Name: Urvija Banjeri
Age: 26
"I had long, waist-length hair and I decided to shave about 3/5 of it off last year. I was feeling generally insecure about my appearance at the time and I thought it would either A) make me feel better about how I looked, B) let me lean into the 'ugly' I felt, or C) make me stop thinking about my appearance as much altogether. (Also, I'd been threatening to do it for years and always wondered if it would suit me.) I did it around the time I came out as bisexual and I thought it would help signal to other queer folk that I was one of them. Really, I just ended up getting stared at way more on the subway, and I think my introverted self found that too much to deal with. I do think it helped girls in queer nightlife spaces notice me more but I also just didn't feel like myself when I had the shaved side showing, so I decided to grow it out.
I don't regret cutting it, but growing it out is a pain. I'm lucky in that I have so much hair that it was really easy to hide once I figured out it wasn't for me."
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Urvija Banjeri