Discussions About Being Bald > Tattoos and Piercings
Hair Follicle Replication Technique Tatoo?
Rusty Shackleford:
--- Quote from: Tyler on August 13, 2009, 08:56:52 AM ---
--- Quote ---What I've come to notice is that if someone wants to modify their appearance in such a way that the result looks totally natural the actions are consistently insulted.
"They don't have any self-confidence!"
"That person isn't secure with himself!"
"They're just a victim of the media's ideal image of a man/woman or someone slick advertising!"
However when someone wants to modify their appearance to create an unnatural look the reactions are often quite different.
"That person is confident!"
"They're expressing their individuality!"
--- End quote ---
I see the point you are trying to make, but I don't think the logic is as sound as you make it. For example, procedures like hair transplants and shadow tattoos are permanent modifications that offer only short-term confidence solutions. Hair transplants are eventually revealed due to the remainder of your hair falling out (that and many of them just don't look natural) and shadow tattoos are eventually going to fade. Both leaving the person in a worse situation than when they started.
Shaving your head on the other hand provides long-term confidence solutions using a technique that is temporary (your hair grows back). At anytime you can go back to your original situation if you deem is necessary.
Also, hair transplants and shadow tattoos are not natural looking, especially in the long run.
--- End quote ---
You missed 2 big points that I was making.
The first of which is that there's this automatic assumption that there's a problem with a person's confidence if they seek out medical procedures to restore their hair. There are lots of people on this board with full heads of hair who sly themselves because they like the look. Why do we automatically assume that those who want to restore their hair do so because they lack confidence? Chances are, many want to restore their hair because they like their hair just like many of us like our shaved heads.
You also brought up the concept of these procedures being permanent, which is entirely true, but what about the permanent solutions to the curse of being of hairy scalp? There are numerous threads dedicated to the permanent laser hair removal procedure and tweezing which is known to cause permanent damage to the ability to grow hair if done long enough. I have not seen one post in any of those threads implying psychological weakness on the part of the participant.
So, again, why is it a sign of a lack of confidence if one person does not like their appearance and performs a permanent medical procedure to get the opposite look while it is a sign of confidence for others who do not like their appearance to perform a permanent medical procedure to get the opposite look? Is it because many guys who go bald go into an emotional depression? If so, I still don't think all balding guys seeking transplants should be assumed to belong to that group.
As far as I'm concerned, the only real difference here is that those seeking hair transplants risk finding thelseves with an island of hair surrounded by baldness as their baldness progresses, but that is an actual tangible drawback and not simply a critique upon the person's state of mind. To me it's obvious that our personal bias to loving our shaved noggins is blinding many to the bigger picture of being accepting, or even encouraging, to those with the confidence to make permanent changes to their bodies instead of just settling for what genetics handed them. Whether it's hair transplants, laser hair removal, or nose jobs I've always found the whole concept fascinating (well, everything except for those bas****s who laser off their facial hair :) ).
(FYI: In case I came across like an a** or a troll it was not my intention, but I've been told that I seem to lose tact when I express myself in written form.)
Duffman:
Hey guys, thought I would chime in on this one... My particular point is that aside from some of the results looking ridiculous, is that from everything my tat artist said (his scalp is covered completely with tats), scalp tattooing is the most painful tattoo you can get. He's covered in almost every inch of his body, and he said by far the worst was his head. I think that if you want the shadow, go for it. If you are comfortable with just a shiny head, go for it. Personally, I think the excessive pain is enough to keep me out of that arena even if I wanted the shadow. I'm no wuss, but taking care of a full-head tattoo for 2 weeks sounds like my idea of torture.
Antimidas:
I kinda like the thought of my first tattoo being on the back of my head, but work would not like it at all. Sometimes it sucks being an office worker.
Tyler:
--- Quote from: Rusty Shackleford on August 14, 2009, 11:27:42 PM ---You missed 2 big points that I was making.
The first of which is that there's this automatic assumption that there's a problem with a person's confidence if they seek out medical procedures to restore their hair. There are lots of people on this board with full heads of hair who sly themselves because they like the look. Why do we automatically assume that those who want to restore their hair do so because they lack confidence? Chances are, many want to restore their hair because they like their hair just like many of us like our shaved heads.
--- End quote ---
1. Both people who shave their heads and get transplants do it because they want more confidence.
2. Sly Bald Guys do not not say that a guy is being confident by shaving their head, we are saying that he will be MORE confident as a result of shaving his head due to going bald.
3. Shaving your head is the same as getting a haircut, so a guy with a full head of hair or that is partially bald is just getting a hair cut that provides him more confidence; not a medical procedure.
4. I also don't think we say that guys have psychological issues because they get a transplant. They just made a bad choice in choosing something that doesn't provide what they are seeking in the long-term.
--- Quote from: Rusty Shackleford on August 14, 2009, 11:27:42 PM ---
You also brought up the concept of these procedures being permanent, which is entirely true, but what about the permanent solutions to the curse of being of hairy scalp? There are numerous threads dedicated to the permanent laser hair removal procedure and tweezing which is known to cause permanent damage to the ability to grow hair if done long enough. I have not seen one post in any of those threads implying psychological weakness on the part of the participant.
So, again, why is it a sign of a lack of confidence if one person does not like their appearance and performs a permanent medical procedure to get the opposite look while it is a sign of confidence for others who do not like their appearance to perform a permanent medical procedure to get the opposite look? Is it because many guys who go bald go into an emotional depression? If so, I still don't think all balding guys seeking transplants should be assumed to belong to that group.
As far as I'm concerned, the only real difference here is that those seeking hair transplants risk finding thelseves with an island of hair surrounded by baldness as their baldness progresses, but that is an actual tangible drawback and not simply a critique upon the person's state of mind. To me it's obvious that our personal bias to loving our shaved noggins is blinding many to the bigger picture of being accepting, or even encouraging, to those with the confidence to make permanent changes to their bodies instead of just settling for what genetics handed them. Whether it's hair transplants, laser hair removal, or nose jobs I've always found the whole concept fascinating (well, everything except for those bas****s who laser off their facial hair :) ).
(FYI: In case I came across like an a** or a troll it was not my intention, but I've been told that I seem to lose tact when I express myself in written form.)
--- End quote ---
I will give you something on the laser hair removal. Though, I still think this is less of a bad decision than a hair transplant. For example, most guys get laser hair removal because they have found that the "hairless" look gives them more confidence than a "hairy" look and by getting their hair lasered off, it makes it easier to keep that look. They aren't trying to achieve a hairy look only to find out later that "oops, the rest of my hair is falling out."
xnewyawka:
Good points all around Tyler and I agree 100%. O0
It basically comes down to being comfortable in your own skin, no pun intended.
Confidence comes as a result of allowing yourself to be just that; yourself.
No amount of falsification is going to duplicate that.
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