Late for her train, Thea Chassin scurried through Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
That's when she was approached by a man soliciting commuters for prepaid salon services.
In a sassy mood that day, Chassin waited patiently as the salesman made his pitch. Then she nonchalantly peeled off her wig, revealing her white, bald head.
"I said, 'I don't think I'll be needing the hair consultation part of it, do you?' His mouth hung open, his jaw dropped. He was speechless," she said. "And then I just plopped my wig back on and continued on my way to catch my train."
Chassin, who isn't wearing a wig now, laughs as she tells this story sitting at a table Sunday in the Market Street Grill in downtown Salt Lake City. She is bald. And she hopes the waiter, the bartender and the patrons sitting at the other tables notice.
Founder of Bald Girls Do Lunch, a nonprofit organization aimed at reaching out to women with alopecia areata, Chassin said it is her mission to educate people about the autoimmune disease - and get them used to seeing and appreciating bald women.
Baldness, she said, is largely considered acceptable for men, but not women.
"I'm passionate about bringing awareness to this condition so I can do my part to help break down that taboo," she said.
A disease in which the body's immune
system mistakenly attacks a person's hair follicles, alopecia areata causes hair to fall out in small, round patches. The disease affects men and women, as well as children.
In some cases, according to the National Institutes of Health, it can progress to cause a total loss of hair on the head (alopecia areata totalis) or complete loss of hair on the head, face and body (alopecia areata universalis). Chassin - who wouldn't reveal her age - has the latter.
While alopecia areata isn't contagious or life-threatening, Chassin said, it is life-altering.
"Your self-esteem drops enormously when you lose your looks, as our society is very much keyed in to feminine appearance, sexuality and all things tied in with that," she said. "So, naturally, even if you're married, women think, 'Is my husband going to still find me attractive?' If someone is young and out on the dating scene [they wonder] 'Am I ever going to find a mate?' "
Chassin said she had dark hair with blond and red highlights. She considered it her best physical asset.
"I had gorgeous hair. I loved my hair," she said.
Over eight years, however, it gradually fell out. She wore hats, headbands, scarves - anything to conceal the thinning. Determined to not let her condition take control of her life, Chassin decided to wear wigs. And then, sometimes, to not wear any hat or wig at all.
Her bald head catches the glances of curious passersby and elicits sympathy from strangers who mistake her for a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy. Just the other day, she said, she frightened away a group of raucous 10-year-old boys at her hotel.
Chassin takes it in stride.
"Education and understanding are key," she said. "They're key for me because I want more of society to understand this is a condition a lot of women have."
Women like Ashley Dumouchel, who brushed her long, thick red hair until she couldn't feel the bristles in her brush anymore. That's when she looked down and noticed it was full of hair. Three weeks later, the 20-year-old Salt Lake City Community College student was bald.
"I only cried once, actually," she said. "I think it was easier that it fell out in three weeks" rather than gradually falling out over time.
Jennifer Izzat, 33, a Davis County special education administrator, said she, too, suddenly lost all of her hair in April. Ultimately, it was the love and reassurance of her 17-year-old brother, who also has the disease, that helped Izzat cope.
"At first I thought I will always wear a wig. I couldn't imagine myself going without. But I do all of the time now," she said. "I'm happy - happier now with the way I look than I have been for years."
Chassin, who said she went three years before meeting another woman with alopecia areata, is hopeful she will be able to find other women around the country who have the disease, get them together at luncheons such as the one at the Market Street Grill and help them find camaraderie and support.
"They feel so much better when they talk to other women," she said, "because it's not something like high blood pressure or diabetes, where it's common, a lot of people have it and a lot of people talk about it."
Chassin, who founded Bald Girls Do Lunch two years ago, said she is now beginning to receive requests from as far away as Sydney, Australia, to host luncheons.
"Women can feel very alone with this and nobody need feel alone. Nobody," she said. "We're out there, we're out there to reach other[s] and help each other."
