Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga recently made a comment that she rather be interesting than beautiful. That is a pretty brave statement for a girl in her early 20s, and as we can see she follows through with her motto. She could be beautiful, but daringly steps outside wearing lace and leotards. It makes me think of this one woman my mother told me about one time. She was an elementary school teacher with alopecia and every year she told her class why she had no hair. She would wear wigs that were pink and purple and short and long. She had no concern of being beautiful, but prefered to be interesting. Being a 23-year-old with no boyfriend and still caring about what I look like...well I prefer to be beautiul than interesting. Maybe I'm a coward, but I do admire those who can throw away the ideas of normalcy and embrace their individuality fully while showing it off to the world. Perhaps one day I can be outwardly beautiful AND interesting...

Backwards Beauty

I've been wanting to write about these travesties for awhile now, and while this particular post might seem to sway from my intended topic about alopecia, it is actually getting to the root (pun intended) of why alopecians struggle with their disease: self-image and what society considers normal. Normal is a vague interpretation by one or a collection of individuals. It is different in every society and the only thing normal about families, are that each is abnormal. However, the fashion/beauty world likes to twist the minds of young women to think what should be normal. A small minority of people who have no idea what normal is if it smacked them in their pompous, botox-injected faces.
Ralph Lauren made headlines recently when they distorted a pictured of model Filippa Hamilton (a young girl of only 23 and a size 4) into a double zero model in need of a serious cheesburger. Then they fired her, for what she claims as being too fat for their label. Ralph Lauren of course denies it, but are her accusations really unfounded? The fashion and media industry have been pushing for thin since Twiggy, causing a multitude of unhealthy eating disorders, so girls can look like "perfection." Tabloids are the worst in scrutinizing celebrities about their weight, calling them fat one day and then too skinny the next, accusing them of eating disorders and drug problems. For fashion though no one is too skinny for them, and as designer Karl Lagerfeld insists "No one wants to see curvy women" in reaction to Brigette magazine's decision to only feature "ordinary, realistic" women in its spreads. He also called us realistic women "fat mummies" who don't like to be reminded of our weight issues. Sweet, isn't he? Unfortunately, Mr. Lagerfeld is right in that no one over a size 2 will be walking down the runway in high fashion, unless you want to be deemed the "plus-sized" model. With the average American woman as a size 10-14, albeit some of it is due to the obesity epidemic, average equals normal. Even Barbie, who has gotten a lot of flack for being too perfect and detrimental to self-image, has finally been criticized negatively for her body by *gasp* shoe label Louboutin, claiming her arches are too fat. Well, if Barbie is going to be deemed as the doll with cankels on the next People magazine, what hope is left for the rest of us "realistic" women? Plus, men's primal instinct is to desire women with wider hips because they are supposed to have healthier babies. So eat up women, healthily of course!
In the Hungary the idea of beauty is getting even more distorted. The country has recently crowned its Miss Plastic 2009! A beauty contest, with girls that had nothing done less than a boob and nose job, was held to promote plastic surgery. Plastic surgery in Hungary used to have a stigma against it, and is finally seeing the light into obtaining perfection. Forget that it is serious surgery...let's all get a boob job and forget about those pesky dangers! Why settle for that cute, button nose you were born with when you can have Angelina Jolie's!? You don't see Bernini and Michaelangelo sculptures and paintings as stick thin figures with double Ds because curves and realistic breasts were and still are considered beautiful! How are women supposed to feel good about their natural beauty when you have jackasses saying "...it's time for Hungarian women to care about their appearance. They are the most beautiful in Europe."? If they are so beautiful, then why do they need plastic surgery? Isn't he essentially saying they are only caring about their appearance and can only be beautiful if they have plastic surgery? I think I'm going to schedule for an expensive teeth whitening tomorrow just so I can show men I care about my appearance...kiss my ass Hungary.
The reason why I bring these articles up is because of the serious affect it has on what people view as normal and as beautiful in today's society. Young women all over the world are being forced to fit into these seemingly perfect molds, but we are letting the minority askew what really is normal. Natural beauty and a natural body is not a bad thing, and I thank the few that have taken a stand in the fashion/beauty world to promote that message, but we still have a long way to go. As for me, I skip over the magazine articles that describe how to get the luxurious, silky locks and wish I could do all the neat hairstyles they feature. I struggle with my own idea of beauty because normal is having hair while bald is never "in." I can no sooner strut into a room without my wig as a chubby 14-year-old girl tries to feel like a model in skinny jeans. Yes, I have my own long way to go on self-image, but couldn't the media make it a little easier on us?

True Life

I just finished watching True Life: The True Adventures Of. It was a very compelling collection of behind the scenes compiled into one True Life episode. The producers talk about the situations these young kids had to face and how real it was to portray them in these episodes to the world. In my own words with my blog I am allowing anyone and everyone to see how I live with alopecia. I am not being broadcast on international television and sifting through blogs on the internet might be like finding me as the needle in the haystack, but I am opening up to whomever wants to read my story. Check out the True Life episode on MTV.com. It was really interesting to see what the producers thought of their subjects.

Concierge Concerns

So, I found this quite amusing. I was out one night with some people from my building and we ran into one of our concierges. He is a very nice person who takes his job seriously and always shows his concern for the tenants. Well, he asked me about my wig and was worried that I had cancer, and if there was anything my building could do they would be happy to help, as there were others in the building with cancer. I live with my dad right now, but I travel a lot for work and my concierge thought I was flying in for treatments. Not that cancer is amusing, but I do get this type of reaction a lot from those who do not know me, but know I wear wigs. When I was little, my mother told me that a man came up to her and offered his support since we were new in town and mentioned that his child also had cancer. My mother embarrasingly had to tell him that her daughter was not dying, but she felt horrible that his was. I hold some guilt about this dilemma, because having alopecia is very hard and traumatizing, and yes I have my illnesses because of it, but I am not dying. Do I have a right to be upset about living with a non-deadly skin condition when others who look like me are fighting for their lives?

Hair's Arrested Development

So I have renewed my previous liking for the long ago canceled TV series Arrested Development. It only lasted 3 seasons, but to me is better than The Office...though I don't really appreciate The Office's dry humor. Arrested Development has some actors who have made names for themselves either before or after the show, such as Jason Bateman, Portia De Rossi, and Michael Cera. David Cross also does a wonderful job as a closet gay husband. "Buster" is in the new movie The Informant and "Maybe" is Ellen Page's new sidekick in Whip It. The reason why I even mention the show is because in the 3rd season, alopecia finds its way as the punchline in quite a few episodes. One of the characters is the CEO of a rival company who wears wigs and tapes on eyebrows because he has alopecia. According to the Bluthe family he is a "freak with no hair." At first I was offended by this as people do not need to misunderstand us as freaks because we cannot grow hair. However, you have to look at the family who is making the remarks, a twisted and shallow family, and the show that portrays the "hairless freak" as a character. I could get mad, but I ended up laughing with the rest of them. Not because the character was considered a freak, but because the show is a satire about a family that lacks all social and moral gracities. It has the same humor as Family Guy or The Simpsons, and if you don't find those funny, well then you aren't going to like Arrested Development. I like those shows though, and I realize that the producers are not making fun of the people with disablities and physical oddities, but making fun of the characters whom live in a warped view of reality. So, instead of getting offended let's laugh with the rest of them because how could we get through life if we didn't take time to laugh at ourselves every now and then?

Girl shows her baldness to the world

AOL Health published an article about a young woman who shares her alopecia story with the world AND takes a picture without her wig. She also has her own website that offers beauty advice for those with alopecia! I commend this girl for bravely letting anyone and everyone see who she really is without her guard of a wig. I myself have been debating about putting my blog on facebook to let my friends read what I am going through, but with 900+ friends and a lot who do not know me THAT well...it is a little nerveracking. After reading this girl's article and showing her fearlessness, perhaps I can finally let those who "know" me see the real me.

Here is the article from AOL: www.aolhealth.com/health/alopecia

Her personal website is www.alopeciabeautytips.com

National Alopecia Month

Accordng to NAAF (National Alopecia Aerata Foundation), September is Alopecia Awareness Month! Help your community understand alopecia by going to NAAF's website www.naaf.org/awarenessmonthmaterials.html and send out a pre-written letter to your local media. The letter encourages the community to get involved in the youth campaign that educates young children about alopecia. This is an important campaign because many young children suffer self-esteem issues because of bullying and insecurities due to alopecia. Having others understand the disease can eventually make a child more comfortable around his or her peers, bringing up self-esteem and countering bullying from those who do not understand. Send out your letters today!

A BAD DAY

So the guy I have been dating for the past 2 months has decided to break things off because he has to live in Wyoming every other month for work. We had really great chemistry and he acted like we were going to have a long future together. Needless to say, I am pretty upset about it. It is always nerveracking to introduce a new guy to my issue with alopecia. I have never had a guy care or runaway because of it, but I still get nervous telling someone! Plus, despite the physical aspects of alopecia, there are a lot of emotional self-esteem issues I still deal with and it is not always easy finding someone who I think can handle that.

I am in this new city for about a year now and I just hate going on dates because I am super picky, and I actually saw something in this guy and wanted to take the next step...something I hardly ever do considering my commitment phobia. Not sure where to go from here....
I guess I just have to move forward and hope the next guy will be ok dating someone with alopecia. Though I know someone who has guy dump her because of it...guys can be such assholes.

Alopecia Facts

I found an article called the "Clinical Aspects of Alopecia Aerata." I would like to share some of the facts that the article highlights, because even I did not know some of this stuff.

1. There is a painting from Goya in the 1700s that includes a little boy with alopecia.

2. There are references in the Bible of people losing their hair very quickly.

3. Any ethnic group can get alopecia and affects men and women equally.

4. 60% of all people who have alopecia show hair loss under 20 years of age.

5. 1.7% of the general population has had, or will have alopecia. 1 in 1000 people have it at some point. That makes it way more common than I thought!

6. Where there is hair there is potential for hair loss.

7. If you look closely at each spot, there are tiny little holes throughout called ostea, which means for dermatologists that the hair has a chance of growing back.

8. Exclamation point hairs (tiny hairs that taper proximally) are a sign of alopecia.

9. The sides of the scalp are usually more resistant to treatment than the top of the scalp.

10. 80% of individual cases resolve on their own within one year.

11. 5-10% with alopecia progress to alopecia totalis (whole scalp is bald) and 1% progress to universalis (no body or scalp hair).

12. If a patient has a certain history such as eczema, hay fever, asthma, or family alopecia history, then they will probably not do so well.

13. In certain individuals it won't attack the white hair, but goes after the dark hair. This is how someone can go gray overnight. Oh well isn't that just good news!

14. Marie Antionette went gray overnight, so it is possible she might have had alopecia.

15. Sometimes when the hair grows back it grows white, and in others the pigment has been altered by the disease. I am only 23 and I have started to notice gray hairs, eek!

16. One can have alopecia and pattern hair loss at the same time. About 2% who have pattern hair loss will also have alopecia at some point in their lifetime.

17. Pitted nails happens to 10-40% of people with alopecia.

18. Alopecia has something to do with the immune system and Langerhans cells are involved in the antigen presentation. When there is an illumonogic reaction in the skin usually the bottom of the hair doesn't have that many Langerhans cells, but in alopecia it does.

19. White blood cells called lymphocytes swarm the hair follicle and attacks it.

20. 90% with alopecia don't have other associated autoimmune conditions, so 10% have some such as thyroid problems or vitiligio. I have hypothyroidism and attract illnesses very easily, so I think it is due to my alopecia condition.

21. There is some correlations with vitiligio and alopecia, but one does not cause the other. Same with the thyroid, but fixing the thyroid problem or the alopecia problem will not fix the other.

22. Mace, turpentine, mustard, and black pepper were used to irritate the scalp for treatment in the 1800s.

23. Some modern treatments are cortisone shots, cotisone cream, topical Minoxidil solution, topical Anthralin, PUVA light therapy, and topical immunotherapy.

24. A side effect of topical Minoxidil is hair growing on the face, such as the forehead, instead of just on the scalp.

I thought these were interesting facts, and helped shed a little more light on some of the questions about alopecia. I hope this article was informative! If you want to see the original you can go to www.naaf.org and look up newsletter number 129. This is the website for the national alopecia organization. The author also references a similar article published in Dermatologic Clinics 23, no. 2 (April 2005): 227-43.

Day One

So this is my first blog attempt. It will be interesting to see if I stick with it considering I hate journaling. This is also a very revealing blog as far as my personal "battle" with alopecia aerata. For those who don't know what the disease is, it is when white blood cells attack the hair follicles on the body, usually on the head. There are some treatments, but no cure at the present time since it is a hard disease to understand. A lot of people with alopecia go through cycles of losing hair and gaining it back, like me. I suppose I am lucky in never having lost all of my hair, but the emotional damage has been challenging, nonetheless.

I started losing my hair at the age of 2 and wore a propecia during my elementary school days until 3rd grade when it all grew back in. This was my longest cycle of having a full head of hair. Turns out I actually have very thick hair when allowed to grow! High school became a time of losing, and I once again turned to wigs my senior year of high school. Prom and pageants sure were frustrating and embarrasing! The blonde cheerleaders had gorgeous, shiny hair they could go swimming in and pull up into ponytails at a whim. I still have that jealousy when I see a girl walk by with beautiful hair. My hair grew back on a study abroad trip in Italy, and I threw off my wig in jubilation! However, here I am again in another cycle and hiding under my wigs and hats. Summers are always the worst because I want to go swimming!

At times, I just want to shave my head!! The other night if I had had an electrical razor I would have. It was a good thing I didn't since I changed my mind the next day. While it would be easier to just take it all off, it is a label for my feminity. Just like when I was little I had to wear dresses and earrings so people did not think I was a boy.

I have tried Cortisone shots, but they were hardly successful. I read an article about certain herbs helping or a new pill called Orteson, so maybe there are better and less irritating treatments on the horizon! I would like to hear from readers of their own experiences, treatments, thoughts with alopecia if they have them!

Sorry for the first blog being a little ununiformed. I had more to say in my first entry than I thought!