With hair, the effect is that the roots weaken and the hair tends to fall out. The condition of the hair that stays in is usually poor too. Your treasured locks don't always fall out though, and if they do then not all of them will always fall out. The likelihood of your hair falling out depends on the individual. Some people can have a small amout of chemo and end up down at the wig boutique immediately, while many others maintain a good head of hair throughout their treatment and only really lose it if they get on to strong or high dose chemo.
Loss of hair seems a greater affront to the dignity of women than men.
There are few famous bald women however - Persis Khambatta played a bald alien in a Star Trek film and still managed to stay attractive, but that's all I can think of. No, baldness for some reason is seen as odd in a woman. The sense of unusualness is used by many Lesbian's with short hair as a statement of their difference from their heterosexual sisters. Hold your head up and never mind the looks. Cover your head with something.