Woman Lets Public Cut Her Hair For A Powerful Message That Shatters The Mainstream Idea of Beauty

We develop relationships with hairdressers and barbers that we trust, and spend a great deal of money regularly to give ourselves the look that we are going for. Even the idea of having a new hairdresser cut and style our hair, without a sanctioned game plan, can be scary enough, imagine leaving it in the hands of the general public. That’s exactly what Jae West, a young woman and social activist, recently decided to do in the middle of Times Square.

The purpose behind Jae’s action was not to give herself a new look for free, but to instead draw attention to a very important and empowering message: that beauty isn’t dependent on our external appearance. To accomplish this, Jae set up a chair, sat down, blindfolded herself, and held out both a pair of scissors and an electric razor. Next to her was a sign that read the aforementioned message and an invitation for strangers to cut or shave a piece of her hair to support what she was raising awareness about. For her safety, Jae had a couple of her friends nearby, as well as the wonderful group behind The Liberators International documenting the entire experience. Here is the video they cut together showing Jae’s empowering display of activism: This isn’t the first time that Jae courageously put herself out there to raise awareness. In August of 2015 she removed her clothing in the core of downtown London to shed light on the realism of eating disorders and self-esteem issues. As part of that experiment, Jae once again blindfolded herself and invited strangers to draw a heart on the exposed parts of her body in support of the cause. That initiative was wildly successful both in person and online, as the video has amassed over 4 million views on YouTube alone. This is our opportunity to bring this second video to the same level of global reach by sharing it with our own networks. Much like Jae, we at Collective Evolution would love to shatter our worldly obsession with external rather than internal beauty. To help in doing this, we’ve released a number of powerful pieces over the years showcasing videos, concepts, and inspiring individuals — just like Jae — all centred around re-defining beauty. Here are some of the most impactful thus far: This Mother Is Changing People’s Beliefs About Beauty Why Are We So Obsessed With The Idea Of Beauty 3000 Years Of Women’s Beauty Standards In A 3 Minute Video True Beauty Isn’t Found Through Makeup This Commercial Shows Us Why We Can’t Let The Beauty Industry Shape Our Children We all know that there is no internal difference between the woman who sat down on that chair with a full head of hair, and the one who a mere hours later found herself with a shaved head. Jae is equally beautiful both ways, and we all deserve to be seen that way at all times, regardless of our outward appearance. Let’s choose to celebrate and love our uniqueness rather than find ways to make any part of it as close as possible to what society seems to have temporarily decided to be the most “beautiful.” I encourage you all to read Jae’s full blog on the experience, including elements not featured in the video, here. Not getting caught up in the world of external beauty can be tricky. If you aren’t quite ready to fully embrace it, I do encourage you to at least shift the way you “beautify” yourself on a daily basis. We all know that many of the commonly used cosmetic and body care products are ridden with far too many unwanted chemicals. Rather than regularly exposing your body to them, choose to replace them with the guidance of books such as The Natural Beauty Solution: Break Free from Commercial Beauty Products Using Simple Recipes and Natural Ingredients. Creating your own cosmetic line may seem time consuming and unnecessary, but with the positive impact it can have on your health, it’s an investment you are going to want to make. .

Read the full article at the original website

References:

• http://www.theliberators.org/
• https://inspiralight.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/the-full-story-from-jae-wests-latest-self-acceptance-experiment/
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1940611180/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1940611180&linkCode=as2&tag=bbpmd-20&linkId=bb762df20b980edecf80f48172bb3c60
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1940611180/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1940611180&linkCode=as2&tag=bbpmd-20&linkId=ccb00d53c9c8b778ef561d70e8f2959a