Solange Knowles shaved her head recently, sparking an uproar in the fashion world. What did she mean by this bold statement? Was she trying to step out of Beyonce's shadow once and for all? Message boards were buzzing about who liked the new style and who didn't. Personally, we think she looked fabulous.
Before Solange, singers Cassie and Rihanna recently bared their scalps to the world, but the three contemporary performers aren't the first stars to shave their locks, some with more success than others. And so we ask the age-old question, can a beautiful woman still look hot with little or no hair? Here are some of pop culture's most notorious bald chicks, and how they've rated.
Photo gallery: See hot and not-so-hot bald chicks through the years.
Britney Spears: Not Hot
Britney's 2007 buzz-cut fiasco was probably the first time in her career that the pop star did not look hot. Still, it might have had more to do with the deep-dark depression lurking beneath her raccoon-eyes than the shape of her bald head. The bald look was a low point for Brit, but thank goodness, she had great wigs until it all grew out.
India.Arie: Hot
India.Arie pulled a Solange in 2006, but she wasn't merely making a fashion statement. India set out with a pair of clippers to prove that "I Am Not My Hair," a song inspired by Melissa Etheridge's bald Grammy performance. She wanted her listeners to get beyond their own superficiality and see "the soul that lives within." Personally, we think she rocked the dreads and curls, but her anthem of inner beauty is what makes her so hot.
Natalie Portman: Hot
Natalie Portman didn't have any noble reasons for losing her locks, but she did make the sacrifice for her art. She shaved her head to play a terrorist in 2006's "V for Vendetta." And while the film got mixed reviews, no one could argue that Natalie wasn't stunning in all her bald glory. She looked so hot that a Seattle band was inspired to name themselves after her: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (or NPSH for those in the know).
Melissa Etheridge: Hot
Melissa floored us when she showed up at the 2005 Grammy awards radiating beauty with a full-on Kojak. Victorious in her battle against breast cancer, she proudly took the stage and killed it with her version of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," inspiring those fighting the disease everywhere with her performance.
Demi Moore: Hot
Like Natalie Portman, Demi was not making any bold personal statements by snipping her tresses, she was just doing her job. But while playing the first female Navy Seal in "G.I. Jane," Demi totally rocked the crew cut, and she shaved it live onscreen with cameras rolling. That's hot.
Prymatt Conehead: Not Hot
Though Jane Curtin was not officially a baldy, she did play one on TV and in the movies. Sure, Prymatt Conehead was not too terribly sexy here on Earth, in "France" she was incredibly desirable. Clearly Beldar did not find it at all "unacceptable."
Sigourney Weaver: Hot
It's true, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver in "Alien 3") shaved her head to get rid of lice, a condition that in and of itself is not so hot. But the newly bald and beautiful lieutenant, fueled by her desire for revenge, kicked some serious ass on the prison planet Fiorina "Fury" 161.
Sinead O'Connor: Not Hot
The hairless head was not actually the problem for Sinead O'Connor. She had a nicely shaped dome and beautiful eyes, but what was with the boxy potato-sack clothes, the angry expressions, and the overall bitterness? Not very becoming on a woman, with or without hair.
Yoko Ono: Not Hot
In the late '60s, as part of their "Bagism" movement, bringing attention to prejudice on the basis of skin color, gender, hair style, or other traits, John Lennon and Yoko Ono shaved their heads, a bold move for the two long-haired hippies. And while we deeply admire the philosophy behind the action, we just don't think Yoko is all that hot, whatever her haircut.
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