Bald Women on Montel 1996
Transcript
00:00 (audience cheering)
00:03 - Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:08 Last year we did a show, it was called Decent Proposals,
00:11 and on that show we had a woman shave her head for $500.
00:15 Now after she did this, we got an incredible amount of mail
00:17 from people all over the country,
00:18 women who saw the show, men who saw the show,
00:20 and said, "I can't believe this woman shaved her head,
00:22 "it was crazy."
00:23 Well join us right now,
00:23 and some of those people have wrote in.
00:24 Please welcome Pauly, Robin, and Patricia to the show.
00:28 (audience cheering)
00:31 Ladies, ladies, what did you think when you saw that show?
00:38 - Well I thought, you know,
00:40 the only thing I didn't understand is that
00:43 they were bribed to do it.
00:45 - They were bribed?
00:45 - Yeah. - The woman was bribed to do it?
00:47 Why, ladies?
00:48 - Well, 'cause we're bald by choice.
00:50 - Oh, I see.
00:51 (audience cheering)
00:55 (audience applauding)
00:59 Now wait, I gotta, this is a trip.
01:01 Now how long have you been doing this?
01:03 - For me, it's been about, like 10 months.
01:06 - 10 months? - Yep.
01:07 - And do you get odd looks or stares or anything like that?
01:10 I mean, this is like, wait a minute,
01:11 first off, this is kind of like a crazy picture.
01:13 It looks like almost, look at this.
01:15 (audience laughing)
01:18 For a woman to walk, why did you do this?
01:24 Do you have a disease, or do you go through chemotherapy?
01:25 - No, I don't.
01:27 And that's a different thing.
01:29 It is by choice, all of us.
01:31 But for me, I always thought men looked fabulous
01:34 when they shaved their head, you know?
01:36 And men losing their hair, you know?
01:39 And a lot of times, you get really insecure about it
01:42 and they shave their heads.
01:43 I think that looks fabulous.
01:45 And another thing, there's a double standard.
01:46 Men can have long hair, look great.
01:48 Have shaved their heads, look great.
01:49 And women, typically, are expected to have long hair
01:53 and this or that or whatever.
01:54 And I'm like, I think that's beautiful
01:56 and I think it looks great on men.
01:58 I think women look beautiful, Bob.
01:59 And I'm an actress and a model, and it's,
02:02 like for me, my thing that I'm selling is my face.
02:05 I'm into that.
02:06 I don't feel like I need hair,
02:08 which is, if people like hair, that's great for them.
02:10 For me, I love this.
02:12 - And you're out in public this way all the time.
02:13 - Oh, hi. - That's what you do?
02:14 Really, when did you start doing yours?
02:16 - 13 years ago.
02:17 - 13 years ago? - 13 years ago.
02:19 - Now, see, you have a little bit like, you know,
02:20 that five o'clock shadow running down your head.
02:23 Do you keep it clean or do you keep the shadow?
02:26 Which one do you prefer?
02:28 - If I get lazy, I get a shadow.
02:31 You know, I let it grow for about two weeks
02:32 and there's like hair and I don't like it
02:35 and I run back to my barber and I say,
02:36 "Julian, would you cut my hair?
02:38 "I can't stand it."
02:39 So I, you know, I just, I can't stand hair.
02:44 It's uncomfortable.
02:45 - Okay, now, Patricia, how about you?
02:46 - It's very comfortable.
02:47 I'm Patsy. - Patsy, I'm sorry.
02:48 How about you?
02:49 - I've been bald for about five years.
02:51 - Five years? - And by choice.
02:52 - By choice.
02:53 Now, are you even dating or are you with,
02:55 do you have boyfriends, girlfriends?
02:56 - Not each other. - Yes.
02:57 - Not each other, okay.
02:58 (laughing)
02:59 Yeah, let's get that clear right now.
03:01 - It's not that show.
03:02 - Fine.
03:03 But what do men think?
03:04 I mean, a guy walks up, you know,
03:06 I mean, this is that old saying, you know,
03:07 men walk up to women who have long hair
03:09 and they wanna run their fingers through their hair.
03:12 - Well, there's certain men, like, I know,
03:14 I mean, we're very, I'm practically married
03:16 to my boyfriend, she's married,
03:17 but there's certain men that like,
03:20 would just as soon like run their hand across the bald head.
03:24 - I see a couple guys smiling right now.
03:26 - It's great.
03:26 - Yeah, I can do that just, look at him right here,
03:28 he's going, it's not bad.
03:29 (laughing)
03:30 But anyway, now what's been the oddest thing that's happened?
03:32 - Men just walk up and do that.
03:34 I don't know, but I just walk up and put their hand,
03:36 you know, it's very, I feel like,
03:38 like they're invading my privacy.
03:40 - Almost.
03:41 - I wouldn't walk over and put my hand on any part
03:43 of somebody else's body that I didn't know.
03:46 I can't imagine why you would do it,
03:48 but people just, and then they'll like laugh,
03:52 like they knew they did something wrong,
03:54 but they'll like, like a pup, like I'm a puppy,
03:56 you know, oh, I want to touch it.
03:57 - Sometimes they ask, sometimes people go like,
03:59 I just want to touch your head.
04:01 - They get that look, they get that look,
04:02 like, I just want to feel it.
04:04 - Well, now, if a person asks you,
04:06 will you let them or do you say no?
04:08 - Not, I mean, I get the joke, you know,
04:10 like some people are like, they're so fascinated by it,
04:12 and it's true, you know, like I personally,
04:14 I think the most beautiful thing in life is diversity.
04:16 I mean, everyone's different look, different color,
04:18 different everything, I love that,
04:20 but certain people just haven't seen a lot of stuff,
04:22 and like this, they think it's so, I mean, I get that,
04:26 you know, and they want to touch it,
04:26 I'm like, all right, you know.
04:28 - What's been the oddest thing that's happened
04:30 to any of you since you've been shaving your heads?
04:32 Let's start with you, Patsy, what about you?
04:33 What's been the weirdest thing that's happened?
04:36 - I can think of a couple things.
04:38 I think one of them is, I was working as a waitress
04:42 in a restaurant, and actually,
04:43 we pulled this on other people.
04:45 I was wearing a wig for that evening, I didn't have to,
04:49 and the manager came running by,
04:50 and while I was serving a table, a large table,
04:53 he pulled it off, and that's the face they got.
04:56 (laughing)
04:57 - Wow, what happened?
04:59 - It was a joke, and everybody laughed, of course.
05:01 Initially, it was a shock, but I thought it was very funny.
05:03 - Sure, yes, sir.
05:04 - Does your boyfriend have long hair?
05:06 - No, he has pretty short hair.
05:08 It's actually, when I met him, he had longer hair,
05:10 then he shaved it off like a crew cut,
05:12 and now it's about an inch long, you know, back and forth.
05:14 - So, now, does he help you shave your head?
05:16 Do you shave it every day?
05:17 - I don't shave every day, 'cause sometimes we get lazy,
05:20 but it depends.
05:21 There's different degrees of shaving your head.
05:22 Today, I did it with an electric razor,
05:24 but a lot of times, I do it with a straight razor,
05:25 depending on what I'm doing.
05:26 Especially if I'm active, doing a certain part,
05:29 I can have the shadow, or I can be a complete shine head.
05:32 - All right, all right, yes, sir.
05:34 - I wanna say, I think you look great.
05:36 I'm losing my hair, not by choice.
05:38 - We didn't notice.
05:39 (laughing)
05:40 - I'm only playing.
05:40 I'm only playing!
05:42 - You probably feel the same way I do.
05:44 Someone's gonna love you for what you possess inside,
05:47 your values, and that's the way I feel.
05:50 - Okay.
05:50 - But I think you look great, you're the trendsetters.
05:52 - Uh-oh, all right.
05:53 Well, you know, when you say trendsetters,
05:54 they are trendsetters.
05:55 There's a lot of women out here right now
05:57 that are starting to do this.
05:58 Yes, sir?
05:58 - I'm losing my vision.
05:59 Your head is mad shiny.
06:01 - Oh, what, you're talking about my head, too?
06:02 Bap, I got a head shiner!
06:04 (laughing)
06:04 I got, good, put a shiny knot on his head.
06:07 (applauding)
06:09 Yes, ma'am.
06:10 - When you go shave your head bald,
06:12 how does your family react to it?
06:13 - I'm sorry?
06:14 - Your families, how do they react to it?
06:15 - Oh.
06:16 Well, my family, it took a while
06:20 for my parents to get used to it,
06:22 but they have accepted it.
06:24 After 13 years, they have no choice,
06:26 but to accept it.
06:27 - I would say they wouldn't have a choice.
06:28 - My brother, he's here, and he loves my head.
06:31 He loves me, he tells me to do
06:33 what you wanna do with your hair.
06:34 - Okay.
06:35 (applauding)
06:36 - That's a point.
06:37 - You had an incident take place someplace
06:39 in Baltimore or something, is that right?
06:40 - Yeah.
06:41 - What happened to you?
06:42 - I was coming out of a restaurant,
06:44 and I was in a dress, I was bald.
06:47 I had heels on, and the street was beside the restaurant,
06:50 a car pulled up and put it in park at the light,
06:53 jumped out, it was two black men chasing me
06:55 down the street, screaming Nazi.
06:58 And I started to run, and I wasn't gonna make it,
07:01 so I turned around and I just said,
07:02 "It's a fashion statement, it's a fashion statement,
07:04 "don't hit me."
07:05 And that diffused their anger.
07:07 They did get back in their car,
07:08 but in the meantime, they scared the death out of me,
07:10 and it has nothing to do,
07:11 I mean, I'm not a skinhead.
07:13 My head is skin, but I'm not a skinhead.
07:15 - Gotcha, okay, yes sir.
07:16 - Is there anything special you do for your hair?
07:18 'Cause when I had mine like that,
07:19 I usually baby oil or anything like that.
07:21 - I don't baby oil mine, I don't say that.
07:23 (laughing)
07:25 - Did you do anything special at all?
07:27 - No, he said it was too shiny already.
07:30 - All right, wait a minute, now,
07:31 we had a person, 'cause I wanted to figure out
07:33 whether or not women could really do this and pull it off.
07:35 We met a woman over about a week ago, her name is Pat.
07:38 Pat is 65 years old, she's a widow and mother of nine
07:41 who took an offer that we made to her
07:43 just to see what it'd be like as a woman
07:45 and walk around with a shaved head and go bald.
07:47 We took our cameras to her house for the big event.
07:49 Take a look at this tape.
07:51 - I watch Montel's show whenever I can,
07:54 and last year he did a show on sexy bald men.
07:57 I thought if a man can be sexy and bald,
07:59 then maybe so can women.
08:01 I don't know at my age that I can be sexy and bald,
08:05 but I know I can be bald, and I'm a 60 year old widow
08:08 and mother of nine, and I thought it might be fun
08:10 for me to try it, so I decided to shave my head.
08:13 Of course my children don't know I'm doing this,
08:16 and my friends don't know it either,
08:18 but you know, at my age, I think it's not bad
08:21 to try something new and see if it works.
08:24 And so, I'm off to a party
08:26 where everyone can see the new me.
08:28 Well, it's adorable, absolutely.
08:33 You think I'm cute?
08:34 We're about now to go into my best friend's environment.
08:38 Well, if not my best friend, my 10th child,
08:41 and we're gonna surprise two of my real children
08:43 and a lot of other people, I think, with this hairdo.
08:46 Oh!
08:48 Okay, let's go.
08:49 That should go.
08:54 Come on, Dorian, get up.
08:55 Oh!
08:59 (laughing)
09:01 This is my daughter, Maura.
09:03 Okay, where's Katie?
09:04 It's my 10th daughter over there.
09:07 And Carrie's hiding.
09:08 We have to get--