Impact of Hair Loss in Women

Television, movies, and magazines place great emphasis on women having a beautiful full head of hair. While most women consider this desirable, the fact is that more than half of all women will experience hair loss at some point in their lives, often with significant emotional consequences.

Hair loss in women is a common and natural occurrence with aging and changes in hormone levels, with a receding hair line or thinning of the hair the most common symptoms. Other factors which can cause hair loss in women include genetics, dietary issues and some medications, particularly cancer chemotherapy. Some women also find that if they have used chemical treatments, such as permanents and dyes, their hair cen be so severely damaged that temporary hair loss will occur.

While there are some celebrity women in the public eye who have shaven their hair to make a point, most women experiencing hair loss go to great lengths and expense to cover it up, including use of various medications, shampoos, soaps, thickeners and wigs or hair extensions. Female hair loss often interferes with self confidence and their sense of beauty, in part because of the negative attention that it receives from other people, and the contrast with societal norms as portrayed in the popular media.

History is replete with examples of the integral connection between a woman's hair and how she is viewed by society. At various times, and in various societies, women who have come to disgrace or committed crimes have had their hair shorn as a punishment intended to subject them to public ridicule, humiliation and disgrace. After World War II, French women who were suspected of having conspired with the Nazis had their hair cut off. The mythological figure Medusa had her hair turned to a head of snakes as punishment.

Against this historical backdrop, a woman who experiences hair loss often faces psychological turmoil as a result. A combination of friend and family support, personal growth, and perhaps even psychological counselling is sometimes needed, in addition to the use of hair loss products, but in the long run, women facing hair loss can and do cope with it, usually admirably.

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social consequences of hair loss in women