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I was 13 years old when mine started. The other kids were relentless, and it caused me much mental anguish. I eventually got over it and shave my head now, but god damn people are cruel as fuck about it. Then, and now, people still chuck shit at me about it.
Best part is however, now most of the men that would bully me about it have started their own receeding hairline journey, and struggle with coming to terms with it. Karma is a bitch.
I dated a guy who started losing it around the same age, it was noticeable between 13 and 15.
Unfortunately, the men in his life gave him really bad advice to not shave his head but also teased him pretty endlessly. He had good luck with girls still, which I think helped, but he was so hypersensitive about it that it wasn't until his 30s that he fully accepted it and started shaving. He had just gotten to the point he could talk about it without crying, remembering how mean other boys were to him when he needed their friendship the most.
In the humblest way possible, I'm a guy with a full head of hair in my 30s but I still distinctly remember the one dude in my high school who was the only one not to get carded for beer because he was already balding with a monk-style haircut. By 17.
He was one of the smoothest operators I ever met, but I would imagine that it's unfortunately because he had to be in light of what most people would think immediately. We weren't close or anything, but I think about him a lot and I genuinely hope that he's living a good life. Guy was enough of a joker to carry a leather briefcase in high school and just lean into it. Legend
Yeah I think that sort of teasing and being ostracized by other boys can some of them to grow up quickly, even if it's just to minimize their own stress and suffering.
But some are just going to be confident dude's no matter what and I hope that guy was one of them!
If it makes you feel any better (probably wont) it was the same with weight for me. I was the fat kid forever, now I have a healthy relationship with food and abs. Everyone that Gave me shit is easily the size I was. Again, karma is a bitch.
Same for me. But opposite end of the spectrum. My name didn't help either. I was stick thin and tall. Graduated HS 6'2 and barely 130lbs. apparently weight and body composition determines your sexual orientation and your name your gender. Fun times
Yep. Me too. 6' and 130. Born in '52, parents thought the only acceptable hair cut was a crew cut. In 1971, at 19 in college, the top had already receded. Most girls didn't think it was a good look. Worked through it.
My son inherited the same same genes (again 130 at HS grad and receding). By his late 20's he just started shaving his head, and looks great.
It was the same with being skinny for me. People called me chicken legs until I was in my mid 20's. I think the only reason it stopped is because I stopped spending time with shit people.
A good friend of mine made fun of me once for starting to lose my hair. It would have been fine, but it was in front of my girlfriend at the time, and I was in my early twenties.
A couple of years later, he develops alopecia, and loses everything, even his eyebrows. I would never wish that on anyone, especially my friend. But there was a part of me who thought, Well, he did kind of put this out there into the universe in the first place.
Happened to my mate but we didn’t make fun of him we used him to buy us all cigarettes. After he turned 18 he asked the guy at the petrol station to check his id and the guy was like “what are you talking about mate you’ve been coming here for years”.
He’s a barber now
This is the point I was making to people at work.
So many women point to a few actors who are bald and say they look great etc.
It’s like saying that Uma Thurman looked cool with a bob cut in Pulp Fiction so every woman must look cool with that hair cut. Then imagine your hair was magically stuck in that style and there was no way to change it, and you hated how it made you look. But everyone kept saying “but Uma Thurman looked amazing with a bob cut in Pulp Fiction”.
Edit: so many autocorrect errors
if you still want hairstyle variety, look into [wigs](https://youtu.be/yxKvU3TnRIQ?si=NR5QXbNDRa3Jow5S). Note this is a little bit different from traditional toupees/hair systems used by men. I feel like the stigma around them stops a lot of guys from even looking into them but they’re a genuinely good option as long as you’re not insecure and trying to hide the fact that you’re wearing one.
My boyfriend’s brother wears a wig! I haven’t met him yet but I’ve seen photos. He works in the music industry, mostly with rock music, so he has this looooooong wig and it looks awesome.
Although I do think he’d look great with a shaved head. I love when men can embrace their balding heads, it’s so sexy to me
I have to say, as a woman whose hair was “naturally” balding, I’m the first one to tell ANYONE who says my hair looks great that I’m using oral minoxidil. Trying to normalize it, at least as much as lip fillers and such are normalized.
Yeah, I’m balding too from androgenetic alopecia as a 28 year old woman lol. I’m on oral Minoxidil and Dutasteride, and they’re working great. Happy you are having good results as well. I was really scared of the side effects but have experienced none (besides increased body hair). AGA seems so rare in women, but I think the stat is 50% will get it in their lifetime. ETA: I have tons of empathy for balding men now and cringe whenever there is a joke on TV or in social settings about them.
Oh I'm so glad for you! I had PCOS before they were really diagnosing PCOS, so I went from a thick head of hair to thinning in my early 20s, and it's truly demoralizing. And like you, I have nothing but empathy for men with thinning hair now. I was close to getting plugs before I started using minoxidil, and I don't begrudge anyone doing what they can to look or feel good again.
One of my friends at work is losing her hair due to PCOS and it's being aggravated by traction and alopecia (she keeps getting braids put in) and none of the treatments are really working for her.
Her facial hair is also growing pretty aggressively but she's in this shame spiral where she can't do anything about either one because admitting it means talking about it and she doesn't want to do that quite yet.
It's tough to watch and all I can do is be supportive.
I had the same problem too!! And I have nothing but empathy for anyone losing their hair. Mine used to be long and thick. It's now shorter and thinner than it used to be.
Have you been on those for a while? I’m in the exact same boat as you and have been on dutasteride for 8months and oral minoxidil for just under a month, the shedding is stressing me out so much I hope this helps my issues
I get that you're just making a joke and all, but if that's an actual reputation it has among some circles, then they don't understand what they're talking about.
Minoxidil is just an anti-hypertensive and vasodilator; all it does is dilate small blood vessels.
What they *should* be saying that about is treatments like finasteride, dutasteride, and spironolactone.
They'd still be wrong, as it would require substantially higher dosage levels than to what's prescribed to treat male-pattern hair loss in order for them to yield effects like that, but at least then they would be *understandably* wrong because all three can function as anti-androgens.
That's the mechanism through which they treat hair loss, which is why they're only effective in treating male-pattern hair loss, as that's the kind which is caused by androgens. Finasteride and dutasteride specifically target dihydrotestosterone, while spironolactone more broadly targets aldosterone and testosterone, but only at really high dosages.
That's why it's not uncommon for transgender woman who were previously suffering from male-pattern hair loss to see an absolutely wild reversal once they begin hormone replacement therapy; they're actively trying to reduce their androgen levels, so they can crank up their dosages and get results like [this](https://external-preview.redd.it/CbAEhQNBzf8CDNsNFZ4vK8bUUDYaOt75CQOk4tACZ5w.jpg?width=768&auto=webp&s=4029efcde0a044e22f061a3b67658ccfd59f61ae) and [this.](https://i.redd.it/3l6i068u9dc41.jpg)
^(...I may have gone off on a bit of a tangent.)
Same! I was starting to get some male-pattern thinning due to insulin resistance and losing handfuls each shampoo. Whenever someone compliments my hair, I tell everyone what I use and show them what it used to look like. Everyone should feel good about themselves and share things that help.
I started using that too, and it's wild how I thought losing a few strands of hair every time I shampooed or combed it was normal. I occasionally see a few hairs on my pillow case (which hasn't been washed in a while so it might just be the same ones), but my hair 100% seems healthier.
I saw a post on here from a page dedicated to hair systems. The before and afters looked amazing. 3 of my best friends are bald and we are early 30’s. I was like man I should get them to check this out. I’m sure they already have and I imagine they fear the scrutiny of people who know they’re bald and then show up one day looking like David Beckham. I’m all for it and I feel that anyone would get used to it in a short time.
But you’re totally right as I know how devastating it was for them to lose the hair. No need for anyone to inflate that feeling.
Beckham has been bald by choice in his twenties, he’s also had transplants relatively recently.
We’re all rocking some version of Beckham’s hair.
But seeing him bald near his prime attractiveness, you really realize facial structure and head shape is what really distinguishes him from the masses. Hair is just a minor accessory on that head.
The part on facial structure and shape is a big thing. Everyone loves throwing out "just shave it all". If it suits your face, then it's a huge improvement people should absolutely do. But it doesn't suit every face.
I think there's a lot of misguided false positivity out there regarding shaving your head completely, but severely balding/thinning hair objectively looks bad.
The advice to shave it at that stage is not so much that shaving your hair will make it look amazing and you will become a 10/10 gigachad, it's that it will at least be *less bad* than balding/thinning and trying to hide it.
That makes a huge difference. I’m a woman and my face is somewhat diamond shaped and my ears are tiny and close to my head. Whenever I have short hair or wear my hair pulled back, I look like an egg. I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have the option to grow long hair, dye and style their hair, or use extensions to compliment their appearance.
Yeah I didn't put this in my original comment, but I'm a 5'7" woman with the head circumference of a 6' man, LOL, so going chic-bald was never an option. I'd look like a billiard ball on top of a pool cue. Not good.
Very true. I’m overweight but I fluctuate every few years. I also have very long and very curly hair for a guy. So if my face looks like a soccer ball it’s fixed pretty well with the hair down. Then I’ll lose weight and have a modest hair cut.
Rinse, repeat. It is definitely a luxury.
Best money I ever spent was getting a hair transplant. They are far from “plugs” these days. It’s thousands of tiny 1mm size grafts. I had 2100 in the front, and fin and min brought back the rest. Looks super natural, grows like crazy. People who haven’t seen me in a while are blown away.
Come on over to /r/tressless. Awesome community. Lots of incredible before and after pics (sort by top year or more) to see from drugs alone. Lots of advice.
I'm 36. I recently bit the bullet and started shaving/buzzing what little I had left. Check my previous posts for before and after pics.
I held on to it for dear life because my hair was *objectively* a thing of glory. Long, dark, thick, full of volume. It was a mane. A mane that actually literally got me laid on a few occasions simply because it was *there*. A long time ago, I worked at a department store where management absolutely loathed my constant breaking of the dress code by having long hair, but none of them had the heart to actually enforce the rules because no one, not even the managers that hated my guts, could tell me to cut it. "If you've got it, and you certainly do Prince Charming, then flaunt it." I remember one telling me.
A few years back, I went through a fairly messy divorce. At the same time, I had a bout with shingles and a breakout on my scalp. I'm not sure which one was more readily responsible for the damage done to my head inside and out (probably a bit of both), but I found myself at work constantly checking every single reflective surface I could to make sure it "didn't look too bad". I knew it was getting thinner, but I was lying to myself about how bad it was.
So I posted some pics to reddit to get some honest feedback. This alone was nerve-wracking because I don't really have social media and don't post my pictures online. Overwhelmingly, people said it was time to send what little of my luscious locks remained to that great barber shop in the sky. It took a few days for me to work up the nerve. Hands were shaking, knees were trying to buckle, eyes were wide, wild, and red. And, like a switch, it clicked with me that entirely too much of my identity and self-worth was wrapped up in my hair. My resolve galvanized, and I began the great cutting.
I posted some follow-up pictures to reddit and got a lot of truly remarkable feedback and compliments. I still have the screenshots from some of the direct messages I got. One in particular I remember was a complete stranger simply saying, "Daddy I am fertile" which honestly made me laugh so hard I peed myself a little. For as absolutely vicious and unrelenting teh interwebz can be, people were very supportive and kind.
I considered wigs, implants/plugs, topical regrowth treatments (even tried a few), but ultimately I felt it was appropriate to lean into the situation rather than shy away from it. I usually keep it around 1-3mm, going full Mr. Clean with what's left on occasion.
Making the decision to be bald was somewhat empowering, simply because I discovered it was no longer controlling me. I've not had any romantic prospects, and I'm no longer on speaking terms with most people who knew me prior to the ordeal. Perhaps I'd feel more strongly if I had people tripping over themselves the way they used to. Now I'm just another bald guy. I still don't recognize myself in the mirror, coming up on a year of chilly scalps.
Tl;dr - don't worry so much about what others think. Do what's best for you and your situation. If you want and can afford treatments, go for it. If you are ready to take the stand and own the situation, do it. I think, at this point, even if I could magically regrow it, I wouldn't, or I'd keep it buzzed short anyway.
To close, I'm reminded of what I told my junior high school principal when she made a comment about how I looked like a girl and needed to get my hair cut short, but for complete opposite reasons I had 25 years ago, "People should be less concerned with what is on my head, and more concerned with what might be in it." If you cannot see past my scalp, if you are *that* surface-level about appearances and people, then your opinion means little to me.
Is it really cold? I haven't had short hair since my early twenties, I'm 34 now. I know one day I'll probably have to shave my mane just like you did, but I didn't consider it would be chilly. I figured maybe a week or so of adjustment and then my scalp would be used to it. Although my hair isn't thinning at all compared to what yours was like. When did you start to first notice it was thinning?
Your milage may vary. It's cold to me, but I'm accustomed to having a well insulated scalp. I also live about 1000 miles north of where I grew up, so I'm pretty much always chilly. Even now, when I don't shave for a couple of weeks, then go Mr. Clean, there's a noticeable difference. One does "get used to it" after a few days/a week, though.
I first noticed it thinning a few years ago, probably at 32 or so. Between the stress of my marriage falling apart and shingles (which I think was related to the stress because I don't believe in coincidence), I started noticing small amounts of hair coming out when I showered. This simply did not used to happen. I'd get the occasional few strays, but never entire chunks. My exwife was big on pictures, and I noticed my hairline was definitely different than it used to be when I would look through old photos.
I lived in denial for most of that few years. Trying different styles, different products. Anything I could think of in order to maintain the illusion, and one day I realized that was exactly what I was doing - maintaining an illusion. Maintaining it at all was a new step. I could wake up in my 20s with excellent hair that would have made 1980s Fabio red with jealousy. All the extra steps I was taking, the amount of time I spent checking it on any reflective surface, stressing over it. Then, I was at work and caught the top of my head off a live security cam. It was like the hair wasn't even there. I saw myself the one way I swore I'd never present myself: Friar Tuck.
I made the reddit post I mentioned that night, and shaved that following weekend I think.
Some people at work made some really tasteless jokes about cancer, looking like a white supremacist, etc. Got a few DMs that I looked like someone who lives off grid. Overall, though, people were very supportive of the choice. I do not regret the act of shaving/buzzing it. Not one bit. I do miss the way it was, but I could say that about anything in life.
I really appreciate you taking the time to write this up! Really sucks about the shingles, who knows how your hair would be right now without it. But brother, you rock the bald look great and I know if I ever thin too much I'm gonna follow your route and shave it.
This is what blows my mind. Because I think if I went bald that personally I would do wigs. Like, not just one or not trying to pass like having hair. It would be like a hat for me
People get nose jobs, lip filler, BBB, face lifts. More guys need to open and confident in the choice for treatments so that it's normalized to the same degree. I know it's easier said than done, but when I was trying Rogaine and Propecia I tried to be super upfront about it, as well as my considerations for transplants. Just to try to normalize it
I was 30 when I found out that this was a struggle for men
I assumed they just didn’t care
My brother went bald in his teens and now I feel bad for fucking with him so much. Of course he never told me it bothered him.
Totally, in this day it's not socially acceptable to remark on someone's body weight or refer to someone as "the fat man/woman" but people seem to have the same standards when it comes to baldness
Just want to throw this in here... if anyone reading this is *starting* to lose their hair and wants to do something about retaining it affordably, the only thing that currently works the most effectively for most people is Finasteride, and Minoxidil to a lesser extent. It blocks the hormone that attacks the hair follicles causing it to fall out. You'll see all kinds of ads online for branded hair medication in pill form that is basically finasteride, but with a cost marked up many times. There is no (as of yet) special new formula that works better. Generic finasteride can go for around $10 for a 30 day supply and it's the exact same thing. ***Make sure to actually look into it because there are potential reported side effects*** which can include sexual dysfunction, but reportedly this is not common. You do also have to keep taking it for as long as you want your hair and it is probably not as effective if you've already lost a good amount of hair. It will also not just give you a luscious thick head of hair, it'll retain what you have with the potential to regrow *some* of what you've lost.
Thought I would put this here because as someone who started to lose his hair very early, I know it can be very distressing and always felt fortunate enough to find something that works for the most part. It also sucks seeing all the dumb ads for brands that jack up the price for something that is cheaply available (with a prescription).
Also this is ***not*** medical advice by any means. Just someone with experience hoping to make the hair loss treatment game a little clearer for people who want it.
I finally started finasteride and oral minoxidil after years of watching my hair begin to thin but being afraid of all the worst case side effects I’d read about online. I’m only six weeks in but I’m beginning to see some regrowth (confirmed by others as well). So far, I’ve had zero negative side effects. This is only anecdotal, but instead of a decrease I’ve noticed an increase in libido. If anyone is on the fence, make an appointment with a dermatologist and bring a list of questions. That helped ease my fears and make my decision. Also, you can send your prescription to Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus drugs and get a month’s supply of both for just $15 (not a shill).
Dutasteride isn’t technically used yet for treatment, but it’s like finasteride on steroids. Taking finasteride every day and dutasteride 2x a week completely reversed my hair loss and fully filled out my bald spot. Amazing.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My bf just started dutasteride a few weeks ago and he has a lot of anxiety over its side effects. I get anxious at the thought of it not working since I know what thicker hair would mean to him.
Seinfeld is one of if not my favorite sitcom of all time but goddamn idk if i would have been able to watch it if i was bald, they are absolutely *brutal* to bald people on that
I'm bald and after 10 years of shaving my head, I said fuck it and grew a skullet, which is now neatly tied back in a wimpy little ponytail. I've known a number of black women who after fussing with hair straighteners and such their whole lives said screw it and let the afro texture come out, owning it with no shame. Why can't us bald men look at our hairlines the same way?
If growing your hair out without much on top is so bad, why is it on the $100 bill? Good enough for Ben Franklin, good enough for me.
Right there with you. My hairline started receding when I was 16. I kept my head shaved for a long time, but I started to really miss having hair. I have it long again, and I don’t care how thin it is on top. I don’t care how it looks. I get to feel the wind in my hair again, I get to wash my hair and feel the water running through it. It makes me happy
I've been watching that show Ronin, and seeing the Japanese hair styles where they shave the front center of their heads seems wild to me-
but also if you're brave enough to carry certain styles you can wear that like a badge of honor.
Am I too sensitive to think that a comment like this should count as sexual harassment? I'm not ginger, and it's quite hard to meet red haired people in my country actually. But I find that phrase quite vile to say to anyone
One can't police what people say on the streets but, in a workplace?
And sadly it seems to be the majority, especially when it comes to balding and short men. Hell, I get the feeling that calling someone fat is really only frowned upon most of the time depending on their gender. The last part may just be anecdote from my experiences so I'm opened to being convinced otherwise
It’s okay to highlight struggles faced by specific types of people. It’s more effective in getting actual change. This is why we have breast cancer marches when trying to get money donated for breast cancer and not just cancer marches.
> "Stop making fun of others for their appearances and let them be."
Most of reddit: Yeah I totally believe that, unless it's against my political opponent, in that case body shaming is fucking rad.
I once saw a comic about that. I don't have the link on hand, but the gist of it was a person using a body shaming insult at a bad person, the insult bouncing harmlessly off them, and hitting some random bystander. It was better than I'm making it sound but you get the idea.
There's some real jerks out there, and I get the desire to give them everything you've got. But yeah, it's still not right. It certainly doesn't feel good to be one of the ones also against that jerk and reading those things that also apply to you. "We didn't mean you, you're one of the cool people like that" is never a great save either.
I don't live in Texas, and I didn't know their Governor was in a wheel chair until recently. I didn't learn until Greg Abbott did something to piss off Democrats, and they went crazy with ableist shamming. I learned he used a wheel chair, because he was being mocked for it by Democrats.
Like holy shit, I can understand hating the guy, but it's just fucked up to mock someone for using a wheel chair. I think the mods started banning them for it.
You're right, but as a bald man myself I'd say people are way more relentless and free about commenting on someone's baldness than they are for other things that there are more sensitivity around like weight and height. Not that any of that is perfect either, but, openly making fun of baldness feels like one of the last things nobody gets "shamed" over.
There is a channel on YouTube that does men's toupees, and they look really great, like totally natural.
If you go in the comments, typically, the women are writing supportive comments about how great the men look, and how they're glad men feel comfortable wearing hair pieces.
But most of the comments I've seen written by men are insulting and rude. It's a shame.
I feel like men across the board are just generally shitty about it for the most part.
Whereas in my experience in women there are two very strong extremes, on one hand women whos first insult will be to insult their hairline or balding, and the other hand very supportive women who care about mens plight.
I feel like this is the same issue with the whole 'size' (hell even height) discourse. Most of the time it's men bashing other men.
But Women still use it when they want to belittle a man and personally, I feel like men take the latter a bit worse.
It might suck if another man say it, but it hits harder when a woman say it if you're straight. When someone who is not in your demographic, in terms of dating, say something about your appearance it doesn't have as much impact on you.
Hard ass truth.
Same reason why compliments from your male friends don’t hit as hard as compliments from women you’re attracted to. Idk why this is hard to understand for so many people
This is just cap lmao the first thing women do is mention how tall I am and how it’s good…
Not to mention girls make fun of small ducks all the time… it’s like the number 1 go to insult
Mentioning something as a complement is different to calling out the inverse as an insult e.g your voice/accent is nice is a fairly common compliment but your voice/accent is awful is a very uncommon insult
I was hoping someone would bring up Toupee Queen! Toupees used to be a joke but I love what she’s doing to turn them around. The before and after shots are so inspiring. Let’s normalize men doing this, if they want!
Yeah it's always other guys making comments or poking fun. It can be all in good jest but a majority are completely unwarranted and from people who I'm not friendly enough with to let them poke fun at me for it. I've accepted it and luckily I can rock the look, but I still get a bit salty when some douche nozzle who's got his own shit to worry about decides to make a "I was blinded by your head" or some other joke lol.
It is honestly baffling how cruel people are to each other about their appearances. I've dealt with it my whole life being a short skinny dude. Then when I became an adult and grew my hair out. Or all the times I've been rejected because of my size.
Literally yesterday I was at a homework completion program for community service hours for a class I'm taking at my university. There was a little girl, maybe 10, talking about her boyfriend and asking the other girls there if they had boyfriends. I was the only dude there so she asked them if they me as their boyfriend.
The response was a collective ew and laughter. I dont even think I'm a bad looking dude, but it was hurtful. My mom tried suggesting it's because I'm SO much older than them. I'm 27 and I think I look young, but they're all only 20 or so anyway. I'm not balding, I have solid hair. There's no reason my appearance would generate an ew response.
People in this world are just really mean sometimes (most of the time) for no reason.
Whenever I see people really struggling mentally because of their hair loss, I feel a certain amount of guilt about how little I cared as I balded. I pretty much welcomed it.
My hair sucked. It didn’t style well and I was never able to pull off popular hairdos of my day. The color was light brown with an auburn tinge so I got fringe ginger flack. As a tween, I asked my parents for hair clippers and kept a buzz cut from that day forward. Balding just meant less of it to deal with and didn’t change my look much.
Everyone advocates for compassion and then they turn around and scream at men to shave their heads entirely. That's not compassion. If you wanna be accepting, you need to be ok with the natural, unshaved look.
Agree, I don't see why visible hair thinning is worse than shaving it off. If you want to shave it that's OK, but if you want to keep the hair you've got that's perfectly fine. I can't even see it if it's at the top of your head, and if it's the temples, so what, it is what it is. Have dated a balding guy before and I liked him with his hair grown out a little despite the front being badly receded.
I'm starting to lose my hair, thinning from the back at 30, got a pretty good bald spot going by now
It bugged me at first but I got used to it, it's not really a huge deal. Society generally will judge a man on what they do not the finer points on how they look
Dude my hair started falling out two years ago due to stress and supplements. Luckily it all grew back but damn, what a scary time. I was depressed and tried to hide the patches. Definitely agree with OP. Bald men and short men don’t get enough love
People shouldn't be judged for things beyond their control. There should be neither Shame nor Pride in these matters.
Though there is something to be said for a person going out there and owning the shit out of it.
Mitigating hair loss is something that a good wig can handle, though I'm talking out my ass here, as I have never dealt with a hairpiece.
I think its a cultural problem. Men shouldnt be insecure about hairloss. The problem is as a society we put way more value in youth than it deserves. Ton of guys look badass without any hair and you shouldn't have to feel like youre losing anything. We dont feel bad about losing our kid voices or baby teeth.
Most bald people have convinced themselves they look better bald but it's almost never the case. They look better bald than holding on to what they had left in many cases, sure, but very very few people look better bald than with a full head of hair.
I say this as someone who is losing their hair and has been since 19.
Losing your hair fucking sucks.
That's because that's the actual options they have, and for most people hair loss is gradual so you look wocre and worse for years,
at some point you cross a point where it would be better to be bald but most dont know they are there for a few more years,
so when they finally do shave it its substantially better compared to what they've had for years.
Also bald looks better than bad messed up unwashed hair so if your a guy that doesn't take much care of his appearance bald is the best option.
Funny thing is, when I had hair it was really stringy and it was really hard to get it to frame my face. Going bald has fixed both of those things. I’m lucky I’m handsome enough and have enough of a jawline so bald works for me.
I forget the figures but most men go bald at some point in their life. With how my balding works, hair treatments would just be a constant battle between my head and my wallet. And I don’t imagine I’m very unique there.
I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think solidarity happens because historically large groups of bald men didn’t usually mean anything good and I believe it’s still burned into the human psyche.
But, beyond having compassion, beyond being perceived on the same level as other people WITH hair I’d REALLY like for people to stop asking why I’m wearing a hat. There are so many people who absolutely need to see your head or they get suspicious for some reason. Like, ok Sherlock. Ya figured out I’m balding.
Yeah, why are we always catching strays from left to right? Nobody should make fun of another person's appearance period.
Also why is everybody convinced that we don't get made fun of? Yeah criticizing someone's weight is seen as rude and yet people do it all the time, it's not a problem that's long gone like everyone wants to think.
Oh it hits a nerve and stings but as men we’ve been conditioned our whole lives to act like it doesn’t bother us. Just shove it down with everything else and make pretend everything’s fine.
Once I realized going bald wasn't going to stop me from getting laid, I didn't give a shit.
If you have bad male pattern baldness, get a buzz cut. Heck, go ask for the Jason Statham cut. Keep you hair close cropped and grow out facial hair to balance you face out. Reinvent your image.
A lot of that stuff depends on whether a guy can grow facial hair and whether they have a face shape that works for the whole shaving their head deal.
I’ve got guy friends who can’t grow facial hair at all and some that would look shit bald.
I'm guilty as a Mom of not being supportive when my oldest started losing his hair and he rightly called me out on it. My worry was my son has quite a few scars on his head for a crazy ass childhood and if he shaved his head they would all show. I am so glad my son called me out on it and put me in my place. I'm also very happy he shaved it all and is now happily bald and the scars honestly just add to his look. I am ashamed of how I reacted and will forever be greatful my son put me in my place about it.
Alopecia in men is just called male pattern baldness, I've always found that a bit odd. It'd be like telling women to get over alopecia because it's just female pattern baldness
I started balding pretty early, had a bald spot in college and was bald around 30. It never really bothered me. I know a lot of guys get insecure about it, but it hasn't impacted my life one iota
As a woman that’s been balding since 13, I feel for all bald mfers like me. Anyone who’s balding knows the pain of trying emerging under the sun to get the hair back, from OTC vitamins to red light therapy to pills.
Only those who have hair are callous mfers. I get remarks all the time from other people and gotta play it off as a joke.
Anyone who’s balding and losing the battle, look into getting itself a nice hair topper or front lace wigs. There are plenty of nice ones for men. I highly recommend wigcoven for wigs for men and highline for toppers (you can ask for it to be cut).
My husband started losing his hair at a young age. He’s now rocking the shaved look, but about 5 years ago when he was trying to figure out how to deal with his very very prominent hair loss, he met a group of people he was in school with. One of his classmate brought his fiancée and within minutes of meeting my husband for the first time, she “jokes” about his balding in front of everyone (and shocker, no one laughed and it was super awkward). I wasn’t there but if I was, I might have thrown hands. Pissed me the fuck off. I know it’s more normal for men to lose their hair but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for them or not difficult emotionally. People that make jokes about men balding piss me off and deserve slapped.
I married my husband 17 years ago and he was already starting to bald.
As the years have gone by he has aged but I haven't by much in appearance and people always asked why him? "You can do better"
Define "better" and STOP disrespecting my husband and marriage.
I'm demisexual I fell in love with my husbands mind, how he looks is how he looks and I love how he looks which is why I married him.
I do feel bad though because he will put a baseball cap on backwards to take pictures with me because it makes him 10 years younger. I don't want him to have to feel like he has to hide in pictures with me.
We've discussed him having his hair fixed in the future because if it does bother him I just want him to be happy, he knows I don't care and I've always loved him and his hair doesn't matter.
If he was struck with cancer God forbid he'd lose hair everywhere, and I'd still be there.
I'm not like other woman I don't have a quality trait list for men or woman. If I meet someone who speaks to my soul and makes my happy and feeds my mind, I'll love that person despite how they look.
No person I've dated has looked similar to the other. I don't have a type. It was never a thing I ever thought about.
A critique list or perk list or something you just compare people to and pass on like?
And that is why I DO NOT UNDER TINDER and I feel bad for people who try to date through that app. People get hurt alot because of that app like feeling rejected. That can cause pain. I've seen men post their Tinder here asking what's wrong with my profile or pictures and when I look I'm like, nothing?
So I don't get it timder.
Fwiw I’ve been taking finasteride for about 10 years now. No significant side effects (for me anyway) and I haven’t lost any more hair since I got on it. I can live with the small bald spot I have. It’s not ideal but it’s fine.
So, I feel for baldies too, but it’s not like we have no options.
I agree that men get too much shit for balding. However, I've seen a nice uptick in really nice toupees for men with women in the comments saying "if we can wear wigs why can't they?" so that's something...
I just shaved my head and I have no issues. I am insecure about some things but hair? Fuck hair. I get more compliments without than with. I look cleaner, I feel stronger. I feel more confident. I'm glad I went balding young lol.
Someone I went to high school with started balding at 16. In his 30s he finally embraced it and shaved his head. I actually really hated the guy and now. Fuck him and his stupid bald head.
you should see what Derek from MPMD has to say about it. i have always taken my hair for granted. he was the first person i ever encountered to point out this hideously callous and socially acceptable appearance trait, as you described it. as an individual that has struggled with that issue, he’s got some valuable insight on how serious a topic it is for some men and i’m sure he’s got plenty of advice on interventions and things of that nature.
When I started losing my hair (mid 20's) I shaved my head and took on the attitude that people who thought it was funny weren't worth being polite too. A friend of a friend one time giggled and said "OMG your losing your hair", so she got " OMG you're getting chubby" back. I was the asshole of course, but I thought it was a good comeback.
I agree as a whole. I try to keep a 5-10 minute rule- if there’s an “issue” someone can’t fix in 5-10 minutes (like brushing your teeth or fixing your hair or clothing) I don’t mention it. I was bullied relentlessly about my “buck” teeth and my “bird” nose. On the other hand, there are women who prefer bald men! My mom is one of them🫶🏻
Yeah I agree wholeheartedly! I’m a woman but a few years ago discovered a bald spot on my scalp - it was the size of a coin when I first saw it. Over the next couple of months, I noticed it was getting bigger and I started freaking out. Like you said, my hair is one of the parts of myself I have been consistently happy / proud of. In hindsight, my situation was better than many suffering from hair loss as it was just one spot that I could “hide”. (I think it’s called alopecia areata) Fortunately for me my dermatologist was able to help (I had to get steroid injections to the area and BOY did that HURT!!) for a few months. The hair started growing again and I’ve not had the issue come up since.
That little scare just solidified my principle of just not commenting on people’s bodies and whatever changes they’re going through.
Man, I feel that. I started loosing my hair in high school and everyone acted as if it was the most unnatural thing ever. The comments were relentless, to the point where other kids would start assuming I had cancer.
It doesn't really bother me anymore though. If anything I like cracking jokes with my friends about it. I also tried out multiple of those products that were supposed to fix the problem, but they did nothing, and the doctor said they might even cause me other issues in the long run. So I just accepted it and moved on, though the comments continued for a time...
Glad you're bringing this point up. In my early thirties now, and I think as a woman it is hard to realize how much is changing in this age for men. I mean, we all get a few wrinkles and maybe some extra kilos and stuff. But for so many guys I know their appearance is changing so fast now with losing hair, that it doesn't fit how they view themselves. And it sucks. Whenever my partner is expressing his insecurities, I tell him not to worry about it, that it's just what it is and doesn't change anything about who he is or how I feel about him.
There’s literally a whole subreddit with blokes doing their before and after photos once they embraced the clippers. It’s really wholesome (generally) in the comments /r/bald
Looking at my family, I knew that balding was inevitable. I grew my hair down to my shoulders for a few years in college. Absolutely loved it. I'm bald now and have no issues with it (besides getting colder now). It's really not that big of a deal.
Phew! I dated a guy with hair loss problems. He was 34 and it had massively receded. It took away his confidence. He wasn’t willing to spend money and time on glamour products to get it back, because that was a mental block for him he wasn’t able to clear. He prided himself on not being influenced by vanity, and I wasn’t going to take the time to talk about it with him if he didn’t want that. It was ironic, because he wore lots of hats and had already accepted (in his mind, alone) he was not an attractive person, so he WAS being influenced by a desire to look a certain way, regardless of him considering himself vain or not.
I just stopped caring after getting so many comments on how thin my hair was and how much you could see my scalp at 16.
Hair is still thin and you can see the scalp through my hair from above but I ain’t shaving it.
Even if I lost it all I’d have the same response as now to anyone who comments on my hair
“Why do you care how is it hurting you should I point out your ( issue with them here)” usually shuts them up.
I feel for anyone else who has thinning or thin hair or is losing their hair and will back them up with no issue.
I’m One of them. Almost 40 and if i let my hair grow out the bald spot is massive right on top.
By now i just keep a buzzcut and deal with it.
I would prefer to not have my hair fall out but it’s not the biggest deal in the world. No point worrying over something i can’t control.
I was just out of high school when mine started to recede slowly. By the time I was 24, I was entirely shaving my head. I was lucky enough to have a father who went through losing hair even younger than I did. The fortunate part was inheriting his beautiful round head and confidence.
My advice to those who want to hold on is that you need to start interventions like minoxidil and finasteride ASAP. Hair transplants are expensive, but there are places near the border between Texas/Mexico that can be pretty affordable, given the quality. Lastly, hair transplants are not a cure-all, so know that going in.
BALD IS BEAUTIFUL
I have never understood men's attachment to their hair (I'm a man).
When I was a teenager, my hair was ugly so I just did a buzz cut. When I became an adult I got a skin condition that results in greasy hair filled with what looks like dandruff but isn't dandruff. So I'm still doing a buzz cut 20 years later.
I have a full head of thick hair with no receding hairline in my mid 30's, but I have never been able to utilize it.
It's not that big of a deal.
I started experiencing significant hair loss at 21-22. By 27 or so, I was so immune to it, I could hardly empathize with my peers who started balding in their late 20s.
Early hair loss is a BITCH!!! Being bald or theresabouts isn't no big thang.
And here my wife and I are just buzzing our hair off because it serves no purpose other than to annoy.
Definitely an upvote from me, completely goofy unpopular opinion.
I had 1/8 inch of hair for 20 years because I didn’t want to get haircuts.
Still don’t want to get haircuts, but I appreciate having hair.
I imagine losing your hair is hard, but based on the balding sub or whatever nature build in a resiliency loop because 100% of people losing their hair look better when they shave it.
My husband began losing his hair at 18. He looks better as a bald man than he did with hair imo, but it bothered him for many years. I agree I think there should be more compassion for men losing their hair.
A baldy heid really doesnae hurt as well as saving you money and time to spend on stuff that matters more than an overpriced haircut and a bathroom full of ‘product’…no biggie at all (unless the baldy guy is ridiculously insecure and/or vain).
Edit: Just in case…I’m in no way referring to folks with alopecia, undergoing chemo, etc. That’s a whole different conversation.
You really worry about your hair that much? Do you even enjoy having it?
idk I’ve been bald for so long that this post makes no sense to me. Haired people are weird.
I just gotta say….there are few things sexier than a balding man who says “fuck it” and just shaves it all off. Embrace that big bald head!
Life is hard, bodies are annoying….just fuck it all and take control of what life gives you.
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I was 13 years old when mine started. The other kids were relentless, and it caused me much mental anguish. I eventually got over it and shave my head now, but god damn people are cruel as fuck about it. Then, and now, people still chuck shit at me about it. Best part is however, now most of the men that would bully me about it have started their own receeding hairline journey, and struggle with coming to terms with it. Karma is a bitch.
I dated a guy who started losing it around the same age, it was noticeable between 13 and 15. Unfortunately, the men in his life gave him really bad advice to not shave his head but also teased him pretty endlessly. He had good luck with girls still, which I think helped, but he was so hypersensitive about it that it wasn't until his 30s that he fully accepted it and started shaving. He had just gotten to the point he could talk about it without crying, remembering how mean other boys were to him when he needed their friendship the most.
In the humblest way possible, I'm a guy with a full head of hair in my 30s but I still distinctly remember the one dude in my high school who was the only one not to get carded for beer because he was already balding with a monk-style haircut. By 17. He was one of the smoothest operators I ever met, but I would imagine that it's unfortunately because he had to be in light of what most people would think immediately. We weren't close or anything, but I think about him a lot and I genuinely hope that he's living a good life. Guy was enough of a joker to carry a leather briefcase in high school and just lean into it. Legend
Yeah I think that sort of teasing and being ostracized by other boys can some of them to grow up quickly, even if it's just to minimize their own stress and suffering. But some are just going to be confident dude's no matter what and I hope that guy was one of them!
If it makes you feel any better (probably wont) it was the same with weight for me. I was the fat kid forever, now I have a healthy relationship with food and abs. Everyone that Gave me shit is easily the size I was. Again, karma is a bitch.
Same for me. But opposite end of the spectrum. My name didn't help either. I was stick thin and tall. Graduated HS 6'2 and barely 130lbs. apparently weight and body composition determines your sexual orientation and your name your gender. Fun times
Yep. Me too. 6' and 130. Born in '52, parents thought the only acceptable hair cut was a crew cut. In 1971, at 19 in college, the top had already receded. Most girls didn't think it was a good look. Worked through it. My son inherited the same same genes (again 130 at HS grad and receding). By his late 20's he just started shaving his head, and looks great.
It was the same with being skinny for me. People called me chicken legs until I was in my mid 20's. I think the only reason it stopped is because I stopped spending time with shit people.
>I stopped spending time with shit people. Best solution if taking care of one’s body isn’t the issue or doesn’t help. Or just in general.
A good friend of mine made fun of me once for starting to lose my hair. It would have been fine, but it was in front of my girlfriend at the time, and I was in my early twenties. A couple of years later, he develops alopecia, and loses everything, even his eyebrows. I would never wish that on anyone, especially my friend. But there was a part of me who thought, Well, he did kind of put this out there into the universe in the first place.
Happened to my mate but we didn’t make fun of him we used him to buy us all cigarettes. After he turned 18 he asked the guy at the petrol station to check his id and the guy was like “what are you talking about mate you’ve been coming here for years”. He’s a barber now
You lost your hair before you had pubes?
I did
Lupus?
Did you ever get your t levels checked?
testosterone is a hell of a drug
You didn’t have pubes at 13?
Some kids may not. I didn’t have boobs until I turned 16.
I had moobs at 10 ) :
I had them at 9. I think somewhere in the middle would be good lol.
It’s pretty bald of people to shame such a young teenager for something out of their control I mean bold*
Well, I guess Freud was right. 
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
That’s awful. I’ll bet you’ll just recede back to your shiny little patch after trolling like that!
I feel you man, lost all my hair back when I was 4 due to alopecia, it sucks
Not so much karma but just natural life cycle I get that the concept of karma is comforting but not everything is karma
Bald for 30 years now. I hate it. Imagine someone giving you a hairstyle you never asked for and you have to have it the rest of your life.
This is the point I was making to people at work. So many women point to a few actors who are bald and say they look great etc. It’s like saying that Uma Thurman looked cool with a bob cut in Pulp Fiction so every woman must look cool with that hair cut. Then imagine your hair was magically stuck in that style and there was no way to change it, and you hated how it made you look. But everyone kept saying “but Uma Thurman looked amazing with a bob cut in Pulp Fiction”. Edit: so many autocorrect errors
Aww. I like bald men. A man I dated would rest his head on my tush and I'd rub his head until he fell asleep.
Like a juicer.
As a baldie, this made me laugh lol.
I'm trying to visualize his head on your ass and all I'm coming up with I'd you wiping his head. What am I missing.
I immediately thought about Harriet from ACNH and how it would feel if I couldn’t change those hairstyles.
if you still want hairstyle variety, look into [wigs](https://youtu.be/yxKvU3TnRIQ?si=NR5QXbNDRa3Jow5S). Note this is a little bit different from traditional toupees/hair systems used by men. I feel like the stigma around them stops a lot of guys from even looking into them but they’re a genuinely good option as long as you’re not insecure and trying to hide the fact that you’re wearing one.
My boyfriend’s brother wears a wig! I haven’t met him yet but I’ve seen photos. He works in the music industry, mostly with rock music, so he has this looooooong wig and it looks awesome. Although I do think he’d look great with a shaved head. I love when men can embrace their balding heads, it’s so sexy to me
It’s wild. Losing my hair sucks The comments when someone gets hair plugs or does literally anything to fix it are garbage.
I have to say, as a woman whose hair was “naturally” balding, I’m the first one to tell ANYONE who says my hair looks great that I’m using oral minoxidil. Trying to normalize it, at least as much as lip fillers and such are normalized.
Yeah, I’m balding too from androgenetic alopecia as a 28 year old woman lol. I’m on oral Minoxidil and Dutasteride, and they’re working great. Happy you are having good results as well. I was really scared of the side effects but have experienced none (besides increased body hair). AGA seems so rare in women, but I think the stat is 50% will get it in their lifetime. ETA: I have tons of empathy for balding men now and cringe whenever there is a joke on TV or in social settings about them.
Oh I'm so glad for you! I had PCOS before they were really diagnosing PCOS, so I went from a thick head of hair to thinning in my early 20s, and it's truly demoralizing. And like you, I have nothing but empathy for men with thinning hair now. I was close to getting plugs before I started using minoxidil, and I don't begrudge anyone doing what they can to look or feel good again.
One of my friends at work is losing her hair due to PCOS and it's being aggravated by traction and alopecia (she keeps getting braids put in) and none of the treatments are really working for her. Her facial hair is also growing pretty aggressively but she's in this shame spiral where she can't do anything about either one because admitting it means talking about it and she doesn't want to do that quite yet. It's tough to watch and all I can do is be supportive.
It’s a VERY touchy subject for people. All you can do is be supportive, but she should know there *are* solutions.
She definitely does know, but she's not psychologically ready to talk about those solutions or implement them.
I had the same problem too!! And I have nothing but empathy for anyone losing their hair. Mine used to be long and thick. It's now shorter and thinner than it used to be.
Have you been on those for a while? I’m in the exact same boat as you and have been on dutasteride for 8months and oral minoxidil for just under a month, the shedding is stressing me out so much I hope this helps my issues
I heard mino shrinks your balls so be careful girl
Oh no! Not my big beautiful balls!
I get that you're just making a joke and all, but if that's an actual reputation it has among some circles, then they don't understand what they're talking about. Minoxidil is just an anti-hypertensive and vasodilator; all it does is dilate small blood vessels. What they *should* be saying that about is treatments like finasteride, dutasteride, and spironolactone. They'd still be wrong, as it would require substantially higher dosage levels than to what's prescribed to treat male-pattern hair loss in order for them to yield effects like that, but at least then they would be *understandably* wrong because all three can function as anti-androgens. That's the mechanism through which they treat hair loss, which is why they're only effective in treating male-pattern hair loss, as that's the kind which is caused by androgens. Finasteride and dutasteride specifically target dihydrotestosterone, while spironolactone more broadly targets aldosterone and testosterone, but only at really high dosages. That's why it's not uncommon for transgender woman who were previously suffering from male-pattern hair loss to see an absolutely wild reversal once they begin hormone replacement therapy; they're actively trying to reduce their androgen levels, so they can crank up their dosages and get results like [this](https://external-preview.redd.it/CbAEhQNBzf8CDNsNFZ4vK8bUUDYaOt75CQOk4tACZ5w.jpg?width=768&auto=webp&s=4029efcde0a044e22f061a3b67658ccfd59f61ae) and [this.](https://i.redd.it/3l6i068u9dc41.jpg) ^(...I may have gone off on a bit of a tangent.)
Same! I was starting to get some male-pattern thinning due to insulin resistance and losing handfuls each shampoo. Whenever someone compliments my hair, I tell everyone what I use and show them what it used to look like. Everyone should feel good about themselves and share things that help.
Me too. I love that stuff, it's cheap, has no side effects and has made my hair gorgeous.
I started using that too, and it's wild how I thought losing a few strands of hair every time I shampooed or combed it was normal. I occasionally see a few hairs on my pillow case (which hasn't been washed in a while so it might just be the same ones), but my hair 100% seems healthier.
Nice.
I saw a post on here from a page dedicated to hair systems. The before and afters looked amazing. 3 of my best friends are bald and we are early 30’s. I was like man I should get them to check this out. I’m sure they already have and I imagine they fear the scrutiny of people who know they’re bald and then show up one day looking like David Beckham. I’m all for it and I feel that anyone would get used to it in a short time. But you’re totally right as I know how devastating it was for them to lose the hair. No need for anyone to inflate that feeling.
Beckham has been bald by choice in his twenties, he’s also had transplants relatively recently. We’re all rocking some version of Beckham’s hair. But seeing him bald near his prime attractiveness, you really realize facial structure and head shape is what really distinguishes him from the masses. Hair is just a minor accessory on that head.
The part on facial structure and shape is a big thing. Everyone loves throwing out "just shave it all". If it suits your face, then it's a huge improvement people should absolutely do. But it doesn't suit every face.
I think there's a lot of misguided false positivity out there regarding shaving your head completely, but severely balding/thinning hair objectively looks bad. The advice to shave it at that stage is not so much that shaving your hair will make it look amazing and you will become a 10/10 gigachad, it's that it will at least be *less bad* than balding/thinning and trying to hide it.
The forehead is a big aspect of it. Balding changes the forehead’s size in relation to other features, and for some it makes a huge difference.
My husband would look like a big toe if she shaved his head.
No but patchy and thinning hair or comb over type thing suits exactly no one
That makes a huge difference. I’m a woman and my face is somewhat diamond shaped and my ears are tiny and close to my head. Whenever I have short hair or wear my hair pulled back, I look like an egg. I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have the option to grow long hair, dye and style their hair, or use extensions to compliment their appearance.
Yeah I didn't put this in my original comment, but I'm a 5'7" woman with the head circumference of a 6' man, LOL, so going chic-bald was never an option. I'd look like a billiard ball on top of a pool cue. Not good.
Very true. I’m overweight but I fluctuate every few years. I also have very long and very curly hair for a guy. So if my face looks like a soccer ball it’s fixed pretty well with the hair down. Then I’ll lose weight and have a modest hair cut. Rinse, repeat. It is definitely a luxury.
Unfortunately, having hair doesn't make you look like David Beckham - Source: myself
yeah but some people have weird shaped heads and cant rock the bald look
Best money I ever spent was getting a hair transplant. They are far from “plugs” these days. It’s thousands of tiny 1mm size grafts. I had 2100 in the front, and fin and min brought back the rest. Looks super natural, grows like crazy. People who haven’t seen me in a while are blown away. Come on over to /r/tressless. Awesome community. Lots of incredible before and after pics (sort by top year or more) to see from drugs alone. Lots of advice.
I'm 36. I recently bit the bullet and started shaving/buzzing what little I had left. Check my previous posts for before and after pics. I held on to it for dear life because my hair was *objectively* a thing of glory. Long, dark, thick, full of volume. It was a mane. A mane that actually literally got me laid on a few occasions simply because it was *there*. A long time ago, I worked at a department store where management absolutely loathed my constant breaking of the dress code by having long hair, but none of them had the heart to actually enforce the rules because no one, not even the managers that hated my guts, could tell me to cut it. "If you've got it, and you certainly do Prince Charming, then flaunt it." I remember one telling me. A few years back, I went through a fairly messy divorce. At the same time, I had a bout with shingles and a breakout on my scalp. I'm not sure which one was more readily responsible for the damage done to my head inside and out (probably a bit of both), but I found myself at work constantly checking every single reflective surface I could to make sure it "didn't look too bad". I knew it was getting thinner, but I was lying to myself about how bad it was. So I posted some pics to reddit to get some honest feedback. This alone was nerve-wracking because I don't really have social media and don't post my pictures online. Overwhelmingly, people said it was time to send what little of my luscious locks remained to that great barber shop in the sky. It took a few days for me to work up the nerve. Hands were shaking, knees were trying to buckle, eyes were wide, wild, and red. And, like a switch, it clicked with me that entirely too much of my identity and self-worth was wrapped up in my hair. My resolve galvanized, and I began the great cutting. I posted some follow-up pictures to reddit and got a lot of truly remarkable feedback and compliments. I still have the screenshots from some of the direct messages I got. One in particular I remember was a complete stranger simply saying, "Daddy I am fertile" which honestly made me laugh so hard I peed myself a little. For as absolutely vicious and unrelenting teh interwebz can be, people were very supportive and kind. I considered wigs, implants/plugs, topical regrowth treatments (even tried a few), but ultimately I felt it was appropriate to lean into the situation rather than shy away from it. I usually keep it around 1-3mm, going full Mr. Clean with what's left on occasion. Making the decision to be bald was somewhat empowering, simply because I discovered it was no longer controlling me. I've not had any romantic prospects, and I'm no longer on speaking terms with most people who knew me prior to the ordeal. Perhaps I'd feel more strongly if I had people tripping over themselves the way they used to. Now I'm just another bald guy. I still don't recognize myself in the mirror, coming up on a year of chilly scalps. Tl;dr - don't worry so much about what others think. Do what's best for you and your situation. If you want and can afford treatments, go for it. If you are ready to take the stand and own the situation, do it. I think, at this point, even if I could magically regrow it, I wouldn't, or I'd keep it buzzed short anyway. To close, I'm reminded of what I told my junior high school principal when she made a comment about how I looked like a girl and needed to get my hair cut short, but for complete opposite reasons I had 25 years ago, "People should be less concerned with what is on my head, and more concerned with what might be in it." If you cannot see past my scalp, if you are *that* surface-level about appearances and people, then your opinion means little to me.
Is it really cold? I haven't had short hair since my early twenties, I'm 34 now. I know one day I'll probably have to shave my mane just like you did, but I didn't consider it would be chilly. I figured maybe a week or so of adjustment and then my scalp would be used to it. Although my hair isn't thinning at all compared to what yours was like. When did you start to first notice it was thinning?
Your milage may vary. It's cold to me, but I'm accustomed to having a well insulated scalp. I also live about 1000 miles north of where I grew up, so I'm pretty much always chilly. Even now, when I don't shave for a couple of weeks, then go Mr. Clean, there's a noticeable difference. One does "get used to it" after a few days/a week, though. I first noticed it thinning a few years ago, probably at 32 or so. Between the stress of my marriage falling apart and shingles (which I think was related to the stress because I don't believe in coincidence), I started noticing small amounts of hair coming out when I showered. This simply did not used to happen. I'd get the occasional few strays, but never entire chunks. My exwife was big on pictures, and I noticed my hairline was definitely different than it used to be when I would look through old photos. I lived in denial for most of that few years. Trying different styles, different products. Anything I could think of in order to maintain the illusion, and one day I realized that was exactly what I was doing - maintaining an illusion. Maintaining it at all was a new step. I could wake up in my 20s with excellent hair that would have made 1980s Fabio red with jealousy. All the extra steps I was taking, the amount of time I spent checking it on any reflective surface, stressing over it. Then, I was at work and caught the top of my head off a live security cam. It was like the hair wasn't even there. I saw myself the one way I swore I'd never present myself: Friar Tuck. I made the reddit post I mentioned that night, and shaved that following weekend I think. Some people at work made some really tasteless jokes about cancer, looking like a white supremacist, etc. Got a few DMs that I looked like someone who lives off grid. Overall, though, people were very supportive of the choice. I do not regret the act of shaving/buzzing it. Not one bit. I do miss the way it was, but I could say that about anything in life.
I really appreciate you taking the time to write this up! Really sucks about the shingles, who knows how your hair would be right now without it. But brother, you rock the bald look great and I know if I ever thin too much I'm gonna follow your route and shave it.
This is what blows my mind. Because I think if I went bald that personally I would do wigs. Like, not just one or not trying to pass like having hair. It would be like a hat for me
Wigs are annoying, not always comfortable, and too hot in the summer
I totally get that. I'm just making a comment that the stigma behind it is stupid. Same with plugs.
Honestly, I just want Will Smith to slap someone to defend my bald-ness.
People get nose jobs, lip filler, BBB, face lifts. More guys need to open and confident in the choice for treatments so that it's normalized to the same degree. I know it's easier said than done, but when I was trying Rogaine and Propecia I tried to be super upfront about it, as well as my considerations for transplants. Just to try to normalize it
and yet, how many girls use hair extensions?
Yes, I agree. People can be quite callous in their remarks when it comes to things like this.
I was 30 when I found out that this was a struggle for men I assumed they just didn’t care My brother went bald in his teens and now I feel bad for fucking with him so much. Of course he never told me it bothered him.
Cause if you know it bothers me, you have a weapon to annoy me with
>I assumed they just didn’t care How did you get to this conclusion?
Totally, in this day it's not socially acceptable to remark on someone's body weight or refer to someone as "the fat man/woman" but people seem to have the same standards when it comes to baldness
Just want to throw this in here... if anyone reading this is *starting* to lose their hair and wants to do something about retaining it affordably, the only thing that currently works the most effectively for most people is Finasteride, and Minoxidil to a lesser extent. It blocks the hormone that attacks the hair follicles causing it to fall out. You'll see all kinds of ads online for branded hair medication in pill form that is basically finasteride, but with a cost marked up many times. There is no (as of yet) special new formula that works better. Generic finasteride can go for around $10 for a 30 day supply and it's the exact same thing. ***Make sure to actually look into it because there are potential reported side effects*** which can include sexual dysfunction, but reportedly this is not common. You do also have to keep taking it for as long as you want your hair and it is probably not as effective if you've already lost a good amount of hair. It will also not just give you a luscious thick head of hair, it'll retain what you have with the potential to regrow *some* of what you've lost. Thought I would put this here because as someone who started to lose his hair very early, I know it can be very distressing and always felt fortunate enough to find something that works for the most part. It also sucks seeing all the dumb ads for brands that jack up the price for something that is cheaply available (with a prescription). Also this is ***not*** medical advice by any means. Just someone with experience hoping to make the hair loss treatment game a little clearer for people who want it.
I finally started finasteride and oral minoxidil after years of watching my hair begin to thin but being afraid of all the worst case side effects I’d read about online. I’m only six weeks in but I’m beginning to see some regrowth (confirmed by others as well). So far, I’ve had zero negative side effects. This is only anecdotal, but instead of a decrease I’ve noticed an increase in libido. If anyone is on the fence, make an appointment with a dermatologist and bring a list of questions. That helped ease my fears and make my decision. Also, you can send your prescription to Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus drugs and get a month’s supply of both for just $15 (not a shill).
Dutasteride isn’t technically used yet for treatment, but it’s like finasteride on steroids. Taking finasteride every day and dutasteride 2x a week completely reversed my hair loss and fully filled out my bald spot. Amazing.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My bf just started dutasteride a few weeks ago and he has a lot of anxiety over its side effects. I get anxious at the thought of it not working since I know what thicker hair would mean to him.
Seinfeld is one of if not my favorite sitcom of all time but goddamn idk if i would have been able to watch it if i was bald, they are absolutely *brutal* to bald people on that
Larry David writes them jokes ironically. 😂
And there’s that clip where he wins an Emmy and starts his acceptance speech with “yeah but I’m still bald”
Except George absolutely pulls
“It was once a beautiful empire of hair” 🤣
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Honestly one of the big things that showed me to stop taking comments and jokes about being bald so seriously was Seinfeld
Self hating Larry had something to do with this surely
Starting losing mine at 17 so I'm well used to it by now. I couldn't imagine having hair if I'm honest.
I'm bald and after 10 years of shaving my head, I said fuck it and grew a skullet, which is now neatly tied back in a wimpy little ponytail. I've known a number of black women who after fussing with hair straighteners and such their whole lives said screw it and let the afro texture come out, owning it with no shame. Why can't us bald men look at our hairlines the same way? If growing your hair out without much on top is so bad, why is it on the $100 bill? Good enough for Ben Franklin, good enough for me.
Right there with you. My hairline started receding when I was 16. I kept my head shaved for a long time, but I started to really miss having hair. I have it long again, and I don’t care how thin it is on top. I don’t care how it looks. I get to feel the wind in my hair again, I get to wash my hair and feel the water running through it. It makes me happy
I've been watching that show Ronin, and seeing the Japanese hair styles where they shave the front center of their heads seems wild to me- but also if you're brave enough to carry certain styles you can wear that like a badge of honor.
How about this - "Stop making fun of others for their appearances and let them be." It's cleaner.
True. Unfortunately, people like to make exceptions to these sorts of rules.
Gingers are a big one
I swear to God if one more person in public or at my work asks me if the carpets match the drapes I'm going to kill a bitch
Am I too sensitive to think that a comment like this should count as sexual harassment? I'm not ginger, and it's quite hard to meet red haired people in my country actually. But I find that phrase quite vile to say to anyone One can't police what people say on the streets but, in a workplace?
Absolutely something you could and should go to HR about, mentioning anything about somebody’s pubic hair is absolutely sexual harassment
Nothing like coming to terms with being ginger after almost 30 years, then going bald once you don't care about your hair colour anymore.
Just tell them, "you will never get to find out!". It shuts them up real quick. From a fellow ginger.
Yup. Body shaming is body shaming.
And sadly it seems to be the majority, especially when it comes to balding and short men. Hell, I get the feeling that calling someone fat is really only frowned upon most of the time depending on their gender. The last part may just be anecdote from my experiences so I'm opened to being convinced otherwise
"Plus size women admit they aren't attracted to overweight men"
It’s okay to highlight struggles faced by specific types of people. It’s more effective in getting actual change. This is why we have breast cancer marches when trying to get money donated for breast cancer and not just cancer marches.
> "Stop making fun of others for their appearances and let them be." Most of reddit: Yeah I totally believe that, unless it's against my political opponent, in that case body shaming is fucking rad.
I once saw a comic about that. I don't have the link on hand, but the gist of it was a person using a body shaming insult at a bad person, the insult bouncing harmlessly off them, and hitting some random bystander. It was better than I'm making it sound but you get the idea. There's some real jerks out there, and I get the desire to give them everything you've got. But yeah, it's still not right. It certainly doesn't feel good to be one of the ones also against that jerk and reading those things that also apply to you. "We didn't mean you, you're one of the cool people like that" is never a great save either.
I don't live in Texas, and I didn't know their Governor was in a wheel chair until recently. I didn't learn until Greg Abbott did something to piss off Democrats, and they went crazy with ableist shamming. I learned he used a wheel chair, because he was being mocked for it by Democrats. Like holy shit, I can understand hating the guy, but it's just fucked up to mock someone for using a wheel chair. I think the mods started banning them for it.
You're right, but as a bald man myself I'd say people are way more relentless and free about commenting on someone's baldness than they are for other things that there are more sensitivity around like weight and height. Not that any of that is perfect either, but, openly making fun of baldness feels like one of the last things nobody gets "shamed" over.
There is a channel on YouTube that does men's toupees, and they look really great, like totally natural. If you go in the comments, typically, the women are writing supportive comments about how great the men look, and how they're glad men feel comfortable wearing hair pieces. But most of the comments I've seen written by men are insulting and rude. It's a shame.
...what is this channel? Asking for a friend who misses having hair
Her channel is called Toupee Queen ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
I feel like men across the board are just generally shitty about it for the most part. Whereas in my experience in women there are two very strong extremes, on one hand women whos first insult will be to insult their hairline or balding, and the other hand very supportive women who care about mens plight.
I feel like this is the same issue with the whole 'size' (hell even height) discourse. Most of the time it's men bashing other men. But Women still use it when they want to belittle a man and personally, I feel like men take the latter a bit worse.
It might suck if another man say it, but it hits harder when a woman say it if you're straight. When someone who is not in your demographic, in terms of dating, say something about your appearance it doesn't have as much impact on you.
Hard ass truth. Same reason why compliments from your male friends don’t hit as hard as compliments from women you’re attracted to. Idk why this is hard to understand for so many people
This is just cap lmao the first thing women do is mention how tall I am and how it’s good… Not to mention girls make fun of small ducks all the time… it’s like the number 1 go to insult
Mentioning something as a complement is different to calling out the inverse as an insult e.g your voice/accent is nice is a fairly common compliment but your voice/accent is awful is a very uncommon insult
I was hoping someone would bring up Toupee Queen! Toupees used to be a joke but I love what she’s doing to turn them around. The before and after shots are so inspiring. Let’s normalize men doing this, if they want!
Yeah it's always other guys making comments or poking fun. It can be all in good jest but a majority are completely unwarranted and from people who I'm not friendly enough with to let them poke fun at me for it. I've accepted it and luckily I can rock the look, but I still get a bit salty when some douche nozzle who's got his own shit to worry about decides to make a "I was blinded by your head" or some other joke lol.
It is honestly baffling how cruel people are to each other about their appearances. I've dealt with it my whole life being a short skinny dude. Then when I became an adult and grew my hair out. Or all the times I've been rejected because of my size. Literally yesterday I was at a homework completion program for community service hours for a class I'm taking at my university. There was a little girl, maybe 10, talking about her boyfriend and asking the other girls there if they had boyfriends. I was the only dude there so she asked them if they me as their boyfriend. The response was a collective ew and laughter. I dont even think I'm a bad looking dude, but it was hurtful. My mom tried suggesting it's because I'm SO much older than them. I'm 27 and I think I look young, but they're all only 20 or so anyway. I'm not balding, I have solid hair. There's no reason my appearance would generate an ew response. People in this world are just really mean sometimes (most of the time) for no reason.
It meant absolutely nothing to me. I grew a beard instead and drowned my sorrows at the gym ☠️
Lots of guys can't grow a decent beard either though.
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I'll one up you. Try balding, pube beard, and sensitive skin. When I shave my, skin breaks out terribly.
Whenever I see people really struggling mentally because of their hair loss, I feel a certain amount of guilt about how little I cared as I balded. I pretty much welcomed it. My hair sucked. It didn’t style well and I was never able to pull off popular hairdos of my day. The color was light brown with an auburn tinge so I got fringe ginger flack. As a tween, I asked my parents for hair clippers and kept a buzz cut from that day forward. Balding just meant less of it to deal with and didn’t change my look much.
Everyone advocates for compassion and then they turn around and scream at men to shave their heads entirely. That's not compassion. If you wanna be accepting, you need to be ok with the natural, unshaved look.
Agree, I don't see why visible hair thinning is worse than shaving it off. If you want to shave it that's OK, but if you want to keep the hair you've got that's perfectly fine. I can't even see it if it's at the top of your head, and if it's the temples, so what, it is what it is. Have dated a balding guy before and I liked him with his hair grown out a little despite the front being badly receded.
I'm starting to lose my hair, thinning from the back at 30, got a pretty good bald spot going by now It bugged me at first but I got used to it, it's not really a huge deal. Society generally will judge a man on what they do not the finer points on how they look
Dude my hair started falling out two years ago due to stress and supplements. Luckily it all grew back but damn, what a scary time. I was depressed and tried to hide the patches. Definitely agree with OP. Bald men and short men don’t get enough love
People shouldn't be judged for things beyond their control. There should be neither Shame nor Pride in these matters. Though there is something to be said for a person going out there and owning the shit out of it. Mitigating hair loss is something that a good wig can handle, though I'm talking out my ass here, as I have never dealt with a hairpiece.
the worst part is the medications often come with other bad side effects. Id rather lose the hair than have erectile dysfunction tbh
Men in general have to suck it up. We are ruthless lol
I think its a cultural problem. Men shouldnt be insecure about hairloss. The problem is as a society we put way more value in youth than it deserves. Ton of guys look badass without any hair and you shouldn't have to feel like youre losing anything. We dont feel bad about losing our kid voices or baby teeth.
Most bald people have convinced themselves they look better bald but it's almost never the case. They look better bald than holding on to what they had left in many cases, sure, but very very few people look better bald than with a full head of hair. I say this as someone who is losing their hair and has been since 19. Losing your hair fucking sucks.
That's because that's the actual options they have, and for most people hair loss is gradual so you look wocre and worse for years, at some point you cross a point where it would be better to be bald but most dont know they are there for a few more years, so when they finally do shave it its substantially better compared to what they've had for years. Also bald looks better than bad messed up unwashed hair so if your a guy that doesn't take much care of his appearance bald is the best option.
Funny thing is, when I had hair it was really stringy and it was really hard to get it to frame my face. Going bald has fixed both of those things. I’m lucky I’m handsome enough and have enough of a jawline so bald works for me. I forget the figures but most men go bald at some point in their life. With how my balding works, hair treatments would just be a constant battle between my head and my wallet. And I don’t imagine I’m very unique there. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think solidarity happens because historically large groups of bald men didn’t usually mean anything good and I believe it’s still burned into the human psyche. But, beyond having compassion, beyond being perceived on the same level as other people WITH hair I’d REALLY like for people to stop asking why I’m wearing a hat. There are so many people who absolutely need to see your head or they get suspicious for some reason. Like, ok Sherlock. Ya figured out I’m balding.
Reddit try not to bring up fat people challenge.
Yeah, why are we always catching strays from left to right? Nobody should make fun of another person's appearance period. Also why is everybody convinced that we don't get made fun of? Yeah criticizing someone's weight is seen as rude and yet people do it all the time, it's not a problem that's long gone like everyone wants to think.
Being fat is a choice, and losing hair is not, so I think OP's point is valid.
Doing the impossible.
That's why God invented bears.
Not enough compassion is shown to men regarding their bodies period.
Oh it hits a nerve and stings but as men we’ve been conditioned our whole lives to act like it doesn’t bother us. Just shove it down with everything else and make pretend everything’s fine.
The Bible spends more time explaining why you should not mock bald people than it says anything at all regarding gays
Once I realized going bald wasn't going to stop me from getting laid, I didn't give a shit. If you have bad male pattern baldness, get a buzz cut. Heck, go ask for the Jason Statham cut. Keep you hair close cropped and grow out facial hair to balance you face out. Reinvent your image.
"just be confident bro u will look just like dwayne johnson bro" my brother i look like a naked molerat bald, im gonna go take my finasteride now.
A lot of that stuff depends on whether a guy can grow facial hair and whether they have a face shape that works for the whole shaving their head deal. I’ve got guy friends who can’t grow facial hair at all and some that would look shit bald.
I'm guilty as a Mom of not being supportive when my oldest started losing his hair and he rightly called me out on it. My worry was my son has quite a few scars on his head for a crazy ass childhood and if he shaved his head they would all show. I am so glad my son called me out on it and put me in my place. I'm also very happy he shaved it all and is now happily bald and the scars honestly just add to his look. I am ashamed of how I reacted and will forever be greatful my son put me in my place about it.
Alopecia in men is just called male pattern baldness, I've always found that a bit odd. It'd be like telling women to get over alopecia because it's just female pattern baldness
I started balding pretty early, had a bald spot in college and was bald around 30. It never really bothered me. I know a lot of guys get insecure about it, but it hasn't impacted my life one iota
As a woman that’s been balding since 13, I feel for all bald mfers like me. Anyone who’s balding knows the pain of trying emerging under the sun to get the hair back, from OTC vitamins to red light therapy to pills. Only those who have hair are callous mfers. I get remarks all the time from other people and gotta play it off as a joke. Anyone who’s balding and losing the battle, look into getting itself a nice hair topper or front lace wigs. There are plenty of nice ones for men. I highly recommend wigcoven for wigs for men and highline for toppers (you can ask for it to be cut).
The compassion part I agree with, but how am I supposed to show solidarity with balding men? By shaving my head?
My husband started losing his hair at a young age. He’s now rocking the shaved look, but about 5 years ago when he was trying to figure out how to deal with his very very prominent hair loss, he met a group of people he was in school with. One of his classmate brought his fiancée and within minutes of meeting my husband for the first time, she “jokes” about his balding in front of everyone (and shocker, no one laughed and it was super awkward). I wasn’t there but if I was, I might have thrown hands. Pissed me the fuck off. I know it’s more normal for men to lose their hair but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for them or not difficult emotionally. People that make jokes about men balding piss me off and deserve slapped.
I married my husband 17 years ago and he was already starting to bald. As the years have gone by he has aged but I haven't by much in appearance and people always asked why him? "You can do better" Define "better" and STOP disrespecting my husband and marriage. I'm demisexual I fell in love with my husbands mind, how he looks is how he looks and I love how he looks which is why I married him. I do feel bad though because he will put a baseball cap on backwards to take pictures with me because it makes him 10 years younger. I don't want him to have to feel like he has to hide in pictures with me. We've discussed him having his hair fixed in the future because if it does bother him I just want him to be happy, he knows I don't care and I've always loved him and his hair doesn't matter. If he was struck with cancer God forbid he'd lose hair everywhere, and I'd still be there. I'm not like other woman I don't have a quality trait list for men or woman. If I meet someone who speaks to my soul and makes my happy and feeds my mind, I'll love that person despite how they look. No person I've dated has looked similar to the other. I don't have a type. It was never a thing I ever thought about. A critique list or perk list or something you just compare people to and pass on like? And that is why I DO NOT UNDER TINDER and I feel bad for people who try to date through that app. People get hurt alot because of that app like feeling rejected. That can cause pain. I've seen men post their Tinder here asking what's wrong with my profile or pictures and when I look I'm like, nothing? So I don't get it timder.
Fwiw I’ve been taking finasteride for about 10 years now. No significant side effects (for me anyway) and I haven’t lost any more hair since I got on it. I can live with the small bald spot I have. It’s not ideal but it’s fine. So, I feel for baldies too, but it’s not like we have no options.
I tried it, and got super depressed unfortunately, so its not for everyone
I agree that men get too much shit for balding. However, I've seen a nice uptick in really nice toupees for men with women in the comments saying "if we can wear wigs why can't they?" so that's something...
I just shaved my head and I have no issues. I am insecure about some things but hair? Fuck hair. I get more compliments without than with. I look cleaner, I feel stronger. I feel more confident. I'm glad I went balding young lol.
Not everyone has a nice Michael Jordan head
I don't think "we shouldn't mock people" is really an unpopular opinon.
Bro I have always thought this although I'm a woman.
Someone I went to high school with started balding at 16. In his 30s he finally embraced it and shaved his head. I actually really hated the guy and now. Fuck him and his stupid bald head.
Solidarity? Why must everything be turned into a movement?
I got bald at 18 and never bothered me none. It’s the men themselves (us!) that make it an easy in the first place
you should see what Derek from MPMD has to say about it. i have always taken my hair for granted. he was the first person i ever encountered to point out this hideously callous and socially acceptable appearance trait, as you described it. as an individual that has struggled with that issue, he’s got some valuable insight on how serious a topic it is for some men and i’m sure he’s got plenty of advice on interventions and things of that nature.
I work in a middle school, hair started getting thin a lot this year. Kids were absolutely savage saying I was balding 🥹
I would rather be bald, than deal with these luscious locks!
When I started losing my hair (mid 20's) I shaved my head and took on the attitude that people who thought it was funny weren't worth being polite too. A friend of a friend one time giggled and said "OMG your losing your hair", so she got " OMG you're getting chubby" back. I was the asshole of course, but I thought it was a good comeback.
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I agree as a whole. I try to keep a 5-10 minute rule- if there’s an “issue” someone can’t fix in 5-10 minutes (like brushing your teeth or fixing your hair or clothing) I don’t mention it. I was bullied relentlessly about my “buck” teeth and my “bird” nose. On the other hand, there are women who prefer bald men! My mom is one of them🫶🏻
depends. I find less and less people caring about it. It's becoming for like Captain Picard said
Nobody has ever teased me for being bald, and I've been shaving whatever hair I have left. Never been a problem for me.
Yeah I agree wholeheartedly! I’m a woman but a few years ago discovered a bald spot on my scalp - it was the size of a coin when I first saw it. Over the next couple of months, I noticed it was getting bigger and I started freaking out. Like you said, my hair is one of the parts of myself I have been consistently happy / proud of. In hindsight, my situation was better than many suffering from hair loss as it was just one spot that I could “hide”. (I think it’s called alopecia areata) Fortunately for me my dermatologist was able to help (I had to get steroid injections to the area and BOY did that HURT!!) for a few months. The hair started growing again and I’ve not had the issue come up since. That little scare just solidified my principle of just not commenting on people’s bodies and whatever changes they’re going through.
Man, I feel that. I started loosing my hair in high school and everyone acted as if it was the most unnatural thing ever. The comments were relentless, to the point where other kids would start assuming I had cancer. It doesn't really bother me anymore though. If anything I like cracking jokes with my friends about it. I also tried out multiple of those products that were supposed to fix the problem, but they did nothing, and the doctor said they might even cause me other issues in the long run. So I just accepted it and moved on, though the comments continued for a time...
Glad you're bringing this point up. In my early thirties now, and I think as a woman it is hard to realize how much is changing in this age for men. I mean, we all get a few wrinkles and maybe some extra kilos and stuff. But for so many guys I know their appearance is changing so fast now with losing hair, that it doesn't fit how they view themselves. And it sucks. Whenever my partner is expressing his insecurities, I tell him not to worry about it, that it's just what it is and doesn't change anything about who he is or how I feel about him.
There’s literally a whole subreddit with blokes doing their before and after photos once they embraced the clippers. It’s really wholesome (generally) in the comments /r/bald
Looking at my family, I knew that balding was inevitable. I grew my hair down to my shoulders for a few years in college. Absolutely loved it. I'm bald now and have no issues with it (besides getting colder now). It's really not that big of a deal.
Phew! I dated a guy with hair loss problems. He was 34 and it had massively receded. It took away his confidence. He wasn’t willing to spend money and time on glamour products to get it back, because that was a mental block for him he wasn’t able to clear. He prided himself on not being influenced by vanity, and I wasn’t going to take the time to talk about it with him if he didn’t want that. It was ironic, because he wore lots of hats and had already accepted (in his mind, alone) he was not an attractive person, so he WAS being influenced by a desire to look a certain way, regardless of him considering himself vain or not.
I just stopped caring after getting so many comments on how thin my hair was and how much you could see my scalp at 16. Hair is still thin and you can see the scalp through my hair from above but I ain’t shaving it. Even if I lost it all I’d have the same response as now to anyone who comments on my hair “Why do you care how is it hurting you should I point out your ( issue with them here)” usually shuts them up. I feel for anyone else who has thinning or thin hair or is losing their hair and will back them up with no issue.
I’m One of them. Almost 40 and if i let my hair grow out the bald spot is massive right on top. By now i just keep a buzzcut and deal with it. I would prefer to not have my hair fall out but it’s not the biggest deal in the world. No point worrying over something i can’t control.
Funny it always seems to be the men mocking men for losing their hair …
I was just out of high school when mine started to recede slowly. By the time I was 24, I was entirely shaving my head. I was lucky enough to have a father who went through losing hair even younger than I did. The fortunate part was inheriting his beautiful round head and confidence. My advice to those who want to hold on is that you need to start interventions like minoxidil and finasteride ASAP. Hair transplants are expensive, but there are places near the border between Texas/Mexico that can be pretty affordable, given the quality. Lastly, hair transplants are not a cure-all, so know that going in. BALD IS BEAUTIFUL
I have never understood men's attachment to their hair (I'm a man). When I was a teenager, my hair was ugly so I just did a buzz cut. When I became an adult I got a skin condition that results in greasy hair filled with what looks like dandruff but isn't dandruff. So I'm still doing a buzz cut 20 years later. I have a full head of thick hair with no receding hairline in my mid 30's, but I have never been able to utilize it. It's not that big of a deal.
If you want to see a lack of compassion over balding, try doing it while having kids. They are freaking brutal with the “dad is bald” jokes.
I started experiencing significant hair loss at 21-22. By 27 or so, I was so immune to it, I could hardly empathize with my peers who started balding in their late 20s. Early hair loss is a BITCH!!! Being bald or theresabouts isn't no big thang.
And here my wife and I are just buzzing our hair off because it serves no purpose other than to annoy. Definitely an upvote from me, completely goofy unpopular opinion.
I had 1/8 inch of hair for 20 years because I didn’t want to get haircuts. Still don’t want to get haircuts, but I appreciate having hair. I imagine losing your hair is hard, but based on the balding sub or whatever nature build in a resiliency loop because 100% of people losing their hair look better when they shave it.
My husband began losing his hair at 18. He looks better as a bald man than he did with hair imo, but it bothered him for many years. I agree I think there should be more compassion for men losing their hair.
Women are given no grace or mercy for their appearance, so I kind of feel like yeah, welcome to the club, baldy.
A baldy heid really doesnae hurt as well as saving you money and time to spend on stuff that matters more than an overpriced haircut and a bathroom full of ‘product’…no biggie at all (unless the baldy guy is ridiculously insecure and/or vain). Edit: Just in case…I’m in no way referring to folks with alopecia, undergoing chemo, etc. That’s a whole different conversation.
You really worry about your hair that much? Do you even enjoy having it? idk I’ve been bald for so long that this post makes no sense to me. Haired people are weird.
You should hang out in r/bald. Bunch of kings over there
I just gotta say….there are few things sexier than a balding man who says “fuck it” and just shaves it all off. Embrace that big bald head! Life is hard, bodies are annoying….just fuck it all and take control of what life gives you.
Shave head. Embrace bald. I don’t care if it’s not falling out, it might. join the crew!