danna on
-
Char you are courageous and you are beautiful. As a woman, I know that we can feel less attractive without hair or a hat, but that is not the case ever. Just remember you are beautiful and have a wonderful smile and a sweet aura about you. I did reveal myself to a coworker once to encourage her to not worry about her physical looks (encouraging her to go to the gym with me). You just keep on being you and know that is all that matters.
-
Permalink Reply by Matt on
-
I don't wear hats or wigs, but I feel positively naked without my glasses on. They tend to hide the not-quite-right-ness of my eyes, but more than that, they give me control, even if it's only an illusion.
Not having hair means not having the ability to customize your appearance in conventional ways. My glasses aid me in that regard in that they add interest to my face. If I get bored with the look, I can simply get new frames (I wear earrings for the same reason). Outside of all that, though, I think they serve as both my "uniform" and my "shield", if that makes any sense. I've imbued them with the ability to hide my differentness from others. When I'm wearing my glasses, I'm just like everyone else. I'm Clark Kent.
This externalization of control, of taking a state of mind and directly tying it to something physical, something I can adorn myself with, is a coping mechanism; a strategy. I won't be fully comfortable with my Alopecia until I'm comfortable viewing the world through a set of contact lenses.
Now having said that, casting off my plastic crutches and relegating them to a leather case on my dresser or in the glove box of my car is not one of my goals. Wearing spectacles 24/7 is a small price to pay for social comfort, in my opinion. It's a concession I'm willing to make. Nobody's perfect.
Needless to say, very few people will ever see me without my glasses on.
-
-
I'm with you on the glasses!!!
Since I am very blind without my glasses, you rarely see me without mine too, although I am known to take pictures without them and will wear contacts on occasion (namely dress-up occasions when there is a certain look I am trying to go for.)
To me, it's not so much about control anymore -- when I was wearing wigs and other things to cover up my head, I didn't feel so much naked as I felt that alopecia was controlling my life -- and because I am a control freak by nature I had to change that.
Nowadays, I control alopecia's effect on my life -- it does NOT control me!!!
-
Permalink Reply by Mary on
-
I shaved my head in late January, and am increasingly going out in public without anything on my head. I teach a weekly folk dance class, and as soon as I shaved my head, I started going bald during the class. My 25 or so students have been very supportive, and besides, they're watching my feet, not my head!
I go bald at my health club and swimming pool. I take off my scarf or wig in public places if I get hot. More and more, I'm proud of the way I look, and I think attitude has a lot to do with how you're perceived. My husband is very supportive, and even encourages me to go bald when we're out.
I hate wigs because they're hot and itchy, but wear one to evening events or to some social gatherings. Most of the time I wear scarves when I want head cover. I found these wonderful scarves from Turkey that have crocheted edges that add fullness to my face. I'm thinking about doing a YouTube video showing how I tie them. I'll post pics here in the near future.
Still, I have times when I feel ugly, or unfeminine with a bare scalp. I think and hope it's only a matter of time until I just don't care anymore! This is who I am now, and I'm thankful that I'm healthy. I wish more women went bald so that it would become as "normal" and unremarkable as all the guys with shaved heads who just look trendy and handsome, and aren't assumed to be ill.
-
-
It gets better with time, i sometimes feel naked when i don't wear anything but i also have a bandana on me pretty much 24/7 so if i do feel naked i can put that on it can be more comfortable that a wig, it also means i have a quick way of covering up if it gets too cold.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Alopecia World.
Powered by
