For most women, losing their hair is terrifying. It challenges their very sense of what it is to be a woman.
Lisa Lefkowitz has had alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition characterized by hair loss, since she was in her 20s. She says she was “in the closet” about it until her late 30s, choosing to wear a wig. Then, when she was 38, she shaved the hair that was left on her head and ditched her wig.
By embracing her baldness, she believes she is making “a conscious, transgressive choice to challenge a social norm” in her daily life.
Lefkowitz needed camaraderie as she navigated the challenges of living bald. She says people are often uncomfortable with a bald woman and she is regularly asked if she is sick.
“Our bodies are somehow open for public questioning,” said Lefkowitz.