Sly Bald Guys' Blog

This last weekend my wife and I went to a marriage retreat that we've gone to every year since we've been married.. This year was really great and was even better than last year. One of the themes this year was to determine wat type of person you are and how this affects your ability to communicate with your spouse. Without going into all of the different types or person you can be, I'm just going to focus on the type of person that I am, a "pleaser." If you want to learn more about other types, stay tuned as I'll talk about that in the next couple of days.

As I mentioned above, I'm a "pleaser."  If you've never heard of this term, I'll define it for you.  Basically I'm someone that likes to make sure everyone around me is happy.  Kind of a good person to have a a forum moderator, eh?  Well, where this can add benefits in some aspects of my life it can really cause havic if I get into a situation where I need to make a decision where I'm going to have to piss someone off because there is no win win option.  This can also cause me, and other like me, to often make a decision to do something in someone else favor instead of our own because we want to please them and we think that's better for us then actually getting our own and pissing the other person off.

When I was realizing that I was a pleaser I also started to think how this could really work against a person and cause them to do something that may please everyone, but really isn't the best decision in the long run.  Since this is a site about head shaving and going bald, let me use an example that I see here quite often. 

There are several guys that come to Sly Bald Guys that are looking for advice because they are going bald and want to make the leap to shaving their head and take control.  Though, more often than not, we get guys that say "I'd really love to shave my head, BUT my mom, spouse, girlfriend, parents, grand parents, boss, etcetera, etcetera, may/will not like it" and then they ask what they can do or say to these people that are important in their lives. 

I was over at BeBetterGuys.com today and found an article that Brian Joyner, the bald co-founder of Be Better Guys, wrote up. I really liked the article because he makes a lot of points that I also try to make when I talk to guys dealing with hair loss. Here are some of the highlights.

Brian writes:

For most of us, it's pretty late in the game when a guy realizes that his hair is leaving for other locales (like his back or ears). This is when the comb-overs, Hair Club for Men, and toupees come into play for some guys. Those were never options for me. But, being an African-American man coming up in the age of Michael Jordan meant I had an option other than watching the bald spot on the crown of my head expand and taking on a George Jefferson look, and that was to shave it off.

Here are the points that I wish everyone could realize.

Men with thinning hair have the inevitable moment when you've crossed that threshhold - you can’t hide it any longer and have to make a choice as to what to do. Cursing your genes won’t help. Male pattern baldness is a genetic predisposition that can be inherited from either parent, so what are you gonna do, diss your mom? Most treatments don't cure alopecia, a hair loss disease that strikes men and women for no known reason. So, you have a few choices:

- First, accept that it's happening. Comfort yourself with this: baldness, in test studies, is frequently associated with higher, not lower, levels of testosterone. So you have that going for you.
- Second, if you haven't totally lost your hair, a product like Rogaine or Propecia can help you hold on to what you have. It won't grow hair where it's already gone, but it can enlarge the follicles on your head, helping you delay hair's send-off.
- Third, once you recognize it’s going, going, gone, we recommend you cut your hair shorter so that the thinning becomes less noticeable. How you get it styled will, in part, depend on how you are balding. Talk to a barber/stylist about your concerns and let the professionals help you figure out what works for your face and thinning hair.

Now, I'm pretty sure my readers will know that I advocate point two, as it's really just delaying the inevitable and a waste of money.

Brian finishes his article off with:

The future says more guys will look like me in the coming years, walking tall and sporting a beautiful bald head. The days of feeling ashamed of your thinning hair are gone, and covering up your genetic predisposition with toupees or combovers now gets you laughed at. I know women who prefer a shaved head. I know many guys who actively shave their heads, even though they aren't bald. It makes a strong statement. In fact, when I see you out on the street, I'll give the nod of approval from this bald brother to another.

We'll give a nod right back at you Brian!

To read Brian's entire article, head over to Be Better Guys.

In the November 2007 of FHM Estonia (http://www.fhm.ee) in an article related to hair loss. If you happen to be in Estonia or know some that will be, pick up an issue to check it out. Though, you will need to speak Estonian to be able to read it.

1. Unless you have lost 100% of your hair, the rest of your hair is going to continue to fall out after getting a transplant.

2. When more of your hair falls out, you will have to get more hair transplants to cover it up.

3. Because of #1 and #2 it's much more expensive than the price they quote you because they won't know how many follow up surgeries you will need.

4. It's surgery, therefore it's going to be painful.

5. Because it's surgery, you will have scars on your scalp. This means if you want to shave your head later, you'll have to show the world that you previously had a hair transplant.

6. Everyone will know that you have plugs.

7. Chicks don't think plugs are attractive.

Samuel L. Jackson's bald love

13rd October 2007. 13:29

(BANG) - Samuel L. Jackson loves being bald.

The 'Black Snake Moan' actor believes his hairless head makes him look "beautiful", but admits he wasn't always so happy about his lack of locks.
Jackson said: "I keep ending up on those bald is beautiful lists. It's cool. You know, when I started losing my hair it was during the era when everybody had lots of hair. Guys either had it down to their shoulders, or all black guys had these big afros. All of a sudden I felt this big hole in the middle of my afro, I couldn't face having a comb over so I had to quickly figure what the haircut for me was." Despite being comfortable with his baldness, Jackson enjoys having hair in his film roles. He said: "Now I'm very comfortable in my own life, not having hair, but not very comfortable with my characters not having hair!" The 58-year-old actor donned an afro to play hitman Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994, but stayed bald for last year's cult hit 'Snakes on a Plane'. Earlier this year, Jackson voiced the lead character in Japanese animated TV series 'Afro Samurai' in which a black samurai warrior with a huge head of hair goes to Japan to avenge the death of his father.

(C) BANG Media International