Bethany Roberts, of Seattle, Wa. has shaved her head as a symbol of solidarity with Hindu widows in India who are cast from society once their husbands have died.
Photo ©2009 Sarah Alston

Zoom in on Bethany Roberts, occasional fashion model and single mom. Her long blond hair falls in strands to the ground as the electric razor buzzes a path across her scalp.

But she is beaming. Behind her is a splashing fountain in a courtyard of Seattle’s Westlake Center mall. Hundreds of people look on and cheer. Local television cameras capture it all. Not only did she shave her own head, but she convinced eight others to join her.

‘I wanted to tear my hair out’

What is this woman doing? Why is she shaving her head… in public?

Six years ago, during a trip to Bangladesh, a collegiate Bethany witnessed poverty and injustice worn like ragged clothing on the women and children all around her.

“I wanted to tear my hair out,” she says, “because I couldn’t do anything about their situations. I was completely overwhelmed.”

This encounter stayed in her heart as she returned to a life after college, which led to a career and young family. It wasn’t until five years later that she started to dig deeper to learn more about the injustices that plague women across the globe.

She came to learn about the plight of Hindu widows in India, where women are traditionally considered a part of their husband’s body. When their husbands die, they are no longer considered fully alive. They are kicked out of their homes upon the death of their husbands, their heads are shaved, and they are expected to beg for food until they die.

This new awareness prompted her to ask herself, “What can I do with my time and my resources to address these types of injustice?”

An act of solidarity

Bethany has her head shaved in the courtyard of Seattle’s Westlake Center mall. Photo ©2009 Bharat Ranjan

She quickly formed a small team of like-minded, passionate voices and developed a game plan. From this plan grew a small organization that raises awareness with events, stunts, and a growing Facebook following. And she began to teach others about grassroots ways to shape policy and use social influence to drive change for global women’s rights.

Today Bethany, who quotes C.S. Lewis, J.K. Chesterton, and A.W. Tozer as spiritual inspirations, is a bald woman with a big smile and a resounding voice. She says that the solidarity event at the mall was amazing.

“It reminded me, in a fresh and deep way, why exactly we’re doing this, why we’ve spent the last year moving a mountain with a shovel,” she says. “I got to tell the stories of specific women on the other side of the globe that need to be given a voice.

“It’s glaringly obvious that in a part of the world where we are awash in resources, that we should be asking ourselves what we can do to help those who were born with much less and fight daily against much more.”

As this shorn woman walks back to daily life as a young mother, and grassroots organizer, we see the footprints she leaves behind. An advocate’s footprint, that begs to be followed.

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