Is shaving your head a rejection of beauty standards? 

The camera is on, and a young woman is in tears as she parts her long, chestnut-colored hair into pigtails, preparing to chop it all off. She posts the video, and it goes viral shortly after, becoming her third most-viewed video on TikTok.  

Erika Titus is a 23-year-old social media influencer with four million followers, known for her beauty content and openly sharing insecurities about her physical appearance. Her six-part “Bald Head” series on TikTok has received tens of millions of views, but it has also sparked an online debate about beauty standards, self-esteem, and the pressure placed on young women, especially online. 

“I didn’t feel good about myself or the content that I was putting out, either,” she said in an interview with Teen Vogue. “I thought, ‘I could never do this because it would be bad for my career.’” 

Despite her hesitance, she ultimately decided to shave her head and then invited viewers to join her on her new journey. 

Today, beauty is currency, especially when your job revolves around appearances. It is jarring to see a beauty influencer, such as Titus, shave her head to take the attention off of her looks.

 The vulnerability she displayed in her six-part series resonated with someone like me, who shares the same struggles with beauty and self-esteem. 

However, not everyone reacted positively. The comments section in many of her videos was filled with feedback from viewers who did not understand her decision or emotions as she went through the process. Many people suggested she didn’t have the right to cry since she made the choice. 

“The best part is you don’t have to do it.” @sabrynuhhh said in a comment that received 65,600 likes. 

“Crying when it’s literally optional is wild” @andygarcia18000 commented.   

Yet, the videos resonated with other viewers who were inspired as they saw Titus escaping beauty expectations that often feel inescapable. Some even decided to follow in her footsteps. One creator, user@worldwidemclovin, posted a video of herself shaving her own head, attracting more than 450,000 views.    

“Watching Erika shave her head for the same reasons [that] I have been thinking about it really gave me the courage to finally do it,” she said on TikTok. 

Mental health professionals like Kobe Campbell, a licensed trauma therapist and TikTok creator, say that self-confidence issues often begin at an early age. Children who begin with high self-esteem lose it as they realize others do not see them the same way they see themselves.  

“At some point in their lives, usually around adolescence, it felt like they had to choose between loving themselves or feeling connected to the people that were around them,” Campbell said in one of her posts.

Sofia Perkins, a 19-year-old first-year, has experienced similar struggles. Growing up in a predominantly white community with a Mexican mother and white American father, Perkins says she felt she had to choose between loving her appearance or trying to adhere to Eurocentric beauty standards.   

“I got a lot of mixed comments about my skin tone and even my curly hair, and it just made me feel different than everyone else,” Perkins said. “I was more conscious about how I looked at a younger age.”  

I was the same way. My earliest memory of feeling self-conscious was when I was around four years old. 

I decided to play hairdresser one day, so I took a pair of scissors and cut one side of my hair to chin length. It was done so terribly, because I was a child with bad motor skills, that my mom had to take me to an actual hairdresser to straighten it out. I went from waist-length hair to a Dora haircut. I hated the change and felt so ugly.   

Fortunately, I grew to like the hairstyle.  

Perkins said she became more confident in herself as her social circles became more diverse. Titus has even said in her interview with Teen Vogue that shaving her head has given her more confidence, as she broke the restrictions that beauty standards place upon us. Meanwhile, I still struggle with my low self-esteem.  

I have contemplated shaving my head, but I hesitate because I still feel the need to adhere to conventional beauty standards.  

When I initially saw Titus’ video, I was shocked and in awe. I thought her decision was so bold, so brave, and then I questioned myself: Why is a task such as cutting off your hair so shocking, so life-changing? Why do our appearances matter so much to us? 

Self-esteem issues do not just appear one day. They are ingrained in us as a society. Someone points out a physical feature, and suddenly, you can’t stop thinking about it. These ideas about ourselves are hard to unlearn, so they may require drastic measures — like shaving your head.  

My self-esteem issues stem from childhood and how I mimicked my own mom as she stood in front of the mirror and picked apart her beautiful appearance. I look in the mirror today, and I see it all: my thick thighs, my big nose, my soft chin, my pudgy belly, my lack of a thigh gap.  

Meanwhile, in a TikTok posted Jan. 23, Titus appears without makeup before transitioning into an ethereal look with sparkly makeup, a pink wig and a new outfit. 

One comment on the video from user @foro8o2 says, “I fear [you’re] actually convincing me to shave my hair too.”  

Despite my deeply ingrained struggles with self-esteem, Titus’ actions have inspired me. I need to choose to accept myself as I am instead.  

Titus has shown us that what remains is a choice: whether to challenge beauty standards or continue conforming to them.

My personal response to this question is this: not today, but some day very soon.