Is Going Bald Really A Big Deal?
June 25, 2011 by Arash Mazinani
Filed under All Content, Gentlemen, Reader Questions
There has been a lot of news recently about men and their hair. Ever since Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney revealed he had a hair transplant it’s got everyone talking about baldness. I’ve always sported a shaved head since I was about 22 so loss of hair has never really left me quaking in my boots. When you barely have any hair to begin with, going bald is not much of a big deal. But to many men it seems it is. Look at Wayne Rooney, forking out thousands of pounds to have more hair. Months before that Dancing On Ice’s judge Jason Gardiner reportedly spent £22,000 on his hair transplant. Spending so much money on their hair suggests that to some people it really is a big deal.
But that leaves me pondering the question why?
Having hair seems to be linked with fertility and masculinity, at least in the minds of men. In most of the articles I’ve read on the subject the biggest reason men hate hair loss is they feel it makes them less attractive. They have the belief that women are put off by baldness. Others cite that their hair makes them ‘who they are’ as a person. I guess as a generation who have access to a million and one different hair products all specifically formulated and designed for men, it’s hard to ignore the role hair has in terms of style.
Before
after
But their are plenty of men that are championing the bald look. Bruce Willis is a fine example as is Jason Statham. Both are what you would consider ‘masculine’ guys yet are happy to rock the ‘balding look’.
While it would seem that hair transplants are expensive treatments, it does make me wonder whether the current increase in exposure to them will see an increase in men opting for a hair transplant. While personally I don’t think going bald is a big deal and the prospect doesn’t bother me, it remains that for a lot of men it is a scary prospect.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
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Ah, this topic is very close to my heart. I would never try to minimize the distress men feel at noticing the loss of their hair. I have no doubt it is devastating! I would be absolutely despondent if the same were to happen to me. However, at least for men, going bald is much more acceptable and workable than for women. But that’s another story.
Back to men and baldness. Let the record show that I have a huge thing for men with shaved or close-cropped hair! IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SEXY! My hubby shaves his head. I’ve never known him with hair. In fact, his lack of hair is one of the things that caught my eye. When I’m out and about, men without hair are the ones that always catch my eye first.
I think more women are embracing baldness because it is proof of complete self-acceptance when a man who is losing his hair (or not) just takes it all off. I’m really glad that the shaved head movement has picked up over the last 15 years. It’s so much better than combover (please, never), or a toupée (never, never). I love a shaved head on a man because it is the full opposite of femininity. You mentioned Jason Statham and Bruce Willis. To that I will add Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Steve Austin, Sean Connery, Ben Kingsley, Chris Daughtry, and Tyrese Gibson. Men of all ages and ethnicities, all without a full head of hair, all with massive sex appeal.
Guys, if you’re losing your hair, just take it off! Any woman who doesn’t like you because you don’t have hair doesn’t deserve you!
Thanks for the extensive list of guys with bald heads completely neglected a lot of them. Great to see we have lovers of shaved and bald heads out there. A great point about self acceptance as well… I think that is really key.
I know of someone who got a hair transplant at the tender age of 24, meaning when he only started losing his hair at the top of his forehead. He went through this extremely painful procedure, and he will probably do it again, when, older, his hair starts falling out from other points of his head…. this sounds a tad crazy.
I’m all for “to each its own” and yes, men who want to have a transplant should go ahead and do whatever makes them happy. Now, from the point of view of a woman, I have to admit I find men like Bruce Willis or Jason Statham extremely sexy, and if I were dating a man who admitted having had a hair transplant, this could (very shallow I know!) put me off them a tad, but that’s just me. I like a man who is secure of himself, feels sexy in his own skin, no matter the shape, the imperfections.
Thanks for your comment Jessie… good to know there is lots of support for those with no/little hair
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Ugh… being in the States, I hadn’t seen these plugs until now. Scary stuff. It always baffles me how men can care so much about baldness when it can be an after thought to women. Frankly, if a man has everything else going, I could care less about his hair. Then again, women seem to have far more insecurities than men and we never question it. Looks like all of a humanity is just a big ball of insecurity, regardless of gender.
True words…
My ex rocked a shaved head and I thought it was super sexy. My bro rocks a shaved head b/c it’s easy peasy. Now that I’m nearing 30 and some of my guy friends have early balding I have been seeing that fret of losing their hair and I can sympathize with them but really I never connected a full head of hair w/ masculinity and there are so many hot hot men that are bald and I think really a lot of girls find it sexy. So bare it all boys!!! Don’t be afraid to let it go!
Amen!
“As a generation who have access to a million and one different hair products all specifically formulated and designed for men, it’s hard to ignore the role hair has in terms of style.” It’s so true – and if you’re a man in the least conscious about the ‘role’ of your hair, then it must be tough to ignore. I’ve known blokes say not so much that it’s about their masculinity, but that losing hair just makes them look different in a way that is out of their control.
That said, what Rooney has had done just smacks of insecurity to me, and is a far cry from the other images he projects…
Yeah good point, very true about Wayne Rooney as well…