On Aug. 4, 2022, “Planet Her” creator Doja Cat grabbed a pair of hair clippers, took them to her head and shaved all her hair off. Shortly after, she took to Instagram live and gave her eyebrows the same treatment. This proved to be the start of a new era for Doja Cat, as she quickly began to don more artistic, less conventional makeup looks and outfits. Perhaps the most notable of these looks is her iconic drawn on eyebrows, which typically consist of (but are not limited to) a small shape such as a heart or flower in the middle of the brow.
The singer’s fresh, bold look caught the internet's attention, especially the act of shaving her eyebrows off on a livestream. Many people expressed that the decision seemed to be an impulse-driven cry for help. The rhetoric that Doja Cat was yet another victim of fame-induced insanity began to circulate, and as everything on the internet does, it circulated quickly. Additionally, many jokes were made centering around the “unattractiveness” of the star’s new look.
The day after she shaved her eyebrows, Doja Cat expressed that the general narrative being formed about her decision upset her, and that she simply did it because she does not want hair. She addressed this on another Instagram live, saying, “I don’t like having hair, I never liked having hair. I can’t tell you one time since the beginning of my life that I’ve ever been like ‘This is cool.’”
More than anything, she stressed that she was frustrated by all the accusations that this was some sort of “mental break,” saying, “I’m rich, I’m fine. The whole ‘Are you okay, queen?’ s— makes me want to rip… the hair that I have left out.”
This is not the first time a female celebrity has faced poor treatment because she chose not to subscribe to the ideal of what society believes a woman should look like. We believe that in 2023, the ingrained sexism in our society has been diminished. While I will agree that it has certainly gotten better with time, it is still rather prominent and is exemplified clearly by the treatment of celebrities like Doja Cat. When a woman (especially a famous one) does not present herself in a way that upholds the archetype of traditional femininity, she becomes an “insane,” defeminized joke who should not be taken seriously.
Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Miley Cyrus and Jada Pinkett Smith; each of these women have been turned into a spectacle and thrown into this trope for something as simple as not having long hair. Many other female celebrities have faced the same treatment for different style decisions that were not considered feminine– it is not limited to shaving one’s head. This is reflective of lingering sexist ideals about what a good, healthy woman “should” look like.
This is also telling of the stigmatizations we still hold about mental health, especially regarding women. The disregard of women who choose not to subscribe to hyperfemininity is reminiscent of the classic diagnosis “female hysteria,” which has historically been the diagnosis given to any woman who did not act like society said she should.” This sentiment is still prominent today, as women are often deemed crazy for things like showing the slightest bit of emotion that is not happiness. This stigmatization is not just a women’s issue, though, as creating this “crazy” character out of anyone perpetuates dangerous and inaccurate depictions of people who have mental illnesses.
Doja Cat’s decision to shave her hair and eyebrows was done because it made her feel good, and I I think it made her look amazing. Projecting our internalized sexism onto female celebrities is so stale at this point, and it is time for us to recognize that women should be allowed to exist as they wish without their sanity and/or genuineness as a person/artist being questioned.
Kendall Bergeron is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Kendall know by emailing her at kb016121@ohio.edu.
