{"id":1204,"date":"2025-10-10T16:51:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storieshub.xyz\/?p=1204"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:51:11","slug":"ill-only-play-if-you-take-your-wig-off-i-was-shocked-and-hurt-i-let-her-bully-me-in-my-own-house-woman-advocates-for-girls-with-alopecia-bald-is-beaut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storieshub.xyz\/?p=1204","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ll only play if you take your wig off.\u2019 I was shocked and hurt. I let her bully me in my own house.\u2019: Woman advocates for girls with alopecia, \u2018Bald is beautiful\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSociety loves hair. We hear it depicted in songs, represented in movies, commented about on TV and the radio. A multitude of products are sold to us in fancy salons and drug stores on every corner. When you don\u2019t have hair, it\u2019s hard to believe there is any other way to be beautiful. Society\u2019s beauty standards have set us up, women especially, to feel inferior without hair \u2014 to feel less feminine, less pretty, and less loveable even. How can someone even fathom a life without hair in today\u2019s societal norm and beauty standards?<\/p>\n

Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks hair follicles, causing them to fall out. I was diagnosed at 14-months old so I know what it is like to grow up without hair because I never had it in the first place. Don\u2019t get me wrong, losing your hair at any age is traumatizing and heartbreaking, but never having any presents challenges of its own. I received my first wig at 5 years old, right before I entered kindergarten. I never navigated a wig before \u2014 let me tell you how much the wig industry has changed since the 90s \u2014 and going to a new school made me extremely shy. Sure, I made friends. Heck, I even had my twin brother in my class, but wearing a wig and keeping this \u2018secret\u2019 really shaped who I was as a child.<\/p>\n

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I had experiences a lot of young people don\u2019t face. For example, one time my wig fell off when I was playing on the monkey bars. Thankfully, my twin brother saw and came over to shield me as I tried to put it back on, but I recall avoiding risky behavior on the playground after that. I also dreaded lice checks at school. Either I didn\u2019t have to get one which made my classmates suspicious or I had to have an awkward conversation with the nurse the school brought in to do the checks. I almost preferred the latter and endured embarrassment explaining to one person instead of a class of 25.<\/p>\n

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In general, my friends and classmates were curious. It makes sense; it is something out of the ordinary. Most of the time, others just left me alone about it but a few moments really stand out. One time in elementary school, I had another girl over for a play date. I didn\u2019t particularly like this girl, but her mom was busy after school and asked if we could play for a few hours. I remember trying to find things to do with her and eventually said, \u2018Let\u2019s go play with my brother.\u2019 She straight-faced turned to me and said, \u2018I will only go play with him if you take your wig off.\u2019 I remember being shocked and hurt. I wanted this playdate to so badly be over and didn\u2019t want to suffer through trying to entertain her myself. In the end, I took my wig off and ran off to my brother\u2019s room. My parents, who didn\u2019t know the whole conversation, took that as a good sign. I had made a friend I was comfortable around\u2026 if only they knew the whole story. To this day, I am not sure I even told them because of how embarrassed I was that I not only didn\u2019t like this girl but also I let her bully me in my own house.<\/p>\n

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Not every situation was bad though. Alopecia had amazing benefits in childhood too. I got a fresh new \u2018look\u2019 before the start of each school year. While I didn\u2019t initially enjoy my new wig because it took some getting used to, I did like starting the new school year that way and felt really confident in it. I also enjoyed I could take my hair off on a hot day, didn\u2019t have to wash it all the time, and I could drop it off at my salon and pick it back up when it was done.<\/p>\n

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The most amazing benefit though was going to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation annual conference. Since I was a child, our family vacation was attending those conferences where I met other people my age with Alopecia. This group of friends became my support group, my confidants, my partners in crime, and most of all, family. They understood what I was going through and as we grew up, we were able to lean on one another for support through awkward times like dating, high school, and moving off to college. Over 20 years later and we are now attending each other\u2019s weddings. From the support of my NAAF family, I found new confidence in being bald, and as social media was on the rise, I decided to start sharing my \u2018secret\u2019 with others.<\/p>\n

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I first posted bald photos of myself as a freshman in high school in 2007. Initially, I got a lot of questions from my classmates, reaching out to me over social media platforms and genuinely curious about it. I decided by showing I was open about it, my peers could approach me to become educated about the disease rather than use it as ammunition against me. While there were still awkward comments at times, overall being open about my Alopecia on social media led to a weight taken off my shoulders and helped me figure out who my real friends were. When I started dating, I found it did the same thing. Those that wanted to ask me about it and accepted me with and without my wig allowed me to weed out the bad eggs, so to speak, and focus on meaningful relationships not stuck on surface-level appearances.<\/p>\n

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Over 10 years later, I still post photos without my wig but thanks to platforms like Instagram, connecting with others with Alopecia is easier than ever. With encouragement from my friends and husband, I started to post more and more without my wig, giving advice, tips, and overall showcasing bald is beautiful. I have virtually met so many amazing women who I have helped by talking about Alopecia, giving them wig advice, showing the products I use, and providing overall support. I wish this type of platform existed when I was in high school! Everyone\u2019s approach to Alopecia is different \u2014 some wear wigs, some don\u2019t \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t mean either approach is wrong.<\/p>\n

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A lot of moms who have young girls diagnosed with Alopecia ask me, \u2018How do I get her to not rely on her wig?\u2019 or say \u2018I want her to be herself.\u2019 I went through phases where I ONLY wanted my wig and I went through phases where I didn\u2019t but at the end of the day, I was ME in both of those situations. Through this, I am connecting with moms and others with Alopecia to show them we can normalize being bald and normalize wearing a wig. They don\u2019t have to be mutually exclusive. Women wear makeup and their favorite clothes to feel confident and comfortable \u2014 why is a wig any different? If we stop having conversations about how \u2018you aren\u2019t really you\u2019 in a wig and we approach it as an accessory \u2014 something fun but not always necessary \u2014 then we are giving young girls the opportunity to choose and not feel different with and without it. Celebrities today wear wigs all the time. We praise them for it even but as normal people, we feel ashamed. Once we flip the switch on this conversation, starting at a young age, I think as a society we will overcome the bald stigma many of us face.<\/p>\n

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At the end of the day, the message I want people to walk away with from talking with me or visiting my Instagram is you have to do what makes you feel comfortable because confidence is the best thing a woman can wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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