In China, Women Are Defying ‘Beauty Duty’ — With a Bold Haircut

 

Buzz cuts of varying lengths are trending in China as well:

When Song Jiaqian passed the Teacher’s Certification Exam last year, she treated herself to an unconventional yet daring reward: She got a buzz cut.

So bold was the 23-year-old’s choice that she had to delay getting it until after securing her government job in Shandong, the eastern province known for its Confucian values and traditional way of life. She even asked colleagues if anyone had been fired for drastic changes in hairstyle, but fortunately found no precedent.

“People are always saying that you should look like a woman, but what does that even mean?” Song told Sixth Tone. “I am a woman. And I look like a woman, because I am one.”

Her decision reflects a growing trend among young women in China, where long hair is often associated with femininity and beauty. While some are now choosing to buzz their hair off to challenge traditional standards and promote gender equality, others simply find it practical and low-maintenance.

Their reasons notwithstanding, the style is quickly catching on, with more and more women ditching long locks for a shorn style. Says Song: “Why do girls have to listen to others and be gentle and quiet, and obedient in particular? I just don’t want to obey the rules.”

Over the last three years, a group on the social platform Douban, called “Women’s Buzz Cuts are Super Cool,” has gained a considerable following.

Established in March 2021, the group now boasts more than 4,500 members. It also includes three sections: “questions before buzz cut,” “posts after buzz cut,” and “anti-beauty duty and male gaze.” It offers women who have a buzz cut or are planning to get one a safe space to discuss their choices and support each other.

Buzz cuts emerged even earlier on the lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu. Starting in 2019, several posts show women flaunting buzz cuts in a bid to inspire others to “boldly make a change.” Song was one of them. She is still active on the platform and now shares her experiences to encourage others.

As Chinese society continues to grapple with beauty standards, buzz cuts are just one of the many trends helping women push back.

I shaved my head to avoid ‘beauty pageant’ with Paige VanZant before becoming UFC champion – now I’ll try to win flyweight title

 

For athletes like Rose Namajunas, shaving her head is simply practical. She has kept a very short buzz cut since her 2015 fight with Paige VanZant. She it easier to train and to compete without hair getting in the way, and she's had a successful career.

From the article:

"Why not do it to keep the focus on the fight so I don’t have to worry about training, then rinsing off and washing my hair, then drying it off, making it all pretty, doing my makeup, then getting ready for interviews and pictures and then having to go back to training and putting it back up.

“I just want to focus on the fight and figuratively and literally cut out as much as I can.

Indeed.

Shaving Their Heads as a Form of Protest

This footage is from a few weeks ago in front of the UK Parliament building. A group of women shaved their heads in solidarity with Palestinian women. As the protesters observe, many women in Gaza have resorted to shaving their heads due to severe shortages of water for washing or even drinking. This is not the first time a group of women have organized to shave their heads as a form of symbolic protest. A number of women in West Virginia shaved their heads in protest of a surface mining project in West Virginia that was going to do serious damage to the environment. Similarly a wave of Iranian women shaved their heads in protest of the brutal beating that led to the death of Mahsa Amini for violating antiquated rules requiring women to cover their heads in public. Readers of this blog can probably find plenty of examples of similar actions. Although these acts of protest in and of themselves won't affect any policy changes, they do serve as a public reminder that a significant segment of a population is frustrated by government actions or inaction. The plight of the Gazan civilians is mindbogglingly awful, and many Western governments continue to enable an unfolding human rights catastrophe, including famine as civilians remain targets after six months of war. The women who shaved their heads may not end to violence, but it does show that they are willing to stand and be counted, and that matters.