Meryn Jones, Australia

Cutting my hair is not only a cathartic process but one of empowerment. It's a release of old energies that provides a new, fresh attitude. I love getting my hair cut. It is the cheapest and most visible way of announcing and instigating change. Now I cut my own hair having watched what professionals do. I have experimented heaps with my hair -- all colors and styles. I chopped off a good 8 inches at the beginning of 1996 -- wacked it into a pony tail, grabbed the scissors, and in two swift motions the pony tail was in my hands. I keep my hair when it's cut dramatically from long to short. I've even made art with it. I've not lost my hair. I'm sure it would be a scary feeling for a female. I don't mind bald men and shaved heads at all, so I reckon I could cope with having an extremely short hair cut, if I lost my hair. I do have a weird fascination with my own leg hair. Through I don't shave them, but after waxing, the regrowth drives me crazy. I pluck out the short little prickly black ones pushing their way out through the skin. I'm focusing all my frustrations in life on these nasty little buggers.