Britney Spears: Oops! She did it again!

Everybody's abuzz about Britney's new look

Susan Whitall / The Detroit News

J ust how "toxic" is pop tart Britney Spears' mental state? Off the charts, it seems.

Britney's decision to shave her head Friday after returning to California from a one-day stay in a rehab center has people wondering what her increasingly bizarre behavior means.

Why would a beautiful, if uncouth, young pop star shave her head?

Michael Rudy, an Ypsilanti clinical social worker, affirms that psychologically, hair has a sexual meaning. It's classical Freudian symbolism, Rudy says.

But he cautions that it's important to know context before offering Monday morning psychoanalysis.

"It's possible that her hair was very important in her relationship with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline. And maybe out of anger or spite or loneliness, cutting it was a statement that was very particular to a certain person," Rudy says.

Patricia Wallace, a forensic psychologist in Southfield, says Spears' latest stunt could be more serious than a cry for help. Instead, it could be a rejection of badly needed help.

"I would be more concerned about why Britney walked out of a rehabilitation center than about her (shaving her) hair, because it speaks to an unwillingness or inability to settle those affairs," that are bothering her, Wallace says. "Not knowing her and not having spoken with her, that would have to be my general response."

In the past six months, Spears has given birth to her second son, was divorced from husband Kevin Federline, and has started recording what many hope will be her comeback CD. She also has been photographed getting in and out of cars wearing no underwear and partying with friends like Paris Hilton.

If Spears is merely acting out while running from her problems, Wallace says we can probably expect the parade of mishaps to continue.

"Pushing aside the issues that are causing her to do this are what's dangerous," she says.

All weekend, celebrity Web sites buzzed with news of Spears rocketing from a Tarzana, Calif., hair salon Friday, where she shaved her head, to a Sherman Oaks, Calif., tattoo parlor, accompanied by the usual bodyguards.

The troubled singer, 25, had flown -- in the back of the coach section, no less -- to Los Angeles from Miami. She had just returned from the Crossroads Centre, an austere rehabilitation center located in Antigua and owned by guitarist (and former addict) Eric Clapton.

It was too austere, apparently, for Spears, who only lasted 24 hours in the rehab center.

Once in L.A., the singer and her posse showed up at Esther's Haircutting Salon in Tarzana, where she grabbed clippers and sheared off her hair when salon owner Esther Tognozzi wouldn't do it.

Tognozzi told reporters: "I tried to talk her out of it, but she said, 'No, I absolutely want it shaved off now.' "

The New York Daily News reported that within hours Britney's hair and hair extensions had been put up for sale on eBay for $1 million. Tognozzi claims the money will go to charity.

Some pop culture experts cast a jaundiced eye on the whole thing.

"Britney shaving her head is as ground-breaking and earth-shattering as the official breakup of Scotland's super group The Bay City Rollers," opined M.L. Liebler, professor of English at Wayne State University, poet and pop culture observer. "It demonstrates some sort of psychological breakdown likely due to her divorce and not wearing any underwear."

Birmingham hairstylist John Slawinski thinks Britney's "going through some kind of catharsis, like a monk. I don't think she looks as good as Natalie Portman in 'V for Vendetta,' though."

Just as they were on top of the Kim Mathers story last week by scoring an interview with Eminem's ex-wife, the Mojo in the Morning radio crew from 95.5 were right on the Bald Britney beat Monday, interviewing Emily Wynne-Hughes, a former employee of the tattoo shop who happened to be in the store when Spears ducked in.

"Just when you think there is nothing Britney could possibly do to shock you," marveled Spike, producer and co-host on the WKQI-FM show. "It's scary that nobody around her will settle her down. Her mother is an enabler, she parties with her. Someone needs to get her out of bars."

Wynne-Hughes told Mojo and the crew that she was misquoted in press reports, that Spears was not "a nightmare" to deal with at all, but seemed normal.

"She said the tattoo shop just happened to be open, that she doesn't think Britney chose the shop for any reason, she just came in to get away from the paparazzi," Spike says.

But the radio host isn't sympathetic to the paparazzi problems of celebrities like Spears or Paris Hilton.

"You can't have it both ways, with the paparazzi. They wear these goofy little outfits, but then they want to turn it off when they don't want to deal with it."

Will the Britney chrome dome frenzy ever end? Not today. Mojo in the Morning will feature a phone interview with hair salon owner Tognozzi this morning.

Celebrity mischief

Britney Spears isn't the first celebrity to drastically and rebelliously alter her appearance. Here is a list of our favorites through the years:

Dennis Rodman: Soon after he left the Detroit Pistons, Rodman began dying his hair in bright hues, such as green and flaming red, while playing for the San Antonio Spurs (1993-95). Then in '96, while undergoing an ugly divorce from his first wife, Anicka, Rodman announced before a bookstore appearance to plug his autobiography "Bad As I Wanna Be," that he was marrying a beautiful woman. The next day, he arrived at the appearance dressed in a blond wig and a wedding dress saying he was marrying himself.

Sinead O'Connor: Rebelling against a record label that wanted to play up her pretty face in 1987, a shorn O'Connor rocked a boy's buzz cut, which later became her signature look.

Rosie O'Donnell: In 2002, O'Donnell left her talk show and battled with publishers about her failed magazine. During these ordeals, O'Donnell chopped her hair into a short, unflattering '80s boy-band style haircut, something for which she still apologizes today.

Lenny Kravitz: Still dealing with the grief of his mother's 1995 death (actress Roxy Roker, "The Jeffersons"), Kravitz released the album "5" in 1998 and lopped off his signature dreadlocks to mark the beginning of a new era in his life and career.

Keri Russell : The "Felicity" star cut her hair short for a new look in 1998 during the second season of her hit WB show. Subsequently, the network moved the show to Sundays, ratings plummeted, and the WB forbade Russell's co-stars from cutting their hair.

Prince: During his battle with Warner Bros. Records in 1994, the singer changed his name to a symbol and etched the word "slave" on his cheek.

Mike Tyson: Fighting legal battles and talks that his career was over, the boxer decided to have a Maori warrior symbol tattooed on his face in 2003, much to the chagrin of Maori activists.

Jennifer Grey: The actress underwent two rhinoplasty surgeries -- aka nose jobs -- in the early 1990s. The second one was to correct the first. Grey, who had risen to fame with her old nose in "Dirty Dancing," thought surgery would help her as an actress, but it had the opposite effect when she was rendered unrecognizable.

Detroit News reporter Kara Morrison and Detroit News wire services contributed to this report You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@det news.com.