Do you consider head shaving for aesthetic reasons offensive?

For context: I (33f) had papillary and follicular thyroid cancer treated via completion thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine. My mom (69f) has thankfully never developed any cancers.

But this morning, she went on an unhinged rant that head/eyebrow shaving for aesthetic purposes was “offensive” to those with cancer.

This didn’t sit right with me, so I challenged her on it. Balding men historically have shaved their heads, and she refused to answer when I asked if this was offensive. It seemed pretty evident to me she only considered it offensive when women made the decision to shave off their hair and eyebrows for a look.

While I never underwent chemo and can’t speak for those who have, I know what my stance on this is: This is just policing women’s bodily autonomy when they do something outside of the societal norm. And inserting cancer patients into the convo as evidence is what I find truly offensive.

Cancer already steals so much of our bodily autonomy. Choice is what matters, and the tragedy of chemo isn’t losing hair—it’s losing choice.

But I want to open this convo up here: Do you think head/eyebrow shaving for aesthetic reasons is offensive?