In response:
1. The concept of shaved heads for women does not appear in the book on Va’ad Ha’aratzot. There is only one authoratative copy, and it is not in there. If anyone, posek or not, thinks it stems from there, show it to me.
2. The concept of shaved heads does not appear in the Tzava’a of the Chasam Sofer. First of all, it is an instruction booklet to his own family and was obviously not written for public consumption. Second, quite the contrary. He assurs leaving hair uncovered (if shaved, what hair?)and also assurs pe’ah nochris (yes, sheitels). Third, in his teshuva YD 195, which no one mentioned here,he does not imply that all hair is removed , rather that long hair is cut. Reb Moshe’s tshuva relates to the Chasam Sofer’s reasoning, and effectively eliminates the totally shaved hair idea from chatzitzah, otherwise all body hair would need to be removed totally.
3. The Meshaneh Halachos labors unsuccessfully to find a source, but does not find an explicit one. He cannot find it in the Sefer Arba Ha’aratzot (no surprise, it isn’t there) and so he refers us to the Zohar with no proof whatsoever that any established group followed this unproven interpretation of the Zohar. The proof from the Tashbetz is clearly wishful thinking, the Tashbetz refers to cut pe’ot and not to shaved heads.
4. I grant that it is possible that this minhag is not purely chassidic, considering that the Me’ah She’arim Toldos Aharon practice this and they are not mainstream chassidim. Same for Rav Menashe Klein’s constituency. Apologies for the use of the term “purely” chassidic. But to claim that it was accepted for many hundreds of years from the times of the Rishonim? No way.
5. I maintain that attributing this minhag to mainstream Ashkenazic Jewry via the Va’ad Arba Aratzot is manipulative because it automatically puts the burden of proof on those who don’t practice it. See above post where a misguided bas yisroel is being convinced that it’s a “way higher level”. That thinking is motzi la’az on n’shos yisroel l’doros. Shumu shamayim.
6. To hypothesize a source, or to suggest a possible interpretation for a source is legitimate and is done all the time for minhagim. But to claim a written source where none exists, as claimed in posts “quoting” the Va’ad Arba Ha’aratzot or the Tzava’ah of the Chasam Sofer, that is indeed absolutely false.
7. I in no way denigrate or criticize the minhag of women shaving their heads. To each group his own minhagim. However, I do not accept false claims.