10 ms·

I started going bald at a relatively young age. I fretted about it for a while, tried different hair cuts etc, and was pretty unhappy about it. After looking in

I started going bald at a relatively young age. I fretted about it for a while, tried different hair cuts etc, and was pretty unhappy about it. After looking in to a few different treatments, procedures and dismissing them all due to side effects and/or cost I bought a pair of clippers and started shaving my own head regularly. The first day I did it was totally liberating, now I wouldn’t go back to having hair even if I had the option. The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. Balding is an entirely healthy and natural human process. Embrace your baldness, stop trying to “fix” it and focus on solving the real problems in the world.

larrysalibra 7y ago
+1 to this! I first shaved my head for high swim team and after college started shaving it daily and would never go back. Save much time & money that other people spend drying, styling and cutting hair. It’s great to be able to dunk my head under the tap on a hot day and dry off after showering or water sports with one wipe.
StavrosK 7y ago
I love shaving my head, but the look doesn't suit me. I got implants and it looks great, nobody can tell it's not natural.
- nabaraz 7y ago
  Do you mean transplant? I would love to hear your experience. I have been meaning to get one.
  - StavrosK 7y ago
    Yeah, they were transplanted. For me, it was a two-day operation because I wanted more follicles. It was a bit of a hassle at the start, and a bit painful the first day, but overall it wasn't really that bad. It takes a week or so before you don't look weird, and you have to be super careful for a month, but after that it's just your hair. Your results may vary, although I think I got perhaps the best result out of all of their patients. They seemed really excited about how it turned out. I thought it would look better for the $5k I spent, but that probably says more about how they managed my expectations than about the work they did. It looks perfectly natural.
    - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
      Whoever did/does Zuckerberg's hair did a good job in hiding his baldness.
      - bitL 7y ago
        You just need Toppik or similar with a matching color and nobody could tell... Used by stylists for movie stars all the time, including females. I bought a bunch of colors for my photoshoots as many models have their hair destroyed from all the stuff they are using and fixing it in Photoshop is unnecessarily time consuming (OK, GANs are coming, so it might be instant soon...). It looks pretty natural in studio lights unless you zoom in significantly.
NTARelix 7y ago
I came here to say the same thing. I also just hated worrying about which hairstyle to get, how to maintain that style, and when to repeat that process. Now it's a cheap and simple part of my routine that looks and feels great! Only downside buzzing myself is that I occasionally miss a small spot if I'm in a hurry, but it's never a big deal and it's easy to fix.
Baeocystin 7y ago
I'm genuinely glad that you're happy, but I like having hair, and keeping it would improve my quality of life for the simple reason that I like not having to worry about sunburn on the top of my head.
- bardworx 7y ago
  Hats are probably cheaper and more effective against sunburn. Probably safer than current hair loss treatment, as well.
  - Baeocystin 7y ago
    Maybe so. But hats aren't hair, and as I said, I like having hair. I like the sun protection in the day. I like the cold protection at night. I like how it feels when a woman runs her fingers through it. These are not life-shattering things. If and when I eventually go bald, I'll be fine. I am capable of wearing hats, and head scratches feel pretty good, too. But, if I had a safe way of keeping mine, I'd do so. Just because a project isn't solving cancer or world hunger doesn't mean it isn't something worth doing.
    - bardworx 7y ago
      I understand where you’re coming from and I’m confident that, I’m the future, there will be a solution for baldness — the market segment is too large to ignore. Plus, I do believe people should be happy and having hair is a lifestyle improvement for most.
      - j7ake 7y ago
        Your confidence is misplaced. From a business point of view they’re making more money now by managing symptoms than if it were possible to completely cure baldness.
        jamesrcole 7y ago
        All that means is that there's a market opportunity for someone else to develop a cure and compete against them.
bardworx 7y ago
I can sympathize with you as I’ve been shaving my head since I was 23 because of thinning hair. Ive never felt self conscious about my hair, or lack there of, not have I ever explored medical treatments. However, ive always had an issue with the maintenance. Why should I be bald and still have to buzz my head every 4 days? Rotten deal. Now, if the medical community came out with a way for me to keep my 0 buzz without constant maintenance, I’ll gladly sign up. And I’m not talking about laser removal to have a shiny head..I like my buzz but maintenance is a pain. (This comment is light hearted and in jest.) Regardless, being bald , in my opinion, doesn’t really mean much. Sure some folks talk nonsense or point it out but I feel pity for their thought process. We have so many responsibilities and worries in life that hair shouldn’t be in the top 10. Life’s too short to worry about such nonsense.
jamesrcole 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed Is there any evidence for this claim? I don't doubt there's a component of that at work, but I suspect there's also innate factors. Hair could be a, statistically speaking, signal of youth, and could influence the innate components of attractiveness judgements.
- Overtonwindow 7y ago
  Just look at how many politicians are bald. When was the last time we had a bald president?
  - stordoff 7y ago
    Looking this up, I stumbled on an interesting observation: > Bald–hairy (Russian: лысый–волосатый) is a common joke in Russian political discourse, referring to the empirical rule of the state leaders' succession defined as a change of a bald/balding leader to a hairy one and vice versa. This consistent pattern can be traced back until as early as 1825 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy
  - ralusek 7y ago
    But where is the proof that the reason we're averse to baldness is because of social construction? Your statement is equivalent to saying that women prefer taller men due to social construction...because women on dating sites prefer taller men. It's circular logic and fails to address the reason why they prefer taller men.
    - rofo1 7y ago
      It's absolutely due to evolution, not social construction. Same thing for women - they prefer physically strong, tall men. It's also due to evolution. It boils down to survival of the fittest - the fittest had the most resources, and a mother needs resources to reproduce (mother's can't hunt while breastfeeding, so that's out of the question). Yes, it's that simple. Same thing for men - they prefer young, sexually attractive, fertile females. Those are our instincts anyway. We can and we do influence them consciously.
DSMan195276 7y ago
As someone who went bald before I was 20 (Like you it sounds like), I'd say you're heavily generalizing. Sure, shaving your head worked for you and solved your problem, but that doesn't mean it is a solution that solves the problem for everybody, and claiming that it's not a "real" problem because you found a solution that works for you is a bit ridiculous. It's easy to say I should just completely shave my head and ignore what others think of me, but for me that's not a solution that has worked - it would be great if it did and I could just will myself to stop being self-conscious, but that hasn't worked that well for me. And if a "cure" for baldness would fix my problem then that's useful to me and a solution to a real problem I have - and it is something that would certainly improve my current quality of life.
- phs318u 7y ago
  As an almost-bald man myself (who shaves smooth twice a week; what a chore [0]), may I respectfully ask if you've considered treating the psychology of self-consciousness [1] rather than the hair loss? [0] Seriously, can someone please invent a a once-and-for-all hair removal process that means I never have to shave again? While losing my hair was the "problem" initially, the real problem has turned out to be that the balding stopped. I wish it had continued to completion. [1] Also, if you had say, implants, wouldn't it be possible that you'd still be self-conscious, but this time about whether the implants were detectable? EDITED to add [1].
  - fiskeben 7y ago
    Shaving the head is zen :) But you're right, it is a lot of work that it would be nice to be without.
    - thetrainfold 7y ago
      Just imagine the work that haired people go through.. (sorry)
  - hardlianotion 7y ago
    Shaving not for everyone. I clipper semi-regularly. Shaving tends to scar you up and some folk (including me) have major skin irritation that festers.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
> Embrace your baldness, stop trying to “fix” it and focus on solving the real problems in the world. I'm reminded of a spot-on comment by Gene Roddenberry: > At a press conference about Star Trek: The Next Generation, a reporter asked Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry about casting Patrick Stewart, commenting that "Surely by the 24th century, they would have found a cure for male pattern baldness." Gene Roddenberry had the perfect response. > "No, by the 24th century, no one will care." (via https://boingboing.net/2015/07/08/star-trek-creators-perfect-c.html https://boingboing.net/2015/07/08/star-trek-creators-perfect...)
- SenHeng 7y ago
  That wasn't really what he thought in the beginning though. https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/14167 https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/14167 > Gene Roddenberry's first thought was that he "can't put a bald head man in the captain's chair". (TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning")
SenHeng 7y ago
Patrick Stewart has this awesome interview about his baldness. I'm not balding yet but it has inspired me enough that I plan to shave it all off when I eventually start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU Transcribe for those who can't watch videos, from https://wearebald.com/6740-2/ https://wearebald.com/6740-2/ Even though Stewart lost his hair at an early age, he didn’t shave it bald for a number of years. He relates the hilarious story of the first time he went fully bald, “There was a man who was at drama school with me, Hungarian, he was older than the rest of us, he ran his own theater in Budapest. He was a man of strong personality and a good loyal friend to me. He and his wife invited me for lunch one day, the two of them got to the end of their lunch and I thought they were going to make a coffee or something. Then all of a sudden, I was grabbed from behind by George, this big powerful man, and I thought he was playing some kind of game, so I was laughing and joking but then his wife appeared in front of me with a pair of scissors and I knew in an instant what she was going to do, and I began to scream and shout, and now it was serious. I was fighting to keep my appearance, then she lifted my hair and cut it all off. Then George came around, knelt down in front of me and said, now you be yourself – no more hiding! And he was right because I used to walk constantly embarrassed, I couldn’t stand-up properly. It was not only inhibiting as a person, but it was hopeless if you were an actor, of course.”
- jodrellblank 7y ago
  Yes, but Patrick Stewart obeys Reddit's "rules 1 and 2". 1) be attractive, 2) don't be unattractive. Or, to put it another way: https://extrafabulouscomics.com/comic/180/ https://extrafabulouscomics.com/comic/180/
  - SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
    As someone who's seen a few slightly chubby bald guys transformed into buff bald guys over the years just by hitting the gym a few times a week and eating better, I'd wager that the "be attractive" part isn't as far out of reach as some people think.
    - 7y ago
sAbakumoff 7y ago
Well said bro, I did the same and not going back to having hairs.
mping 7y ago
Don't forget that women lose hair too. Socially, it's much worse for them.
- 9HZZRfNlpR 7y ago
  Men are much more likely to lose hair though. And I feel like women can make wearing a wig work much better than men, but it's not a competition. I do know that thinning of hair women suffer from strucks them hard.
vonseel 7y ago
While I am not quite there on the balding aspect, I feel a similar way about beards. For some weird genetic reason, at 30yo, I still can’t grow much facial hair and all of the hair above my lips is blonde. I do grow quite a bit of hair below the jaw-line though... It doesn’t bother me much even though beards are nearly universal where I live among men (Texas) and all the men in my family grow full, uniform-colored lumberjack beards. I wish I felt the same about balding and hairlines... can’t say that I do. I have always had thin hair and started noticing balding around age 24-25, I’d guess. None of the brothers aged 35-50 have much noticeable balding. Genetically, I guess I got the short end of the stick with regards to hair in my family. Oh well.
- speedplane 7y ago
  > I feel a similar way about beards. For some weird genetic reason, at 30yo, I still can’t grow much facial hair and all of the hair above my lips is blonde. ... It doesn’t bother me much even though beards are nearly universal where I live among men (Texas) and all the men in my family grow full, uniform-colored lumberjack beards. Do you really care about having a beard? It sounds like you care more about fitting in with other people around you. A beard will never make or break you, forget about it, show your value through something meaningful and people will respect far more than anything that can grow on your face.
  - vonseel 7y ago
    Nope, I don’t care. In fact I wish I grew less facial hair so I didn’t need to trim at all. Losing the hair on top of my head, though...
rofo1 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. Balding is an entirely healthy and natural human process. Those two sentences seem fine with one another, until you think about what "natural human process" means. It's aging. It's getting old. It's getting out of reproductive phase. It's completely normal to be devastated for males (and especially females) when they start losing hair. It has been linked with numerous health problems (so it's just not for vanity reasons). It's very rare the case where bald looks better than full head of hair. Almost never, I would say. Full head of hair = indicates youth and good health.
agumonkey 7y ago
It's vastly a social construct. But it's also an aging degradation sign, and a chore (Young hairs are maintenance free)
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  > Young hairs are maintenance free Have you spoken to any women about this? Or ever had a haircut?
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    No, I'm a genetically bald monkey. Of course I had, and older, thinner, less numerous hairs are a different kind of bore. In you twenties hairs almost fall into place cutely.
ChrisRR 7y ago
I went bald in my early 20s, around the age when I started taking a bit more pride in my appearance and actually style my hair. I've been buzzing my hair ever since, but if someone offered me a way to get all my hair back, then I'd definitely take it.
arvinsim 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments The problem is that it is not something you can ignore or control. One can embrace their baldness but that doesn't stop other people's prejudice. And these prejudices have real social and personal impact.
YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
>> Christiano, who has an autoimmune disorder that caused her body to attack the hair cells on her head, notes that though much attention around hair loss is paid to men, some 30 million women in the United States experience thinning of their hair. Perhaps it's different for men, but there are few events that I would experience as more disfiguring than losing my hair, and they all involve severe trauma. In fact, I have a facial scar from a fall when I was a kid and I don't ever think about it. But one time I managed to sear my hair off with too much bleaching and the couple of months until I was sure it was growing back were some of the hardest I've ever been through. Is that socially constructed? I suppose having a nose (rather than just a pair of nostrils) is socially constructed. But we live in a socially constructed world and some things are harmful, even if they have no real substance. Edit: but I'm proud of you if you can get over some of those things and more power to you. A handsome man is a handsome man, hair or not. I'm making a comment about how this sort of therapy can be beneficial to women, also, for whom losing hair is not "natural" (in many ways).
- reedwolf 7y ago
  >I suppose having a nose (rather than just a pair of nostrils) is socially constructed Worked for Voldermort.
vectorEQ 7y ago
i agree with you. this is just like being a little weighted is 'bad' or having crooked teeth is 'bad'. people should appreciate all of human spectrum, not just some TV ideals. happy for you that you are happy with yourself and got over it :) good on you! - i know a lot of people can end up in a struggle due to this kind of pressure on 'image'
orev 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed Humans are a social species, and trying to discount something as being not important or not “real” because it is a social norm just completely ignores large parts of human history and evolution as a social species. Social interactions and conformity (within a limit) are extremely strong drivers of both friendship circles and options for successful mating. Many women consider a nice head of hair as an important trait for attraction, and few men would date a bald woman either. You simply cannot discount these facts (or say they are not facts because they are “social”) just because doing so helps you to accept your situation, and certainly can’t say that everyone else should also do the same. Especially for young men who have not yet had the chance to find a mate, this is a very important issue.
KozmoNau7 7y ago
I started going bald in my early 20s, and initially I just had my hair cut longer on top, in an attempt to mitigate it. By my late 20s, I bought a trimmer and started buzz cutting my remaining hair at the lowest setting once a week. Now I just let the power donut grow, and trim once every couple of weeks.
RomanBob 7y ago
completely false. Women prefer men with a full head of hair. And sexual selection maybe 'socially constructed' but it is as real as you can get.
- loriverkutya 7y ago
  I recommend you to watch Up in the Air. "You know, honestly by the time you're 34, all the physical requirements just go out the window. You secretly pray that he'll be taller than you, not an asshole would be nice just someone who enjoys my company, comes from a good family. You don't think about that when you're younger. Someone who wants kids, likes kids. Healthy enough to play with his kids. Please let him earn more money than I do, you might not understand that now but believe me, you will one day otherwise that's a recipe for disaster. And hopefully, some hair on his head. I mean, that's not even a deal breaker these days. A nice smile. Yea, a nice smile just might do it."
  - mkl 7y ago
    Whether that's true will depend on the person, but it was written by two men, neither of whom had reached that age yet.
_zamorano_ 7y ago
How good one looks with his head shaved depends a lot of the shape of your head, your ears and nose and your facial hair. If you have big ears, there's no way you won't benefit of a full head of hair. The more perfect or circular your head, the more shaving will suit you. Furthermore, you can play with your beard because its rare to find a clean shaved guy that looks good without one. But if you don't grow enough facial hair or have holes in it... You're out of luck. My conclusion is shaving will help some, but it's no golden bullet.
- gburdell3 7y ago
  Yep. I'm 22, thinning, have a baby face, and can't grow facial hair that doesn't look like a 13-year-old who hasn't learned to shave yet. If I shaved my head I'd look like an overgrown baby.
puranjay 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments Are you sure about that? Because virtually every historical epic with an attractive hero makes sure to mention the hero's full head of hair. Or maybe Homer was just trying to sell hair care products
nootropicat 7y ago
If this works out, being bald or balding is going to signal you're too poor to get the treatment. I would expect a similar level of social stigma as lacking a front tooth.
- DanBC 7y ago
  Wearing hoodies and sneakers signals that you're too poor to afford a suit, but SV is full of people who avoid suits as much as possible.
  - llampx 7y ago
    SV has other signals that it values
- elliekelly 7y ago
  In many ways that stigma already exists for women. Women with thinning hair can get hair extensions if they have an extra $600 in their budget every few weeks. The economics even apply to women dealing with hair loss related to medical conditions/treatments. Insurance companies have to cover one "cranial prosthesis" a year but they're only required to offer $300 of coverage. That wouldn't even pay for the typical Comic Con wig. A mid-quality human hair partial wig is around $3,000. A quality human hair full wig is around $10,000. Women with more money (and better health insurance) are able to get the $10,000 wig while women with fewer resources are often forced to just make do.
dgzl 7y ago
> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry Going bald means losing something you're not getting back (generally speaking). This is symbolic for something not being good/right in your life, either by your choices or not, whether by stress, diet, exorcise, genetics, whatever. I think this symbolic nature is also a reason people consider it bad.
gingabriska 7y ago
I had long and flat hair sometime back, so I always fantasized about going bald. Earlry 20s, so one day I decided to go bald and my girlfriend back then wasn't happy with my decision. After some days, my hair started growing curly and I like them more now so changed my mind about going bald.
navigatesol 7y ago
>The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. I'm with you as far as not having hair being liberating. I'm not losing my hair, but for many years shaved my head out of pure convenience; the maintenance was so much easier. But not every thing is a conspiracy to sell you something. On average people are more attracted to not-balding as opposed to balding. If those things concern you, solutions (kind of) exist.
augstein 7y ago
I‘m not bald but I think your view on that matter is very simplified and a bit shortsighted. Healthy hair is a big contributor to the perceived attractiveness of a person, which in turn can have a big influence on the career success of a person (numerous studies proof that). So going bald can severely limit ones career options and/or negatively influence the currently chosen career path. Personally, as a more drastic example, I think a bald(ing) person would have harder to become US president than the same person not bald(ing). Also shaving your head definitely is not an option for everyone. You have to have a very well proportioned head and normal looking ears to make it look acceptable or even good. So balding can also severely influence your perceived sexual attractiveness and limit your options for mating. I think its not just superfluousness or as you state an "idea […] socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry" that make a number of men who are starting to bald also getting depressed. It might be just the realization of some of the things I stated above and/or other factors, which I would not dismiss so easily.
- i_am_proteus 7y ago
  Yet one of the most successful politicians and arguably the most powerful individual in the world- Vladimir Putin- is heavily balding.
  - TacticalTable 7y ago
    Comparing a US presidential election with Russia's system is not solving the problem. Baldness is intimidating, while most US elections hinge on a bit of friendly charismatic attractiveness. Nobody is saying that bald people can't be attractive, but it _severely_ limits the kind of look you can go for. Nobody wants Vladimir Putin to be their child's elementary school teacher.
- everdrive 7y ago
  Some people have terrible hair, or are also ugly in ways that hair simply won't hide. Life is a slot machine.
ivanhoe 7y ago
Well if you ask me, the face shaving is even worse social construct and the whole industries were invented around it... but that's because I hate shaving, and also like how I look with the beard better. However, let's take into account that beard or shaved head look doesn't work for everyone's style. Even more important some people like it better one way or the other for their own set of reasons (like me being too lazy to shave regularly).
einpoklum 7y ago
If balding it's entirely healthy and natural and magical and whatever, what are you shaving your head for?

larrysalibra 7y ago

+1 to this! I first shaved my head for high swim team and after college started shaving it daily and would never go back. Save much time & money that other people spend drying, styling and cutting hair. It’s great to be able to dunk my head under the tap on a hot day and dry off after showering or water sports with one wipe.

StavrosK 7y ago

I love shaving my head, but the look doesn't suit me. I got implants and it looks great, nobody can tell it's not natural.

nabaraz 7y ago
Do you mean transplant? I would love to hear your experience. I have been meaning to get one.
- StavrosK 7y ago
  Yeah, they were transplanted. For me, it was a two-day operation because I wanted more follicles. It was a bit of a hassle at the start, and a bit painful the first day, but overall it wasn't really that bad. It takes a week or so before you don't look weird, and you have to be super careful for a month, but after that it's just your hair. Your results may vary, although I think I got perhaps the best result out of all of their patients. They seemed really excited about how it turned out. I thought it would look better for the $5k I spent, but that probably says more about how they managed my expectations than about the work they did. It looks perfectly natural.
  - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
    Whoever did/does Zuckerberg's hair did a good job in hiding his baldness.
    - bitL 7y ago
      You just need Toppik or similar with a matching color and nobody could tell... Used by stylists for movie stars all the time, including females. I bought a bunch of colors for my photoshoots as many models have their hair destroyed from all the stuff they are using and fixing it in Photoshop is unnecessarily time consuming (OK, GANs are coming, so it might be instant soon...). It looks pretty natural in studio lights unless you zoom in significantly.

NTARelix 7y ago

I came here to say the same thing. I also just hated worrying about which hairstyle to get, how to maintain that style, and when to repeat that process. Now it's a cheap and simple part of my routine that looks and feels great! Only downside buzzing myself is that I occasionally miss a small spot if I'm in a hurry, but it's never a big deal and it's easy to fix.

Baeocystin 7y ago

I'm genuinely glad that you're happy, but I like having hair, and keeping it would improve my quality of life for the simple reason that I like not having to worry about sunburn on the top of my head.

bardworx 7y ago
Hats are probably cheaper and more effective against sunburn. Probably safer than current hair loss treatment, as well.
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  Maybe so. But hats aren't hair, and as I said, I like having hair. I like the sun protection in the day. I like the cold protection at night. I like how it feels when a woman runs her fingers through it. These are not life-shattering things. If and when I eventually go bald, I'll be fine. I am capable of wearing hats, and head scratches feel pretty good, too. But, if I had a safe way of keeping mine, I'd do so. Just because a project isn't solving cancer or world hunger doesn't mean it isn't something worth doing.
  - bardworx 7y ago
    I understand where you’re coming from and I’m confident that, I’m the future, there will be a solution for baldness — the market segment is too large to ignore. Plus, I do believe people should be happy and having hair is a lifestyle improvement for most.
    - j7ake 7y ago
      Your confidence is misplaced. From a business point of view they’re making more money now by managing symptoms than if it were possible to completely cure baldness.
      - jamesrcole 7y ago
        All that means is that there's a market opportunity for someone else to develop a cure and compete against them.

bardworx 7y ago

I can sympathize with you as I’ve been shaving my head since I was 23 because of thinning hair. Ive never felt self conscious about my hair, or lack there of, not have I ever explored medical treatments. However, ive always had an issue with the maintenance. Why should I be bald and still have to buzz my head every 4 days? Rotten deal. Now, if the medical community came out with a way for me to keep my 0 buzz without constant maintenance, I’ll gladly sign up. And I’m not talking about laser removal to have a shiny head..I like my buzz but maintenance is a pain. (This comment is light hearted and in jest.) Regardless, being bald , in my opinion, doesn’t really mean much. Sure some folks talk nonsense or point it out but I feel pity for their thought process. We have so many responsibilities and worries in life that hair shouldn’t be in the top 10. Life’s too short to worry about such nonsense.

jamesrcole 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed Is there any evidence for this claim? I don't doubt there's a component of that at work, but I suspect there's also innate factors. Hair could be a, statistically speaking, signal of youth, and could influence the innate components of attractiveness judgements.

Overtonwindow 7y ago
Just look at how many politicians are bald. When was the last time we had a bald president?
- stordoff 7y ago
  Looking this up, I stumbled on an interesting observation: > Bald–hairy (Russian: лысый–волосатый) is a common joke in Russian political discourse, referring to the empirical rule of the state leaders' succession defined as a change of a bald/balding leader to a hairy one and vice versa. This consistent pattern can be traced back until as early as 1825 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy
- ralusek 7y ago
  But where is the proof that the reason we're averse to baldness is because of social construction? Your statement is equivalent to saying that women prefer taller men due to social construction...because women on dating sites prefer taller men. It's circular logic and fails to address the reason why they prefer taller men.
  - rofo1 7y ago
    It's absolutely due to evolution, not social construction. Same thing for women - they prefer physically strong, tall men. It's also due to evolution. It boils down to survival of the fittest - the fittest had the most resources, and a mother needs resources to reproduce (mother's can't hunt while breastfeeding, so that's out of the question). Yes, it's that simple. Same thing for men - they prefer young, sexually attractive, fertile females. Those are our instincts anyway. We can and we do influence them consciously.

DSMan195276 7y ago

As someone who went bald before I was 20 (Like you it sounds like), I'd say you're heavily generalizing. Sure, shaving your head worked for you and solved your problem, but that doesn't mean it is a solution that solves the problem for everybody, and claiming that it's not a "real" problem because you found a solution that works for you is a bit ridiculous. It's easy to say I should just completely shave my head and ignore what others think of me, but for me that's not a solution that has worked - it would be great if it did and I could just will myself to stop being self-conscious, but that hasn't worked that well for me. And if a "cure" for baldness would fix my problem then that's useful to me and a solution to a real problem I have - and it is something that would certainly improve my current quality of life.

phs318u 7y ago
As an almost-bald man myself (who shaves smooth twice a week; what a chore [0]), may I respectfully ask if you've considered treating the psychology of self-consciousness [1] rather than the hair loss? [0] Seriously, can someone please invent a a once-and-for-all hair removal process that means I never have to shave again? While losing my hair was the "problem" initially, the real problem has turned out to be that the balding stopped. I wish it had continued to completion. [1] Also, if you had say, implants, wouldn't it be possible that you'd still be self-conscious, but this time about whether the implants were detectable? EDITED to add [1].
- fiskeben 7y ago
  Shaving the head is zen :) But you're right, it is a lot of work that it would be nice to be without.
  - thetrainfold 7y ago
    Just imagine the work that haired people go through.. (sorry)
- hardlianotion 7y ago
  Shaving not for everyone. I clipper semi-regularly. Shaving tends to scar you up and some folk (including me) have major skin irritation that festers.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> Embrace your baldness, stop trying to “fix” it and focus on solving the real problems in the world. I'm reminded of a spot-on comment by Gene Roddenberry: > At a press conference about Star Trek: The Next Generation, a reporter asked Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry about casting Patrick Stewart, commenting that "Surely by the 24th century, they would have found a cure for male pattern baldness." Gene Roddenberry had the perfect response. > "No, by the 24th century, no one will care." (via https://boingboing.net/2015/07/08/star-trek-creators-perfect-c.html https://boingboing.net/2015/07/08/star-trek-creators-perfect...)

SenHeng 7y ago
That wasn't really what he thought in the beginning though. https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/14167 https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/14167 > Gene Roddenberry's first thought was that he "can't put a bald head man in the captain's chair". (TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning")

SenHeng 7y ago

Patrick Stewart has this awesome interview about his baldness. I'm not balding yet but it has inspired me enough that I plan to shave it all off when I eventually start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU Transcribe for those who can't watch videos, from https://wearebald.com/6740-2/ https://wearebald.com/6740-2/ Even though Stewart lost his hair at an early age, he didn’t shave it bald for a number of years. He relates the hilarious story of the first time he went fully bald, “There was a man who was at drama school with me, Hungarian, he was older than the rest of us, he ran his own theater in Budapest. He was a man of strong personality and a good loyal friend to me. He and his wife invited me for lunch one day, the two of them got to the end of their lunch and I thought they were going to make a coffee or something. Then all of a sudden, I was grabbed from behind by George, this big powerful man, and I thought he was playing some kind of game, so I was laughing and joking but then his wife appeared in front of me with a pair of scissors and I knew in an instant what she was going to do, and I began to scream and shout, and now it was serious. I was fighting to keep my appearance, then she lifted my hair and cut it all off. Then George came around, knelt down in front of me and said, now you be yourself – no more hiding! And he was right because I used to walk constantly embarrassed, I couldn’t stand-up properly. It was not only inhibiting as a person, but it was hopeless if you were an actor, of course.”

jodrellblank 7y ago
Yes, but Patrick Stewart obeys Reddit's "rules 1 and 2". 1) be attractive, 2) don't be unattractive. Or, to put it another way: https://extrafabulouscomics.com/comic/180/ https://extrafabulouscomics.com/comic/180/
- SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
  As someone who's seen a few slightly chubby bald guys transformed into buff bald guys over the years just by hitting the gym a few times a week and eating better, I'd wager that the "be attractive" part isn't as far out of reach as some people think.
  - 7y ago

sAbakumoff 7y ago

Well said bro, I did the same and not going back to having hairs.

mping 7y ago

Don't forget that women lose hair too. Socially, it's much worse for them.

9HZZRfNlpR 7y ago
Men are much more likely to lose hair though. And I feel like women can make wearing a wig work much better than men, but it's not a competition. I do know that thinning of hair women suffer from strucks them hard.

vonseel 7y ago

While I am not quite there on the balding aspect, I feel a similar way about beards. For some weird genetic reason, at 30yo, I still can’t grow much facial hair and all of the hair above my lips is blonde. I do grow quite a bit of hair below the jaw-line though... It doesn’t bother me much even though beards are nearly universal where I live among men (Texas) and all the men in my family grow full, uniform-colored lumberjack beards. I wish I felt the same about balding and hairlines... can’t say that I do. I have always had thin hair and started noticing balding around age 24-25, I’d guess. None of the brothers aged 35-50 have much noticeable balding. Genetically, I guess I got the short end of the stick with regards to hair in my family. Oh well.

speedplane 7y ago
> I feel a similar way about beards. For some weird genetic reason, at 30yo, I still can’t grow much facial hair and all of the hair above my lips is blonde. ... It doesn’t bother me much even though beards are nearly universal where I live among men (Texas) and all the men in my family grow full, uniform-colored lumberjack beards. Do you really care about having a beard? It sounds like you care more about fitting in with other people around you. A beard will never make or break you, forget about it, show your value through something meaningful and people will respect far more than anything that can grow on your face.
- vonseel 7y ago
  Nope, I don’t care. In fact I wish I grew less facial hair so I didn’t need to trim at all. Losing the hair on top of my head, though...

rofo1 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. Balding is an entirely healthy and natural human process. Those two sentences seem fine with one another, until you think about what "natural human process" means. It's aging. It's getting old. It's getting out of reproductive phase. It's completely normal to be devastated for males (and especially females) when they start losing hair. It has been linked with numerous health problems (so it's just not for vanity reasons). It's very rare the case where bald looks better than full head of hair. Almost never, I would say. Full head of hair = indicates youth and good health.

agumonkey 7y ago

It's vastly a social construct. But it's also an aging degradation sign, and a chore (Young hairs are maintenance free)

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> Young hairs are maintenance free Have you spoken to any women about this? Or ever had a haircut?
- agumonkey 7y ago
  No, I'm a genetically bald monkey. Of course I had, and older, thinner, less numerous hairs are a different kind of bore. In you twenties hairs almost fall into place cutely.

ChrisRR 7y ago

I went bald in my early 20s, around the age when I started taking a bit more pride in my appearance and actually style my hair. I've been buzzing my hair ever since, but if someone offered me a way to get all my hair back, then I'd definitely take it.

arvinsim 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments The problem is that it is not something you can ignore or control. One can embrace their baldness but that doesn't stop other people's prejudice. And these prejudices have real social and personal impact.

YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago

>> Christiano, who has an autoimmune disorder that caused her body to attack the hair cells on her head, notes that though much attention around hair loss is paid to men, some 30 million women in the United States experience thinning of their hair. Perhaps it's different for men, but there are few events that I would experience as more disfiguring than losing my hair, and they all involve severe trauma. In fact, I have a facial scar from a fall when I was a kid and I don't ever think about it. But one time I managed to sear my hair off with too much bleaching and the couple of months until I was sure it was growing back were some of the hardest I've ever been through. Is that socially constructed? I suppose having a nose (rather than just a pair of nostrils) is socially constructed. But we live in a socially constructed world and some things are harmful, even if they have no real substance. Edit: but I'm proud of you if you can get over some of those things and more power to you. A handsome man is a handsome man, hair or not. I'm making a comment about how this sort of therapy can be beneficial to women, also, for whom losing hair is not "natural" (in many ways).

reedwolf 7y ago
>I suppose having a nose (rather than just a pair of nostrils) is socially constructed Worked for Voldermort.

vectorEQ 7y ago

i agree with you. this is just like being a little weighted is 'bad' or having crooked teeth is 'bad'. people should appreciate all of human spectrum, not just some TV ideals. happy for you that you are happy with yourself and got over it :) good on you! - i know a lot of people can end up in a struggle due to this kind of pressure on 'image'

orev 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed Humans are a social species, and trying to discount something as being not important or not “real” because it is a social norm just completely ignores large parts of human history and evolution as a social species. Social interactions and conformity (within a limit) are extremely strong drivers of both friendship circles and options for successful mating. Many women consider a nice head of hair as an important trait for attraction, and few men would date a bald woman either. You simply cannot discount these facts (or say they are not facts because they are “social”) just because doing so helps you to accept your situation, and certainly can’t say that everyone else should also do the same. Especially for young men who have not yet had the chance to find a mate, this is a very important issue.

KozmoNau7 7y ago

I started going bald in my early 20s, and initially I just had my hair cut longer on top, in an attempt to mitigate it. By my late 20s, I bought a trimmer and started buzz cutting my remaining hair at the lowest setting once a week. Now I just let the power donut grow, and trim once every couple of weeks.

RomanBob 7y ago

completely false. Women prefer men with a full head of hair. And sexual selection maybe 'socially constructed' but it is as real as you can get.

loriverkutya 7y ago
I recommend you to watch Up in the Air. "You know, honestly by the time you're 34, all the physical requirements just go out the window. You secretly pray that he'll be taller than you, not an asshole would be nice just someone who enjoys my company, comes from a good family. You don't think about that when you're younger. Someone who wants kids, likes kids. Healthy enough to play with his kids. Please let him earn more money than I do, you might not understand that now but believe me, you will one day otherwise that's a recipe for disaster. And hopefully, some hair on his head. I mean, that's not even a deal breaker these days. A nice smile. Yea, a nice smile just might do it."
- mkl 7y ago
  Whether that's true will depend on the person, but it was written by two men, neither of whom had reached that age yet.

_zamorano_ 7y ago

How good one looks with his head shaved depends a lot of the shape of your head, your ears and nose and your facial hair. If you have big ears, there's no way you won't benefit of a full head of hair. The more perfect or circular your head, the more shaving will suit you. Furthermore, you can play with your beard because its rare to find a clean shaved guy that looks good without one. But if you don't grow enough facial hair or have holes in it... You're out of luck. My conclusion is shaving will help some, but it's no golden bullet.

gburdell3 7y ago
Yep. I'm 22, thinning, have a baby face, and can't grow facial hair that doesn't look like a 13-year-old who hasn't learned to shave yet. If I shaved my head I'd look like an overgrown baby.

puranjay 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments Are you sure about that? Because virtually every historical epic with an attractive hero makes sure to mention the hero's full head of hair. Or maybe Homer was just trying to sell hair care products

nootropicat 7y ago

If this works out, being bald or balding is going to signal you're too poor to get the treatment. I would expect a similar level of social stigma as lacking a front tooth.

DanBC 7y ago
Wearing hoodies and sneakers signals that you're too poor to afford a suit, but SV is full of people who avoid suits as much as possible.
- llampx 7y ago
  SV has other signals that it values
elliekelly 7y ago
In many ways that stigma already exists for women. Women with thinning hair can get hair extensions if they have an extra $600 in their budget every few weeks. The economics even apply to women dealing with hair loss related to medical conditions/treatments. Insurance companies have to cover one "cranial prosthesis" a year but they're only required to offer $300 of coverage. That wouldn't even pay for the typical Comic Con wig. A mid-quality human hair partial wig is around $3,000. A quality human hair full wig is around $10,000. Women with more money (and better health insurance) are able to get the $10,000 wig while women with fewer resources are often forced to just make do.

dgzl 7y ago

> The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry Going bald means losing something you're not getting back (generally speaking). This is symbolic for something not being good/right in your life, either by your choices or not, whether by stress, diet, exorcise, genetics, whatever. I think this symbolic nature is also a reason people consider it bad.

gingabriska 7y ago

I had long and flat hair sometime back, so I always fantasized about going bald. Earlry 20s, so one day I decided to go bald and my girlfriend back then wasn't happy with my decision. After some days, my hair started growing curly and I like them more now so changed my mind about going bald.

navigatesol 7y ago

>The entire idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. I'm with you as far as not having hair being liberating. I'm not losing my hair, but for many years shaved my head out of pure convenience; the maintenance was so much easier. But not every thing is a conspiracy to sell you something. On average people are more attracted to not-balding as opposed to balding. If those things concern you, solutions (kind of) exist.

augstein 7y ago

I‘m not bald but I think your view on that matter is very simplified and a bit shortsighted. Healthy hair is a big contributor to the perceived attractiveness of a person, which in turn can have a big influence on the career success of a person (numerous studies proof that). So going bald can severely limit ones career options and/or negatively influence the currently chosen career path. Personally, as a more drastic example, I think a bald(ing) person would have harder to become US president than the same person not bald(ing). Also shaving your head definitely is not an option for everyone. You have to have a very well proportioned head and normal looking ears to make it look acceptable or even good. So balding can also severely influence your perceived sexual attractiveness and limit your options for mating. I think its not just superfluousness or as you state an "idea […] socially constructed by the mass media and advertising industry" that make a number of men who are starting to bald also getting depressed. It might be just the realization of some of the things I stated above and/or other factors, which I would not dismiss so easily.

i_am_proteus 7y ago
Yet one of the most successful politicians and arguably the most powerful individual in the world- Vladimir Putin- is heavily balding.
- TacticalTable 7y ago
  Comparing a US presidential election with Russia's system is not solving the problem. Baldness is intimidating, while most US elections hinge on a bit of friendly charismatic attractiveness. Nobody is saying that bald people can't be attractive, but it _severely_ limits the kind of look you can go for. Nobody wants Vladimir Putin to be their child's elementary school teacher.
everdrive 7y ago
Some people have terrible hair, or are also ugly in ways that hair simply won't hide. Life is a slot machine.

ivanhoe 7y ago

Well if you ask me, the face shaving is even worse social construct and the whole industries were invented around it... but that's because I hate shaving, and also like how I look with the beard better. However, let's take into account that beard or shaved head look doesn't work for everyone's style. Even more important some people like it better one way or the other for their own set of reasons (like me being too lazy to shave regularly).

einpoklum 7y ago

If balding it's entirely healthy and natural and magical and whatever, what are you shaving your head for?