Are you a breast cancer survivor or currently going through the breast cancer experience?
I'm currently going through the breast cancer experience. I had a mastectomy in May and started chemo in June. So far I have completed 11 out of 16 rounds of chemo.

What was your experience like when you begin to lose your hair from chemo?
I enjoyed my experience. Since the moment I found out I had breast cancer, I knew I would eventually lose my hair during my journey. I decided to take control by cutting my hair shorter and shorter each time until it just fell off on its own. I was curious and a bit excited to see how easily strans of hair were just falling down like snowflakes. I immediately had to facetime my family to share the experience. I then had my siblings do the honor of giiving me a nice even bald look. Prior to going bald I had fun doing different hairstyles and playing with my hair, figure it was the perfect time to do so.

Has this hair-loss experience helped you to see the true beauty you posses whether you have hair or not? How so?
I feel so beautiful, sexy and empowering. Before losing all my hair I consider purchasing a wig and Im so glad I didn't. Being bald gave me a sense of confidence and taught me the true meaning of beauty. I realize that hair is just an accessory and doesn't define how beautiful a woman is but rather how she carries herself that makes her shine. Being bald also gave a great sense of freedom and I love embracing it!

Why are you a Baldie?

Hi I'm Patricia Rossy, in 1997 I was told I had Vitiligo, which is a skin disease that affects your immune system.  What It does, it affects the melanocytes.  Simple it changes your skin color. While it was not my ultimate reason for letting my hair go short. I always loved the look of a woman with short hair and the ease of get up and go.  Before losing my skin color I loved being a blonde, red head or whatever color I felt to be, With just enough hair I was loving my short hair do. As the years went on and my Vitiligo become more dominant and  the colored hair just didn't match the skin I was in.  

What challenges have you faced as a baldie?

Of course being a bald woman people automatically think that you have cancer.  People give you the oh I'm so sorry look, but what I have learned is people will always make decisions about your life with just a look at your outward appearance.

What words of encouragement would you share with someone who isn't confident with their baldness?

I decided to just go as short as I could. I know who and whom I belong to. I am from a chosen generation and I am apart of a peculiar people.  I love my choice to wear my hair as a Baldie.  Always remember you are your own person and no one can change who you are, except God!

Why are you a Baldie?

In February it will be my 4 year Baldieversary!!! i am bald due to alopecia. At 28 it started as alopecia areata with one patch which led to two and eventually it turned into alopecia universalis in a 6 month span and i lost all my hair. Now it has turned into alopecia universalis because i have grown back some of my body hair.

What challenges have you faced as a baldie?

The biggest challenge I have faced as a baldie was teaching myself to love and accept my self for who I am and not for what I look like. As a woman society teaches us what "beauty" is suppose to look like. When i lost my hair I longer fit the norm and i was lost. It took a lot of tears, soul searching and reconditioning to get where I am today. I no longer recognize what society deems as acceptable forms of beauty because society can go kicks rock!!! Do people still look and make comments sometimes of course but I am confident enough in myself to meet these whispers and stairs with my head held up high and a smile on my face. I also find myself wearing wigs or scarves so that i wouldn't make people feel uncomfortable. How crazy does that sounds?! My other favorites were the assumptions people made. Ohh she has cancer... Are you a bot or a girl? umm no and no. But this allowed me to educate people who didn't know what alopecia was. It allow people to see that not everyone is bald due to cancer and that i was perfectly healthy. My hair and my body were just going through a rough divorce lol.

What words of encouragement would you share with someone who isn't confident with their baldness?

It is okay to feel uncertain at first. I wore a wig for a  year before I built the courage to finally stop hiding who i was so that other people wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
Your true beauty lies in your confidence. Your hair should never define you because it is merely a mask that hides who you are. I never truly knew who i was until I lost my hair. Being bald has helped me become so much stronger and has helped me in my personal growth more than i could imagined. 

 If you ask 28 year old me if i thought i would be where I am today i would have cried uncontrollably and told you no. But sitting here almost 4 years later i can tell you making that decision to let go of what little hair i had left was the most freeing an empower decision I ever made in my life. I feel more beautiful now then i ever did before.

Always remember you are beautiful, you are strong confident and  you are never alone. Hold your head up high and know you have a strong network of people who are here to lift you up because we have been there and we understand. You are now part of a movement
that is here to show society that the true beauty of a person lies within their being, heart and soul. Most importantly you rock that bald head with confidence and pride.I'm a firm believer that God would never give me something he didn't think i could handle. Society can go and kick rocks because YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, STRONG,PHENOMENAL AND LOVED!!! Welcome to the family my fellow baldie!!!

​Photo by Tony Green