Dear medium,
It’s pretty funny that the 1st random topic that comes to my mind when I was trying to think of a topic to rant my motor mouth on was on “balding”. It’s probably due to a recent interaction with an old classmate of mine that is facing the “balding” dilemma. A dilemma I also faced ~10 years ago.
Now I don’t really know the cause of my thinning hairline back then
- Maybe it’s genetics,
- Maybe it’s from work stress,
- Maybe it’s from consuming too much MSG,
- M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶p̶o̶r̶n̶,̶
- Maybe it’s from my waning manly testosterone (An interesting side note, some attribute baldness as side effect of high testosterone),
but the reality was I was losing a lot of hair and they weren’t growing back. I won’t deny it *really* poked a hole in my self confidence back then, as the hole in my head (and ego) seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. I was able to masked it for a few years by cutting my hair short, but at last it was just like putting band aid on a gunshot wound.
So one fine day, I just got fed up with this hoo-ha and decided to go on full nuclear option and get myself as clean bald cut.
“I look f*cking weird” were my 1st thoughts, when I gazed upon my now full on majestic shiny bald head on my mirror mirror on the toilet wall. I felt like those sad emo lions that got their mane shaved off.
It took a few days for me to adjust to my new looks, but looking back now, I felt the ones that had to adjust more were those around me that had to look at me everyday. I recall my boss back then even joked to me, “If I knew you were going to be so fierce looking, I won’t have hired you”. Ya, I agree the bald look makes me look WAY TOO serious then the shy, timid and harmless pussy I really am.
So after ~10 years of rocking this bald look, how do I feel about it now? As some say, time heal almost all wounds (or in my case ego). I grew into my bald look and even learn to love some aspects of it. As one of my friend commented to me, if I wasn’t bald now then I would look odd to him.
Do I miss having my hair, yes and no.
I do miss having the options to try on new hairstyles but at the same time the simplicity of the baldness seem to match with my way of life. Not to mention, the amount of moolah I saved by shaving my own hair instead of going to the barber is worth mentioning.
However, not all is sunny and rosy. When it’s sunny, prepare to get sunburnt on your scalp. I have some nasty scar marks on my head which I can’t hide them with my hair. Another notable cons is the need to shave my head regularly as a unkept bald head projects a messy lazy person vibe (Though in my case, I am one).
As for how it affects the dynamics with the opposite sex, I do know some that are repelled off by it but the others just don’t seem to careless about it. I seen a lot of bald guys get attractive (Yea, I am quite shallow) partners, so I think most women aren’t too overfocus on the looks department. Lost some brownie points on the look department? No biggie, just compensate in others: be more gentleman, be more rich, be more kind, be more humor, be more buff, be more goofy etc.
Here’s some nugget of wisdoms I learnt over the years on being bald,
- Invest in getting a good clippers, it will save you time and money in the long run.
- Consider growing some facial hair, as it’s a great way to balance out a bald look. I think this works cause it’s make you look like you have hair, but just at the bottom of your face instead of top.
- For a clean bald head shave, I found disposable shavers seem to work best since most clippers will only shave till 0.5mm. I however don’t like using the former as they irritate my scalp and I have cut myself quite often due to my head being not smoothly rounded.
Returning back to the origin that sparked this whole thought on being bald, my old classmate that was hesitant to rock a bald hairstyle… my advice to him was to simply cut his hair shorter and shorter each time. Make the shift gradual and before you or anyone knows/notice it, congrats you’re bald.
There are however other viable solutions then to going all bald. I have many friends that are also facing the balding dilemma but opt for other solutions:
- Drugs, seek real doctors to prescribe these magic pills that can stimulate hair growth (Avoid those Yun Nam and etc, trust me I been there). Do note however these drugs sometimes comes with side effects and when you stop taking them the balding starts again.
- Hair transplant, if you have a lot of money to blow, this is a rather good option. Don’t believe me, just google “Elon Musk hair transplant”
- Embrace the 1/2 balding hair style, I have some friends that rock this look, and just personally they look “horrible” but if they’re okay with it, then to the loo with me.
- Wig, Think of it as like wearing a cap. Only this cap got a lot of hairs from “unknown sources” on it.
Whatever one decides to do, I don’t think being bald has any correlation with one’s self value… unless we choose to make it so.
It’s just a stage in life some of us have to go thru as we age. Like many other things in life… losing our love ones, falling down even when we try our hardest and etc… There’s nothing that we ought to be embarrassed or feel self-deprecating about on “balding”.
So be bold and be bald…
