I once had a full head of hair. Then the receding began. As time went by, I decided to go on the offensive- no more would I stand idly by as my hairline receded. No more would I watch as one by one my follicles said "I quit". I would take control. I told them all, "You're Fired!".

Square Man


Observations

1) It's actually more work than my previous hair style.
Before taking the plunge, I had a ultra-low maintenance guy hair cut. After a shower I'd town dry my hair, and be done. I didn't spend any time styling or combing by hair - I'm no pretty-boy John Edwards.

Now, instead of washing my head with shampoo, I wash my head with soap. Virtually no time savings there.

I now have the additional work of shaving every other day to avoid "5 o'clock shadow" on my head. This replaces a once every 6 or 8 week haircut. This is a net increase in work, but a decrease in cost.

Hey, I just did a cost-benefit analysis in my head on my head.


2) It's cold!
You lose between 30%-50% of your body heat through your head. Since I started in January, it's been cold outside - and intolerable without a hat. That's obvious enough. What's been surprising is that I'm always cold when inside. It's been 2 months since I shaved my hair off, and I still feel like I'm walking around with wet hair on a windy day.

I often sleep with a pillow draped over the top half of my head, since I'm so cold at night. Yes, I think that's weird too. My wife has been suggesting an Ebeneser Scrooge style sleeping cap- but I'm not ready for that look.


3) The human head is a lot larger than you think.
The initial shaving took a lot of time & work. A lot more then I thought it would. I did the initial shaving by hand with a little Bic razor. It took me maybe an hour to get all my hair off. (Well, I did have some fun before finishing the job...)

It surprised me to learn that it takes least 4 times longer to shave my head than to shave my face. That and half of my head is in the back, and therefore has to be done blindly - by feel only. Between the dull blade I was using, and the inability to see what I was doing - I ended up a bloddy mess with a ton of cuts.


4) It's a confident hair style.
A timid person who hems and haws over decisions isn't going to shave all their hair off. It's a bold & decisive act. When you think of bald people in media and culture, there's a stereotype of masculinity, assertiveness, confidence, and boldness.


5) It's attention getting to adults.
I tend to blend in a lot, and don't get much attention. Now I get more attention in public. I often catch total strangers looking at me more, sometimes just staring. I'm not sure if this extends beyond it being unusual to see 30-something white guy as bald.


6) It's not attention getting to kids.
Kids, in general, don't seem to care or even notice a lot of the time. Most of the small kids (4 and under) I know from church didn't even seem to notice for a few days. (I help out in the nursery a lot, so I have a larger sample size than normal here.)

I made it a big deal to my 3 year old son, mostly because I thought it would be fun. His only reaction seemed to be concern that I was going to cut his hair too. ("Mine hair stay in" he tells me.) Otherwise, he doesn't seem to have an opinion- good or bad. I was a tad disappointed in the lack of reaction.


7) People treat me differently - unless they know me.
Almost all people who know me say they like it, and haven't treated me any differently. There was the initial round of jokes and friendly ribbing, but nothing unexpected.

People I don't know, on the other hand, have started treating me differently. Not hugely, but enough to be a noticeable difference.

Strangers tend to argue with me less, and see to avoid confrontation more. Sales checkouts, asking questions, etc. People let me in & out the the elevator first more. If there's a "traffic jam" of people at a door tying to leave a room, I'm now more likely to be offered to go first. It's as if people are afraid of upsetting me, and just want me to leave. This isn't a bad thing.

Oddly, 2 people have had apologetic reactions, as if my choice of hair style was a punishment or somehow shameful. The only negative contexts I can think of for shaving bald are head lice, cancer, and French women who slept with Nazis in WW2. Obviously none one apply to me, so I have no idea what would cause that reaction.


8) I feel more confident.
It's a little like putting on a suit & tie - you feel and act a little different to match your look. Since shaving, I've felt more more confident. This has been reinforced by the way strangers have reacted as well.

It's more than how I feel. There's a real change present. As objective proof, my wife commented that I've been acting more confident than usual lately. We'll see if it's a temporary shift or a long term change.


9) Not all people can do a shaved head and look good.
I got a recommendation from my barber, saying that I had a nicely shaped head. This is the single most surreal compliment I've ever received. We've all seen people with shaved heads with skulls that look like they fell down every one of the steps in the Sears tower. That's a valid look, and one that works well with lots of tattoos. It's not the look I wanted to go for though.


10) It really is better than going bald naturally.
I look it as a "You can't fire me! I quit!" type of approach. Taking control solves the problems of receding hairlines. No comb-overs, hair flaps, islands, horse shoes, or other "goodbye hair" problems. There's a Seinfeld episode that comes to mind....


11) Cowlicks live on even with a shaved head.
I've got a pretty severe swirl of hair on the top of my head that makes for an unruly cowlick. Shaving it all off destroys this pest, right? Wrong. The hair that grows back is growing out angled in a swirl. This makes shaving that part of my head a pain. Razors work best when you shave against the grain. With a swirl pattern of hair, you've got to go back & forth over that spot from all angles. So yes, bald men still fight cowlicks - sort of.


I'm sure there are more observations coming, but that's what I've noticed in the last 2 months.

Related Links
-Should I shave my head?