Miss Delaware wears her baldness proudly

This year’s Miss Delaware has something about her that is different to most beauty queens. What seems to be her flowing blonde hair is actually a wig: she has alopecia arreata and is totally bald.

Yet Kayla Martell is not ashamed about her hair loss. In fact, she thrives on it. She says that glamour icons should not all be “Barbie dolls” and is proud to be bald when she is not being judged.

The elegant model only started wearing a wig in 2009 but insists that this was not due to embarrassment. She goes wig-free when doing her shopping or meeting up with friends.

Committed to raising hair loss awareness

Martell is committed to helping other people with her condition to realise that it does not have to hold them back. She visits young children in hospital who have lost their hair from cancer. She also speaks out at every chance she can get to raise awareness about baldness.

Martell’s dedication is similar to that exhibited by Gail Porter, the British TV presenter who lost her hair to alopecia several years ago. Porter receives letters from young girls who have hair loss, and replies to them with words of encouragement. She told one girl who was being bullied at school: “you’re more beautiful than all of them, it’s fine.” In the last year Porter’s hair has begun to grow back.

Different types of baldness

Baldness is caused by a range of factors – from stress and inherited genes, to health conditions. In women, alopecia arreata is one of the most common causes. For men, a frequent cause is male pattern baldness. This inherited condition affects one in two men at some point in their lives.

Baldness can be harder to cope with for women than for men, because of pressurised preconceptions over looks. As Miss Delaware shows, though, being bald does not mean you can’t feel great about yourself.