Your hair, do it if you like. For everyone that dislikes it there will be someone else that likes it and mostly people just won’t care. As to the bravery part, well I guess it will be brave to you, but it really is not that big of thing.
When I first lost my hair due to chemo, it was very patchy and ugly, so I had my husband shave it completely. I have no idea how one would shave the back of one’s own head without slicing and dicing yourself. I wore scarves and bandannas to work and in public because I felt very conspicuous. Later in the process, I got to feeling comfortable with the baldness, and everyone said I had a nice-shaped head for it (of course, what else are they going to say to the poor bald lady?). It was definitely low-maintenance, but I’m not sure I’d shave it just for the heck of it – our conservative Midwest little town and families would consider me loony.
Well, you’ve got unlimited access to her ears, don’t you?
I don’t really take random people’s advice on my appearance, but I do consider the opinions of the folks I’m dating before big changes. Most of the folks I’ve been seeing say they’re “for” long hair and think it looks nice; however, since being “for it” didn’t extend to complimenting it, brushing it or touching it, or offering to help me wash it on the rare occasions when I hurt my shoulder and it was a major pain… Since no one else really actively cared, I cut it from just above waist-length to 4" long (just above the ears).
And after I cut it, my friends, co-workers, and random people at the store started coming up to me and telling me how fantastic it looked and how much they loved it. The person I date every week or so told me that long hair is kind of out of the ordinary and thus untouchable (almost “sacred” even?) but once my hair was short, it got touched a LOT more.
Anyway, weekly date-night person adores super-short hair, and so do I, so I’ve got an appointment today involving a set of clippers, and I may dye it blue when I’m done. I realize a lot of people don’t think super-short hair is attractive on less-attractive people, but… if you’re homely to start with, why not do what makes you happy, as long as it doesn’t make anyone faint or wet themselves when they see it? 
I voted " it’s her hair."
My son-in-law’s mother was a beautiful person, inside and out. The first time I met her she had had enough chemo for breast cancer that her hair no longer grew back at all. She wore a hat for the frst 15 minutes of our friendship, then took it off and…it made no difference. She was totally bald and it didn’t matter. Karen was Karen and she was always beautiful. She carried on her life as long as it lasted with dignity and humor. I miss her.
Except that as you just said, the results aren’t for me, they are for you. So it’s not me that is going to get skewed feedback.
Though if I had to guess from your poll, I would say you already have particular views and only really wanted those confirmed anyway…
It’s her hair, she can do what she wants. But still, I don’t find it attractive.
I’ve always thought a shaved head on a woman is beautiful and very feminine. But you do have to have the right kind of skull. I don’t, sigh.
So I just admire when someone does it.
Some women can pull it off. More can’t. I don’t know that admirability has much to do with it.
I think it’s stupid and females with no or really short hair just don’t look good
I don’t disagree that skull shape has a lot to do with it. But how can you know if your skull is the proper shape until it’s been shaved at least once?
Like any style choice, it makes a statement. My first reaction to that and other extreme styles is often mild distaste, it seems like it’s often a cheap bid to get attention for being oh-so-unique when the person really just isn’t. But I’m old and crabby and embarrassingly suburban, so whatever.
Nobody is unique. I’m jaded and suburban myself 
I have entirely the wrong shape of head to be bald. But it was so comfortable and low-maintenance I did it twice anyways. Living in places with humid, high-temperature summers makes thick long hair a real liability. It really wasn’t an attractive look for me; even knowing that, I kept it up for a while.
I admire women who are willing to do it for reasons medical or otherwise, because there is a lot of social anxiety about it. The man I was dating at the time of the first shaving refused to speak to me for two weeks, and all our friends assumed he’d done something that pissed me off enough to warrant shaving my head to get back at him (as if I’d ever do something that drastic to myself just to irritate someone else). I still don’t get why shaving my head was taboo, but dying my hair green was cool and funky.
It’s just hair. And if you’re doing it for reasons other than medical (and sometimes even then!) it grows back. I had to remind people of that a lot the second time around, pointing out that in less than six months I’d look like a ‘girl’ again, and within two years my hair would be back below my shoulders.
After further thought, it is pretty damn brave. There’s a huge amount of social pressure to be ‘pretty’ or ‘feminine’ for women, and even if you’re objectively neither, looking like you’ve made a token effort to follow the forms, like keeping your hair long even if it annoys the hell out of you, gets you a pass.
Men do lots of things that make them look un- or less attractive, or even just look less attractive by not doing certain things, and it doesn’t make them look any less socially acceptable.
For a man, shaving his head is just a practical choice. For me, the same choice for the same reasons caused a giant shitstorm with my friends and boyfriend, because I wasn’t trying to be pretty for him anymore.
What do I think of women who shave their heads? I guess it gets a second look from me and then I form some sort of opinion about “cancer? or not?” and then I don’t think much about it.
I would never do it. Judging from my rashy stubbly legs there’s no way it’s going to look good even if I do have a nice shaped skull. And more skin to sunburn, that’s not good.
I’m not seeing brave or admirable.
ive just gotten out of an abusive situation recently and have shaved my head completely skin bald to start over, I’m planning on growing it long again, I just don’t want the hair that I had when I was in that situation. If that makes any sense? Do you think I look or would look terrible to guys or girls?
Welcome to the SDMB! As far as shaving your head, I say go for it. Who gives a shit what anyone else thinks. If you want to do it, and you like it, then do it.
Also…BRAINS!!!
EXACTLY! I can’t stand that! I understand if you don’t agree with it but I don’t understand why anyone should feel the need to be nasty about it! As a person who recently shaved my head to shed some old skin after a ill-natured situation, I wish there were more people in the world who think like you
Thanks! And thank you! A lot of people are judgemental, and vain, amongst other things haha! I’m glad at least one person supports my decision
I have feelings about what hair styles look better or worse on women, but unless somebody expresses some reason they want me to like their appearance, I think it’s better to let people choose how to manage their own bodies without my opinion getting offered. It’s not their job to look good to me, and I don’t need to inadvertently perhaps give them some negative feeling about their own appearance.