Head shaving

Head shaving is the practice by some men and women to shave the hair on their head. Males make up the majority of people who shave their heads, but a few females engage in the practice as well.

There are a wide variety of reasons that this is done. It can be done for religious, cultural, or aesthetic reasons. Many balding people will shave their head; examples include Michael Jordan and Andre Agassi. Another example is for medical reasons, a person having head surgery will often need to have their heads shaved in order to enable physicians to operate on the area in question. It has also been done for time to time as a means of punishment, or as a way of dehumanising, hazing or humiliating people.

Throughout most of the 20th century, head shaving was considered somewhat unusual in such Western countries as the United States, and even bore some very real negative social connotations, including its linkage to skinheads and similar subcultures; in the early 1990s, however, it became popular first among African-American males, and by the end of century the look had achieved considerable social acceptability across virtually all major demographics.

Head shaving can be performed by most regular razors or electric shaving kits, coupled with any regular shaving cream (used for shaving a beard). Because it is generally hard to shave long pieces of hair, people shaving their heads usually first cut their hair down to a fine stubble before shaving it off completely. Incidents of cutting one's scalp with a razor are common, but avoidable if precautions are taken.

See also

• Buzz cut
• Depilation
• Social role of hair
• Tonsure
• Skinhead

External links

• Headblade - company that produces a special razor for head shaving as well as shaving cream and moisturizers also marketed as made specifically for head shaving.
• Shave your head@Everything2.com - a collection of experiences and instructions about head shaving