The Truth About Hair Donation

One of the more common questions that many women with super-long hair get from time to time is, "Why don't you donate your hair to Locks of Love?" The answer to the inevitable follow-up question ("Why not?") can be complicated.

For those who don't know, Locks of Love is a (supposedly) charitable organization that is widely believed to take donated hair and make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments. The truth behind hair donation, however, is not quite up to the hype.

Most Western Hair Is Unsuitable For Wigs.

Wigmakers prefer robust hair that has been left pretty much untouched for their wigs -- this means not blown dry or ironed, coarse, washed very infrequently, very long, never dyed, and not at all grey. Almost all Western hair has been over-washed, heat-treated, or dyed, or is simply too short. This hair is completely unsuitable for wigs, and most people are unaware of it. You may think that your 4" long/highlighted/greying ponytail is on the head of a kid with cancer, but more than likely, it went right into the trash or is moldering in a warehouse someplace.

Because of this, none of the wigmaking charities are really all that effective since most wigmakers vastly prefer non-Western hair, often very long Indian hair cut as part of certain religious rituals ("temple hair").

Locks of Love Does Not Help Kids With Cancer.

Locks of Love, despite the fact that they could correct the misconception trivially with one spokesperson on the once-per-season chop-show that Oprah always seems to love doing, has for some reason allowed the misconception that they help kids with cancer to stand. (And make no mistake, an organization that well-known has both the ability and the responsibility to correct it; that's what PR and marketing departments are paid to do.)

In reality, the recipients of their (very few) wigs are children with alopecia areata, a nonfatal but traumatizing illness that causes all head and body hair to fall out for no apparent reason. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes it doesn't -- but it does leave the person with it quite traumatized since hair is such a strong part of one's appearance and the perception of their good health. A terrible illness to be sure, but not as "box office" as cancer, so any wigmaking charity has some reason to allow such a misconception to stand, even among the people they claim to help.

Locks of Love Makes Very Few Wigs.

Locks of Love and other wigmaking charities receive tens of thousand of donations every year. Figures can be found in a New York Times article on hair donation, Lather, Rinse, Donate. Despite these impressive figures, they make relatively few wigs, as the vast majority of the hair sent to them isn't usable.

There is also the question of charities like Locks of Love's stated habit of selling the supposedly unsuitable hair to wigmakers to cover "operating expenses," which brings to mind the question that, if it's unsuitable for their wigs, why are the other wigmakers buying it? And if they can sell it to cover "operating expenses," then why can't you, and donate the proceeds to the charity of your choice?

Synthetic Wigs or Chemo Caps Are Often Superior.

For many people who do use wigs for whatever reason, many find that synthetic wigs are far superior since they take less care and styling and last longer. As a result, even for people who are in the market for a good wig for health reasons, fake hair is often judged a lot better for their purposes than human hair.

And for people undergoing chemotherapy ... believe me, when you are feeling like ten miles of bad road and trying not to vomit up everything you put in your stomach, glamour is the least of your concerns. Wigs are scratchy, hot, and uncomfortable to someone who already feels like hell. Soft cotton chemo caps work much better to keep a person's head nice and warm, and a sensitive scalp comfortably covered. To someone with cancer, nothing matters more than a cure, so they can go about happily growing their own hair back.

Why Use Guilt to Force Charitable Giving?

At the heart of many of these requests (many of them not so polite demands) to women with very long hair to cut it off and give it away is often a desire to "guilt" women into cutting off our hair. Many long-haired women have found that such requests are often quite catty, accompanied by comments about weight or vanity -- and sometimes made on the heels of an ill-timed compliment by the requester's husband or boyfriend.

As a result, we're more than a little suspicious that such requests/demands aren't quite made out of an altruistic concern for sick kids so much as a catty desire to force a woman to either make herself less attractive to men or else be labelled as kid-hating. This causes a lot of women with extremely long hair, including me, to react with extreme skepticism to any unsubtle, sing-song suggestions that we either cut our hair off or risk being socially branded a vain baby-hater.

I also admit to skepticism because of the heavy implication that the only thing a woman has that is of any value is her "feminine beauty," and as such, it's the only important sacrifice she can make to any good cause. (I think such women may have read "Little Women" or "The Gift of the Magi" a few too many times.) The most important sacrifice anyone can make to a good cause is the most effective one, which hair donations to wigmaking charities clearly are not. Those who care, care enough to help for real and not just for the approval they themselves will gain from others. Even the Locks of Love officials quoted in the above NYT article state that the charity is all about the "warm fuzzies" the donators get, as opposed to tangible benefits to the kids they claim to help.

(BTW, if you think you can cattily label me as vain or uncaring about people with cancer, be aware that I have personal family reasons for caring about it, so don't even think about going there.)

If you want to show off in as ostentatious a way as possible what a self-sacrificing woman you are but don't actually care whether your donation will help anyone, then cut your hair off for a wigmaking charity. If you want to actually make a real, positive difference in the world or the lives of those in need, then read on for other options.

Other Options for Hair Donation

If you are interested in cutting off your hair and want it to go to a good cause, don't despair! There are some great options for you. By far, the two best are auctioning it on eBay or sending it to the A Matter of Trust charity that uses hair (animal and human, of any length and in any condition!) to create hair-mats that are used to clean up oil spills. Not quite as "glamorous" as helping sick kids, but of vital importance to wildlife and the environment in cases of oil-spill disasters. The mats suck up enormous amounts of oil, and can be wrung out to recover the oil and used again and again.

The auction option is also quite good -- post a picture of yourself (in a nice dress if you're a bit bolder, from the back if you don't wish to show your face), and Photoshop an arrow where you plan to cut. Post your auction as your own real-hair ponytail with all proceeds to (whatever) charity; search on other ponytail auctions to get an idea of where to put it. You may net yourself a fetish dude or a Victorian hairwork artist as opposed to a wigmaker, but you'll be rid of your (presumably unwanted) hair, and you can send the auction proceeds to any charity you like: a local animal shelter, hurricane relief, cancer, world literacy, the March of Dimes, Planned Parenthood, your church, or any other good cause that appeals. You can even send a copy of the thank-you letter you receive to the person who purchased your hair.

Be sure to mention the charity you plan on donating to for honesty's sake; it would be a bit of a rude bait-and-switch for the auction winner to find that their money went to a charitable cause that they had strong reservations about, and mentioning it will increase awareness for your favored charity as well.

If your hair is particularly long or you are even moderately well-known, there is also the chance that your hair may wind up as a trophy in the sock drawer of the person who cut it or that they themselves will put it on eBay. Might as well auction it off yourself, so both your hair and the proceeds will go exactly where you want them -- to your chosen charity -- and not into the pocket of a complete stranger.

Join the Bone Marrow Bank!

If you have your heart set on physically helping kids or adults with cancer, by far the best thing to do is to join the Bone Marrow Bank, especially if you are non-white/ethnic white as relatively few such people join, and as a result the outlook for any non-white/ethnic white person who needs a bone marrow transplant is far from rosy.

This donation process isn't as glamorous or easy as sitting in a stylist's chair for a half-hour and getting some layers and highlights, but unlike hair, bone marrow actually does save a life. I joined myself, and I hope that my bone marrow can someday help someone in dire straits, which will matter to them far more than my sacrificing something that honestly only matters to me anyway. Bone marrow transplants are among the most miraculous treatments for some forms of cancer, promising not only remission but in many cases a complete cure. In terms of charitable giving, there are few such acts that can make such a vast difference.