Women, Hair and Identity: The social Processes of Alopecia
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Authors
Riley, Caitlin
Issue Date
2009
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Hair plays an important role for women as a marker of their gender. How does
society's emphasis on hair affect those who have lost it due to an auto-immune disease called
alopecia areata? The historical and societal significant of hair have informed notions of
beauty and are a testament to its connection with identity. l examine how women redefine
themselves and their understanding of femininity. In the course of three months, I attended
the 24th annual National Alopecia Areata Foundation conference and utilized the social
networking site Alopecia World to speak with a total of twenty-three women. The focus of
this project is identity, which incorporates the theories of Erik Erikson and Arthur Frank. I
use Erikson's crises of wholeness to evaluate the role of age in which alopecia develops on
identity. I also use Frank's narratives of illness, in which women use to attempt to make
sense of their situation. Frank proposes three narratives: restitution, chaos, and quest. Women
develop and reconstruct their identities as outlined by Erikson, and Frank's narratives help
them make sense of themselves. Although all three narratives are applicable to alopecia, I
argue that Frank's narrative lacks a fourth narrative entitled empowerment. Women do not
necessarily find a purpose through helping others as Frank suggests through the quest
narrative. Rather, through empowerment they claim their inner strength and arrive at sense of
self which goes much deeper than anything they were socialized to believe was a· person's
identity.
Description
v, 75 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.