From Britney Spears’ buzzcut to Kate Hudson’s: what it means to shave your hair

In 2007 Britney Spears with a razor stroke sweeps away her long blonde hair. The images of the tragic gesture, symbolic apex of his malaise, ruthlessly reported on the front pages of various newspapers of the time, have gone down in history.

THE REASON FOR BRITNEY SPEARS ‘BUZZCUT
From what has already emerged in the 2019 documentary Britney Spears: Breaking Point, the pop star at the time was in one of the darkest periods of her existence. Victim of drugs and alcohol, victim of manipulation by music executives and family members, as announced by the recent documentary on the singer, Framing Britney Spears (who mobilized celebrities and public opinion in his favor, rehabilitating his image), programmed as a money-making machine since the beginning of his career, since Baby One More Time.

Britney, as we recall, after her ex-husband Kevin Federline refused to see her children, in February 2007 she entered a salon in Los Angeles decided to shave the famous extensions (then go to auction). To tell the facts the owner of the restaurant Esther Tognozzi, in shock when she found herself face to face with the artist willing to take the razor. Meanwhile, an army of paparazzi was waiting for her outside the store to immortalize her right away. Spears would soon confide the precise reason for the gesture to tattoo artist Emily Wynne-Hughes: “I don’t want anyone to touch my head, touch my hair. I’m sick of people touching my hair. ‘ Therefore a liberating albeit dramatic act, the one behind one of the most famous buzzcuts in pop culture. Britney Spears has somehow tried to stave off the pressures that have accompanied her since she went into the spotlight.

KATE HUDSON’S SHAVED CUT
Thirteen years later too Kate Hudson mentions the sense of liberation when talking about the buzzcut she sports in the film Music, available from 22 to 28 February on MusicilFilm.it.

Ma the meaning behind its extreme cut, which has never ceased to exert attraction on the screen (impossible not to mention the hair cult of Demi Moore in Private Jane, Sigourney Weaver in Alien, Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta, and the latest generation TV series with shaved protagonists like Shira Haas in Unorthodox e Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things) is the antithesis of Britney’s. Golden Globe nominee for this intense role, the actress said long ago in an interview with Haper Bazaar USA who, after a moment’s hesitation, accepted Sia’s proposal (the pop star is the director of the film) to shave. “It was wonderful to have done it. I didn’t think I would like it that much. I was very connected with my blonde hair and was not prepared for it. But I wanted to prove to myself that, as an actress, there’s nothing I wouldn’t be willing to do. If you dare, try it, ”he suggested.

BUZZCUT IN A PANDEMIC
Hint caught by several celebs in the first lockdown, like Arisa who has shown herself shaved on Instagram claiming the right to be herself and not what others want, e Tallulah Willis transformed by the hands of an exceptional hairstylist, his father Bruce, into a photocopy of mother Demi / Soldier Jane.

The buzzcut, therefore, out of boredom, rebellion, overcoming one’s limits, denunciation and, of course, also fashion. Having the autonomy to do what you want with your hair is the real trend to follow now.