Why are we in hiding?

It's really interesting to hear the responses that have come from this.  I certainly don't bother with dressing up around here (although it's getting a bit chilly to go without headgear now).  And it's funny that the females in my immediate family are far easier with me going au naturale than the males - the girls often tell me to take off my wig/hat when it's bugging me, no matter where I am.  And I think choosing reconstruction is incredibly brave but it is another surgery and I would think, not easy.
@Romla Imagine if, instead of a Field of Women, we all whipped our scarves and prosthetics off at a given time!  And/or held up a big, pink sign saying "breast cancer survivor"!  Okay, probably getting silly now.

With my cancer, recinstruction is not an option, i had a double masectomy and actually am becoming more at ease with just nothing there....actually have clothes that now look better than thy did before. My hair is groing back but I do wear a scarf or hat, but mainly cause my head is bloody cold lol.

I learnt very quickly that nobody really was looking at me at all...I found people the opposite very accepting. I didnt choose to go out bald, not because of society, but because it was personal to me and how I felt about myself and wanted to look. I could have cared less about anyone else lol. I did choose to Reconstruct again not because it's what would be expected...it's personal and it's actually a very hard road on every level. Whether you do or don't makes zero difference, I have a friend who didn't, everyones different.

At work today, a little boy, aged about 8, asked me who I was. When I  told him, he said "Yes, I  know who you are. Have you had a haircut?" When I  told  him  "No, I  have cancer" he put his arm around  me and said "Are you OK?" I then had a number of other little boys proceed to tell me about all of the members of their family who had died from cancer.
I stopped the conversation when I said to them "We are all going to die someday". 

Sister
I had scarfs and hats on and they were hot and itchy etc I have very sensitive skin.... my daughter then 16 said to me bloody hell mum just go bald if anyone has a problem with it let them worry about it .... I did from then on until winter arrived and I needed beanies to keep warm. 
I am double mastectomy and no reconstruction here  I go flat and fabulous all the time.
I was the secretary for a monthly ladies dinner night  when I returned to it after treatment  quite a few of the ladies asked me when are you being reconstructed.... I being me ... Said loudly after the third person asked ...."I am not having reconstruction, I am happy to be flat and fabulous if you  have a problem you need to go see a psychologist"  everything went quiet for a few minutes and then someone piped in with congratulations on being brave to buck the norm. 

I have learnt I don't walk the path that others want to walk to conform to society.
 I am me
I will always be me 
Now I am me with no tits

But I know it takes a lot of courage to do that 
I have several ladies with single mastectomy who refuse to wear a prosthesis, they have learnt to wear clothes that disguise their lopsidedness.... 
it is about acceptance in society of those who don't fit the regular mould.

 Guess it’s about acceptance of difference . The only way a new normal will happen is if we start it  . A field of women is a big statement on one day but it really is the little statements we make each  day that brings about change.

Yep. I went bald and hatless when I went out of town for a few days and I was less likely to run into people I vaguely knew. It was liberating. Ripped off the hat far more frequently when I got home.

I braved the waters of online dating after a botched double mastectomy and reconstruction. You really do not want to see my chest. Well, maybe that isn't true. I was pleasantly surprised at how many men a) said they didn't care b) didn't run screaming when faced with the reality. I know that sounds like I'm a bit of a worry when it comes to dating, but I was. 
Anyway, back to the subject. Most people don't care.

I enjoyed wigs but also had no problem being bald in public. Once again, the majority of people don't care. They really don't.

When it comes to the ones who do want to stare, snigger or point, I've had the pleasure of delivering a few salutary lessons on what it is like to be publicly shamed. Or I decide they are fuckwits who don't deserve recognition. Depends on my mood at the time.

The hardest part for me, and I've had a bit of experience, has been dealing with well meaning comments because it was obvious what was happening. Realistically, that is the same as happens when you are heavily pregnant or on crutches with a broken leg or walking around with a black eye. Or all three at once..Humans are humans and there is a percentage that do not know when to keep their heads shut.

I'd encourage anyone who is hairless and stressing about it to drive to another town or suburb where you don't know anyone, rip off the headwear and go shopping. Just try it. The world doesn't end and maybe that is a way to normalise what is an all too common situation.