Black, Bald & Beautiful

For as long as we all know, there are certain beauty standards we were told to aspire to—some of them we were told outrightly, others subtly found their way to our subconscious. From the head down to the toes, there are things we ought to do to maintain the intersection between looking beautiful and acceptable. The most significant part of the body that defines us however is our head. Regardless of what you have on your body from your torso downwards, the one thing that people put a face to is… well, the face.

Growing up, we were told that women should have long hair to enhance their beauty. According to the Holy Book, the hair of a woman is her glory and is meant to serve as a cover. So it’s not surprising to see women from all over the world invest heavily in hair, with some of them going as far as Brazil, South America, for the perfect hair to cover theirs with.

Girls getting body-shamed due to their lack of hair was a regular sight back then. They often get mistaken for boys, most times intentionally just to imply that they are not pretty enough to be girls. I remember someone subtly trolling my sister by calling her ‘handsome,’ when we were kids and how hard I laughed. Have you seen DJ Cuppy this year? It’s not so funny anymore. A few women have said “screw it” and shaved off theirs. And no, they don’t look like men, whatever that means. These are six bald and absolutely beautiful women that we know.

Sofiyat “TheOdditty” Ibrahim

Nigerian influencer and quirky content creator, Sofiyat Ibrahim, popularly known as The Odditty (or Sofi), has always been known to be bald and proud. Her self-love-themed content is popular among social media users both at home and abroad. Last year, she got an E! People’s Choice Award nomination for the best African Social Star.

Florence “Cuppy” Otedola

To kick off the year, popular London-based Nigerian DJ, Cuppy, posted a video of her shaving off her hair on her social media on new year’s eve. In what she would later admit was a courageous decision, the Oxford University postgraduate student wrote on her Instagram, “My IG Cupcakes! I honestly love the fact that you like my new hair, I see your comments and DMs.

Going bald was a scary and bold move for me so I appreciate every single one of you supporting me and welcoming this new Cuppy.”

Nancy Isime

Nigerian actor, model, and media personality, Nancy Isime has been sporting a low-cut for a while now. The multifaceted actor won the Miss Valentine International beauty pageant and finished second in the Miss Telecoms Nigeria beauty contest in 2009.

As a model, she has worked for the likes of House of Marie, Ade Bakare, Adebayo Jones, and so on. There is obviously no question of how beautiful Nancy Isime is.

Daala Oruwari

Popularly referred to as ‘Goddess of Skillz’, Daala’s style is quite eccentric with her long eyelashes fitting perfectly with her usually shiny bald head. And of course, with those legs, the TikTok sensation understands exactly how to slay and she does it without a strand of hair on her head.

Oluwatomi ‘DJ TGarbs’ Garber

Tomi Garber, popularly known as DJ TGarbs, is perhaps the most stylish Nigerian disc jockey. When asked why she chose to remain bald, the selfacclaimed ‘Baldie Baddie’, and official Fireboy DJ said, “I’m probably never going to grow my hair, I don’t have any intentions of growing my hair, when I see myself getting married I see myself getting married bald.” We don’t see a reason why she shouldn’t stay that way. After all, who needs tresses when you can look this good bald?

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Honourable Mention

Michaela Coel

In 2017, when Nigerian long Jumper, Blessing Okagbare, jumped so high on a track that her wig flew from her head and landed behind her body as she hit the ground, it was termed embarrassing. While the moment didn’t seem to bother the star athlete too much, Twitter had a field day with laughs and memes about the moment. I May Destroy You creator and star, Michaela Coel chimed in with a hilarious video of her snatching her own wig in a show of solidarity with Blessing. Coel also captioned the short video with much-needed commentary on the history of Black women’s hair and overall beauty being policed.

“The real crime here is not that she was wearing a wig – as many of you do, as many of your girlfriends of ALL races do. The crime is that women are so judged and looked upon that she felt she couldn’t do her job without the illusion of long hair,” she wrote. She continued, “Black women ESPECIALLY 4C type hair women are told that they can wear weave, but not wigs, that they can wear braids but not weave, that they can wear curly wigs but not straight ones. That they must create an illusion successful enough for men to be duped and continue living in their delusion.”