:00:00. > :00:08.Back with a full summary at the top of the hour.
:00:09. > :00:27.It is not just a haircut, behind every haircut there is a story.
:00:28. > :00:41.In salons around the world, every haircut tells a story.
:00:42. > :00:52.I do want people to know I'm African by just looking at me.
:00:53. > :00:55.I know it sounds really silly, but one of the first
:00:56. > :00:58.things I thought, oh, my God, I'm going to lose my hair.
:00:59. > :01:14.The thing about this haircut, it is about a moment of my life.
:01:15. > :01:35.Let's start in Tokyo, where this client and
:01:36. > :01:42.their hairdresser want a hairstyle that is cute.
:01:43. > :05:08.They think they're colourful hairstyle is the answer.
:05:09. > :05:10.The colours in Tokyo may seem unnaturally bright,
:05:11. > :05:22.but what is natural when it comes to hair is often up to debate.
:05:23. > :05:25.In London, CC is from Cameroon, she is visiting
:05:26. > :05:31.her hairdresser, Pearl, to discuss exactly what that means.
:05:32. > :05:42.I do want people to think I'm African just by looking at me.
:05:43. > :05:44.I want the daycare, natural African hair,
:05:45. > :06:03.A lot of young girls have been going natural,
:06:04. > :06:04.not relaxing anymore, leaving the hair
:06:05. > :06:07.To black women in the hair is very important.
:06:08. > :06:12.Unfortunately my natural hair is not as big as I wish it was.
:06:13. > :06:18.That is why I had extensions to achieve that.
:06:19. > :06:33.I felt, growing up, it was cool, prettier when you hair was straight.
:06:34. > :06:49.It was very much the influence of the media, making you think
:06:50. > :06:50.looking like celebrities, like Europeans, American
:06:51. > :06:52.people, it is better than looking totally African.
:06:53. > :07:10.Right, you like natural hair so much, how about this?
:07:11. > :07:39.People judge you, on what you look like.
:07:40. > :07:50.I don't know whether it is visible, but I put the highlights,
:07:51. > :07:53.for a bit of shimmer, apparently it makes your nose
:07:54. > :08:08.You said your image is very African, very black.
:08:09. > :08:10.Black people have broad noses naturally.
:08:11. > :08:12.Why are you contouring to make yours look slimmer?
:08:13. > :08:23.That goes against everything he said your natural hair.
:08:24. > :08:55.The way a woman wears her hair says something about her changing
:08:56. > :09:07.In another part of London Lucia is introducing her hair to the wider
:09:08. > :09:22.The thing about this haircut, it is an important moment
:09:23. > :09:31.I have been wearing a skirt for the last three days,
:09:32. > :09:38.it has been a bit of a journey, but I am out and proud.
:09:39. > :09:41.I want to meet this new person that I have been pushing down for ages.
:09:42. > :09:48.My initial thought was, I wanted to get a new haircut.
:09:49. > :10:00.I set up a gender neutral barbershop, everybody welcome,
:10:01. > :10:08.and it is a safe place where anyone can get a haircut they want.
:10:09. > :10:11.I came out at work, this is me, whatever I look like.
:10:12. > :10:26.I will come out, whatever happens, happens.
:10:27. > :10:29.Over the span of 12 years or so, I haven't really looked
:10:30. > :10:32.I had shrunk away, losing my life almost.
:10:33. > :10:42.It was a difficult time, I did not know who, ultimately, I was.
:10:43. > :10:46.Basically the NHS' waiting list is a year and a half.
:10:47. > :10:48.I realised that if I do not transition, basically
:10:49. > :10:53.There is a high suicide rate in the trans-community,
:10:54. > :11:13.I knew that although that was dangerous,
:11:14. > :11:16.injecting myself for names, I knew it was more dangerous
:11:17. > :11:28.At work, I started to wear make up slowly.
:11:29. > :11:38.People called me my old name, and I said, have you
:11:39. > :11:42.They changed my name on the thing, that was it.
:11:43. > :11:44.This was the best thing, when you are strong,
:11:45. > :11:56.people will respect and stop for me, London is a really cool place.
:11:57. > :12:03.For me, London is a really cool place.
:12:04. > :12:05.Strong energy of transformation, lots of things happening,
:12:06. > :12:08.things changing, and melting pot of all the things happening.
:12:09. > :12:11.If you want to transition can come to London, it is superb.
:12:12. > :12:20.I would give it a nine out of ten for transitioning.
:12:21. > :12:22.Many women view motherhood as a defining aspect
:12:23. > :12:40.Is there a particular idea of beauty that a mother should
:12:41. > :12:44.In Johannesburg, Tracy and her mother, Hope,
:12:45. > :12:46.head to a salon for an expensive hairstyle known here
:12:47. > :13:17.Brazilian is the in thing these days.
:13:18. > :13:27.The most expensive I have heard of is about $500.
:13:28. > :13:30.The cost of Brazilian is about the same as some people
:13:31. > :13:35.Here is my daughter carrying that same instalment on her head just
:13:36. > :13:48.My mum is the one making me look as beautiful as I do every day.
:13:49. > :13:51.I negotiate for the payment of the hair with the hairdresser.
:13:52. > :13:53.As a single mother, I need to consider Tracy's
:13:54. > :13:58.I have been paying their hairdresser in instalments for the last two
:13:59. > :14:05.months, the last one is today, hence the hair is going on to the head.
:14:06. > :14:12.Without completion of the payment, no Brazilian.
:14:13. > :14:16.If I want, I want, if I need, I need it.
:14:17. > :14:20.As a parent, if you cannot afford to give your child what they want,
:14:21. > :14:22.they will look for men that have the money to support them,
:14:23. > :14:45.The South Africa I grew up in is slightly different from the South
:14:46. > :14:54.Africa she grew up in. At times it is very liberal, in my time, white
:14:55. > :14:59.society determined what we do. In their time, it is what they want,
:15:00. > :15:10.what they do. They have so-called rights. It may have been brutal, but
:15:11. > :15:14.it was disciplined. These ones, no discipline. Freedom is what they
:15:15. > :15:38.call discipline. Freedom. Amazing. Beyonce has nothing on me.
:15:39. > :15:42.It looks expensive, for the duration that she has the hair on, she will
:15:43. > :16:04.be reminding me of the budget. In Beirut, we are about to meet one
:16:05. > :18:55.woman whose hairstyle goes against her country's notion of beauty.
:18:56. > :19:04.We have met women around the world making choices reflecting their
:19:05. > :19:08.changing identities. In Manchester Danielle and her hairdresser
:19:09. > :19:17.husband, Graham, coming to terms with having their choice taken away
:19:18. > :19:23.entirely. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in July, 2014. I know
:19:24. > :19:27.it sounds really silly, but one of the first things I thought about
:19:28. > :19:32.them, though, my God, I'm going to lose my hair. This is the first time
:19:33. > :19:38.I had been in the hair salon to have my hair cut since the week before I
:19:39. > :19:43.started chemotherapy in 2014. My husband is a hairdresser, whenever
:19:44. > :19:52.we saw anybody, people would make a comment on my hair, it became a
:19:53. > :19:56.massive part of my identity. We met through a colleague of mine. I have
:19:57. > :20:02.always had a thing about redheaded girls, makes me sound shallow. I
:20:03. > :20:07.really want to go to this club in town, he said, will you come with
:20:08. > :20:18.me. We met that night. Just going on 19 years. 1997. I really miss this
:20:19. > :20:25.bit, I like it when you watch Mayor. When she was first diagnosed, I
:20:26. > :20:29.disappeared from work straightaway. I could not imagine myself in the
:20:30. > :20:34.salon, the conversations I would have, the trivia. Someone
:20:35. > :20:38.complaining I may have left their fringe a bit longer last time, it
:20:39. > :20:43.felt like nonsense. You wanted to say to that person, my wife is sat
:20:44. > :20:50.at home with no hair at all, you need to get perspective. It happened
:20:51. > :20:54.so gradually. Even though I was hoovering up small amounts of hair,
:20:55. > :20:59.picking up clumps in the shower, I tried to keep it secret from her. It
:21:00. > :21:09.made me feel less feminine. Without any make-up on, I looked like with,
:21:10. > :21:15.bald, uncle Fester. No features. Your face is not changed. It is a
:21:16. > :21:22.really sad thing. First and foremost, I thought she was going to
:21:23. > :21:34.die. To see her so sad, not herself, it was horrible. My last
:21:35. > :21:39.radiotherapy was nine months ago. My last chemotherapy was eight and a
:21:40. > :21:45.half months ago. It has made me a lot more laid back. It has changed
:21:46. > :21:50.my views on quite a lot of things. I am less judgmental. I can enjoy
:21:51. > :21:56.things I did not notice before. I love being outside, in nature, even
:21:57. > :21:57.in bad weather, I like looking at trees, feeling the grass under my
:21:58. > :22:09.feet. You don't appreciate what you have
:22:10. > :22:18.got, until you essentially lose it, and you realise how important it was
:22:19. > :22:24.at the time. You cannot give someone that knowledge and experience.