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Why are so many people brainwashed to think baldness==bad? My hair really started to go down around 30 years old and am going to have to shave my head at some p

Why are so many people brainwashed to think baldness==bad? My hair really started to go down around 30 years old and am going to have to shave my head at some point, but who cares? Why does it matter?

stavros 5mo ago
Why are so many people brainwashed to think that anything makes an aesthetic difference? We just like what we like, having a great head of hair when you're older is rare, so it's more attractive.
endemic 5mo ago
If it makes someone feel better about themselves, why not?
- __turbobrew__ 5mo ago
  The question is why do people feel bad about themselves? Everyone gets old, it is part of life. Why can we not accept that?
  - gacgacgac 5mo ago
    It's not necessarily feeling bad. It might be something makes one feel better. I'm not unhappy with how I look. I'm happier after a haircut and a hot shave. Sometimes we make choices because they take us from "whatever" to "this rules".
  - deleted 5mo ago
    [deleted]
  - IncreasePosts 5mo ago
    Because society (random people you interact with) treats you differently depending on your physical characteristics. And dealing with a bunch of people who are mean to you for no real reason is harder psychologically to deal with than dealing with a bunch of people who are nice to you for no reason. Ask any person who was overweight and lost weight whether they noticed strangers being nicer to them after their weight loss.
  - toasty228 5mo ago
    > Everyone gets old, it is part of life This forum believe the silicon valley delusional tech executives saying we'll soon extend lifespan to 150+ years thanks to "ai", it's a transhumanist echo chamber, a hair transplant is nothing, they'd sell their parents for a neuralink chip
- gacgacgac 5mo ago
  Right? Everyone should have access to gender affirming care. Obviously, we should also try to socially change to remove the negative pressures that contribute to dysphoria. If it makes someone feel happier to not be bald, great. It should come from making them happy, not them having to avoid social stigma though.
olalonde 5mo ago
Unless you happen to be one of the lucky few who look better bald, balding makes you less conventionally attractive (there are actual studies about this). Whether that matters depends on how much weight you place on being conventionally attractive.
atleastoptimal 5mo ago
The human brain responds positively to a full head of hair, and less positively to balding. I'm not sure why, as it seems there is no huge evolutionary advantage to hair. However the way the brain responds to it is incontestable, and no amount of body positivity will change the impact it has, thus for an individual it makes much more sense to pay a few thousand to conform to beauty standards than hope that everyone you meet will turn off their primate brain when interacting with you.
- liveoneggs 5mo ago
  it's culture not evolution
  - atleastoptimal 5mo ago
    Culture emerges from evolution.
ribosometronome 5mo ago
Wouldn't the same also apply to preferring the shaved head look over a more natural male pattern baldness look when those are your options? Why shave it? Who cares? Does it matter? More directly, at the risk of a handwavey evo-psych just-so story: Hundreds of millions of years of evolution, perhaps? A ton of characteristics driving attraction are signals of health / youthfulness. Weight, musculature, nice skin, good teeth, etc. And yeah, good hair! Male pattern baldness is definitely associated with aging even though many people will probably spend more of their lives follicularly challenged than they did with good hair.
macintux 5mo ago
Speaking as someone who's been shaving for 20 years now, it is bad. More sun exposure, less cold protection. It has benefits too, but it's overall harmful.
- macintux 5mo ago
  I forgot to mention: a thick head of hair is useful for safety as well. I've had a nasty head wound that would have been mostly avoided, and I've certainly bumped my head on multiple occasions where it was much more painful without that buffer.
liveoneggs 5mo ago
[dead]
hermitcrab 5mo ago
Some people look great bald. Some don't. I am in the latter group, so I'm hoping not to go bald! If I do, I will probably buy a beret.
aaron695 5mo ago
[dead]
randycupertino 5mo ago
Ageism is huge in the workplace. It sucks but it definitely happens. I had a young manager complaining that "his job was to teach a bunch of old bald guys with saggy balls how to use excel" - I was sitting there thinking about how I had 20 years on him but he probably didn't realize in my case because I dye my hair. If you need your job and income, taking steps to prevent facing this bias can be beneficial.
epolanski 5mo ago
While I do not care as well I perfectly understand people that do and want to have hair on their heads.

stavros 5mo ago

Why are so many people brainwashed to think that anything makes an aesthetic difference? We just like what we like, having a great head of hair when you're older is rare, so it's more attractive.

endemic 5mo ago

If it makes someone feel better about themselves, why not?

__turbobrew__ 5mo ago
The question is why do people feel bad about themselves? Everyone gets old, it is part of life. Why can we not accept that?
- gacgacgac 5mo ago
  It's not necessarily feeling bad. It might be something makes one feel better. I'm not unhappy with how I look. I'm happier after a haircut and a hot shave. Sometimes we make choices because they take us from "whatever" to "this rules".
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- IncreasePosts 5mo ago
  Because society (random people you interact with) treats you differently depending on your physical characteristics. And dealing with a bunch of people who are mean to you for no real reason is harder psychologically to deal with than dealing with a bunch of people who are nice to you for no reason. Ask any person who was overweight and lost weight whether they noticed strangers being nicer to them after their weight loss.
- toasty228 5mo ago
  > Everyone gets old, it is part of life This forum believe the silicon valley delusional tech executives saying we'll soon extend lifespan to 150+ years thanks to "ai", it's a transhumanist echo chamber, a hair transplant is nothing, they'd sell their parents for a neuralink chip
gacgacgac 5mo ago
Right? Everyone should have access to gender affirming care. Obviously, we should also try to socially change to remove the negative pressures that contribute to dysphoria. If it makes someone feel happier to not be bald, great. It should come from making them happy, not them having to avoid social stigma though.

olalonde 5mo ago

Unless you happen to be one of the lucky few who look better bald, balding makes you less conventionally attractive (there are actual studies about this). Whether that matters depends on how much weight you place on being conventionally attractive.

atleastoptimal 5mo ago

The human brain responds positively to a full head of hair, and less positively to balding. I'm not sure why, as it seems there is no huge evolutionary advantage to hair. However the way the brain responds to it is incontestable, and no amount of body positivity will change the impact it has, thus for an individual it makes much more sense to pay a few thousand to conform to beauty standards than hope that everyone you meet will turn off their primate brain when interacting with you.

liveoneggs 5mo ago
it's culture not evolution
- atleastoptimal 5mo ago
  Culture emerges from evolution.

ribosometronome 5mo ago

Wouldn't the same also apply to preferring the shaved head look over a more natural male pattern baldness look when those are your options? Why shave it? Who cares? Does it matter? More directly, at the risk of a handwavey evo-psych just-so story: Hundreds of millions of years of evolution, perhaps? A ton of characteristics driving attraction are signals of health / youthfulness. Weight, musculature, nice skin, good teeth, etc. And yeah, good hair! Male pattern baldness is definitely associated with aging even though many people will probably spend more of their lives follicularly challenged than they did with good hair.

macintux 5mo ago

Speaking as someone who's been shaving for 20 years now, it is bad. More sun exposure, less cold protection. It has benefits too, but it's overall harmful.

macintux 5mo ago
I forgot to mention: a thick head of hair is useful for safety as well. I've had a nasty head wound that would have been mostly avoided, and I've certainly bumped my head on multiple occasions where it was much more painful without that buffer.

liveoneggs 5mo ago

[dead]

hermitcrab 5mo ago

Some people look great bald. Some don't. I am in the latter group, so I'm hoping not to go bald! If I do, I will probably buy a beret.

aaron695 5mo ago

[dead]

randycupertino 5mo ago

Ageism is huge in the workplace. It sucks but it definitely happens. I had a young manager complaining that "his job was to teach a bunch of old bald guys with saggy balls how to use excel" - I was sitting there thinking about how I had 20 years on him but he probably didn't realize in my case because I dye my hair. If you need your job and income, taking steps to prevent facing this bias can be beneficial.

epolanski 5mo ago

While I do not care as well I perfectly understand people that do and want to have hair on their heads.