zackmcqueen
Established Member
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Hi guys
Im 22 and am almost clean bald on top already, horsehoe is there and I razor bic it in the shower everyday. I have been losing it since my late teens and its totally relentless. Looks ok. Anyway, that's me. For the past few weeks Ive been writing a totally original book entirely dedicated to certain aspects of male pattern baldness. (I have a masters degree in Literature so I really know how to write when the situation calls for it). The book is not about the science of hair loss, but is dedicated to the psychological effects of baldness, and the negative portrayal of bald men in various forms of media. My aim is to write a book that bald men can read and feel inspired by, but also one that really proves to the judgemental masses that hair loss is not trivial and that the stereotypes associated with it are BULLSHIT. I see questions from you guys on this forum that say things like 'why is it ok to mock a bald man but not an overweight woman'? These are exactly the type of questions that my book intends to bring to the public's attention. The book is an exploration of how hair loss affects us. It is a voice for people who are unfortunately never heard outside the confines of this forum. To get an idea of what I am focusing on, here is a brief extract...
Thus my aim is to express to you, the reader, whether you are male or female, bald or coiffed, an exploration of the trivialised subject of male pattern baldness. Trivialised you say? In what sense is baldness trivialised? Well I put it to you now, in the simplest possible terms, that male pattern baldness is treated as a joke. It is not taken seriously except by those it cruelly afflicts, and those who are willing to listen and listen hard to the cruelly afflicted. Not convinced? You will be.
Acne:
An inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands, characterized by comedones and pimples, esp. on the face, back, and chest, and, in severe cases, by cysts and nodules resulting in scarring.
This is a dictionary definition of acne. From this definition we can see the implications of this affliction: The person with acne develops spots in visible places, and these spots can result in scarring in these visible places. What conclusion can we draw from this? If I may be so bold, I propose that one can view acne as in some sense a deformity, an aesthetic problem that we would rather not experience because of the affect it has on our social life and self-confidence regarding our physical appearance. Now, baldness is exactly the same in terms of the conclusions that we may draw; like acne, it is a physical impairment for most people because they often feel that put bluntly; it detracts from their looks and makes them seem unattractive to others within a social context. Not convinced? Ok. Here is a list of common complaints from bald/balding men regarding the ways in which they think hair loss affects their appearance:
It makes me look so much older than I am.
I’ve got a big red f*****g birthmark on head. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
It just looks really unhealthy.
It makes me look like a Nazi.
It makes me look totally featureless.
It accentuates negative things about my face like the size of my nose and the wrinkles on my forehead.
The shape of my head is atrocious; I cannot bear to shave my hair short, so now I am stuck with looking decades older than I am and there is nothing I can do about it.
No front hairline means my face is no longer framed and I think this really changes how my face actually looks.
It makes me look like a thug.
My skin is too pale and so it makes me look like a cancer victim.
I’ve always worn a beard but now I can’t anymore because it looks ridiculous with such short hair.
What choice do I have? I can either look old or look like a Nazi.
It just looks wrong.
Given these statements, which I have heard more times than I can count, I think it is very obvious that male pattern baldness is a condition which, like acne, has significant implications for the victim’s social life and sense of self-worth. Yet is baldness treated with the same sensitivity and concern as acne? In two words: absolutely not. How many times have you heard jokes directed at bald men regarding their hair? More than you can remember I wager. Now how often do you hear jokes directed at people with acne? How often have you heard someone greet someone else with the expression ‘hey crater face’? Unless you’re still in grade school, it is almost never. The fact is that it is politically incorrect to mock someone with acne but it is not to mock someone with baldness, even though these two conditions mirror each other precisely in their negative implications for the individual concerned..
etc etc
This is only one small extract from a book that I hope will finish up at around 30000 words including several informative pictures. I am confident that I can write well enough and know enough about this original and important subject to get it published. I am choosing to include one section at the end which I need your help with. I want to dedicate a section to what you guys have to say to people who do not suffer from baldness. I want you to have a voice, to address them directly. I am not looking for detailed accounts of how hair loss has affected your social life, since this will have been included earlier. Rather i am looking for short and snappy words of wisdom you have to say to the judgemental, that they can take away with them and really think about. If you have something, anything, that you really want to get off your chest, to let all those who dont know exactly how it feels to expereince hair loss what it is REALLY like, then post it please. If you want to address it to women, great. If you want to address it to Hollywood to tell them to stop casting bald guys as evil villains, even better!! I just want a section where the voice of the bald man is heard directly adressing those who fail to see the significance of hair loss..
many thanks and hope to hear from you soon...
Im 22 and am almost clean bald on top already, horsehoe is there and I razor bic it in the shower everyday. I have been losing it since my late teens and its totally relentless. Looks ok. Anyway, that's me. For the past few weeks Ive been writing a totally original book entirely dedicated to certain aspects of male pattern baldness. (I have a masters degree in Literature so I really know how to write when the situation calls for it). The book is not about the science of hair loss, but is dedicated to the psychological effects of baldness, and the negative portrayal of bald men in various forms of media. My aim is to write a book that bald men can read and feel inspired by, but also one that really proves to the judgemental masses that hair loss is not trivial and that the stereotypes associated with it are BULLSHIT. I see questions from you guys on this forum that say things like 'why is it ok to mock a bald man but not an overweight woman'? These are exactly the type of questions that my book intends to bring to the public's attention. The book is an exploration of how hair loss affects us. It is a voice for people who are unfortunately never heard outside the confines of this forum. To get an idea of what I am focusing on, here is a brief extract...
Thus my aim is to express to you, the reader, whether you are male or female, bald or coiffed, an exploration of the trivialised subject of male pattern baldness. Trivialised you say? In what sense is baldness trivialised? Well I put it to you now, in the simplest possible terms, that male pattern baldness is treated as a joke. It is not taken seriously except by those it cruelly afflicts, and those who are willing to listen and listen hard to the cruelly afflicted. Not convinced? You will be.
Acne:
An inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands, characterized by comedones and pimples, esp. on the face, back, and chest, and, in severe cases, by cysts and nodules resulting in scarring.
This is a dictionary definition of acne. From this definition we can see the implications of this affliction: The person with acne develops spots in visible places, and these spots can result in scarring in these visible places. What conclusion can we draw from this? If I may be so bold, I propose that one can view acne as in some sense a deformity, an aesthetic problem that we would rather not experience because of the affect it has on our social life and self-confidence regarding our physical appearance. Now, baldness is exactly the same in terms of the conclusions that we may draw; like acne, it is a physical impairment for most people because they often feel that put bluntly; it detracts from their looks and makes them seem unattractive to others within a social context. Not convinced? Ok. Here is a list of common complaints from bald/balding men regarding the ways in which they think hair loss affects their appearance:
It makes me look so much older than I am.
I’ve got a big red f*****g birthmark on head. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
It just looks really unhealthy.
It makes me look like a Nazi.
It makes me look totally featureless.
It accentuates negative things about my face like the size of my nose and the wrinkles on my forehead.
The shape of my head is atrocious; I cannot bear to shave my hair short, so now I am stuck with looking decades older than I am and there is nothing I can do about it.
No front hairline means my face is no longer framed and I think this really changes how my face actually looks.
It makes me look like a thug.
My skin is too pale and so it makes me look like a cancer victim.
I’ve always worn a beard but now I can’t anymore because it looks ridiculous with such short hair.
What choice do I have? I can either look old or look like a Nazi.
It just looks wrong.
Given these statements, which I have heard more times than I can count, I think it is very obvious that male pattern baldness is a condition which, like acne, has significant implications for the victim’s social life and sense of self-worth. Yet is baldness treated with the same sensitivity and concern as acne? In two words: absolutely not. How many times have you heard jokes directed at bald men regarding their hair? More than you can remember I wager. Now how often do you hear jokes directed at people with acne? How often have you heard someone greet someone else with the expression ‘hey crater face’? Unless you’re still in grade school, it is almost never. The fact is that it is politically incorrect to mock someone with acne but it is not to mock someone with baldness, even though these two conditions mirror each other precisely in their negative implications for the individual concerned..
etc etc
This is only one small extract from a book that I hope will finish up at around 30000 words including several informative pictures. I am confident that I can write well enough and know enough about this original and important subject to get it published. I am choosing to include one section at the end which I need your help with. I want to dedicate a section to what you guys have to say to people who do not suffer from baldness. I want you to have a voice, to address them directly. I am not looking for detailed accounts of how hair loss has affected your social life, since this will have been included earlier. Rather i am looking for short and snappy words of wisdom you have to say to the judgemental, that they can take away with them and really think about. If you have something, anything, that you really want to get off your chest, to let all those who dont know exactly how it feels to expereince hair loss what it is REALLY like, then post it please. If you want to address it to women, great. If you want to address it to Hollywood to tell them to stop casting bald guys as evil villains, even better!! I just want a section where the voice of the bald man is heard directly adressing those who fail to see the significance of hair loss..
many thanks and hope to hear from you soon...
