Junior Slies and Other "Taboos"

[Razor X]

I'm a fairly (OK -- VERY) conventional person, but I'm occasionally surprised by some of the things, in this day and age of "anything goes", that tend to freak other people out.  The whole eyebrow-shaving thing, for example.  I can't say I really loved the look on myself (they've grown back now, BTW), but I don't think it was any huge deal.   There was a big discussion on another forum once about whether guys should shave their armpits.  That really got contentious for some reason that I could not understand.

Another thing that comes to mind is kids who shave their heads.  I've seen countless debates and arguments about this on other forums.  The consensus seems to be that it's OK for young kids to go as far as a zero-guard clipper shave, but that they shouldn't razor shave until they're old enough to shave their faces.  Why?   Some people seem to attach some sort of sexual meaning to the whole headshaving thing.  I have certainly never viewed it that way, nor do I think it is freaky if a 10-year-old boy has a shaved head.   Just wondering how the rest of you view this.

[champ007]

I missed the armpit thing, I see swimmers who shave all their body-hair that is visible, well most keep their eyebrows, and I have no issue with it.
But, being a parent I can only give you my view on the kids. First- My son is 14yrs old now, but since he has been able to make a decision about his hair, he has been the one to say how it gets cut. Let me say I have been raising him on my own since he was 4. Use to surprise the people who cut his hair when I said, ask him, he is the one wearing it. He has had long bushy hair, spikes, med straight and other styles. I even helped him apply color gels to change the colors everyday through one phase. But at age 10 if he wanted to shave his head, I would have let him but I would have been the one shaving his scalp. I do not think he would have been "able" to safely shave his head, plus I do not believe he would have kept it smooth. I have never cared how his hair was cut, but I did care if he did not put a comb to it. It would depend on the kid and his development in my mind.
Let me add- When headlice hit his school, I did shave him down to a 1 to keep him from bringing that home!   

[Tyler]

My brother and I used to buzz our heads with a 1 all the time when we were young.  This was mostly because we played sports and lived in a really hot area.  There were several times that my brother's basketball teams shaved their heads to unify themselves for a big game or tournament.  I remember my dad even using his razor on my brother to get him totally slick.

Other than the issue of the kid being too young to handle the razor, I don't see any issue with it regardless of their age.

[BALDANDRE]

Ok, without having to say it...I'm a huge supporter of anyone going slick,if you haven't noticed..

with that said, i've seen when little dudes have a slick shaved head, for some reason it does look weird...especially on the ones under 12 or around that age...maybe the whole cancer thing...who knows, it looks a bit odd...but i support it of course...just not a huge fan...

buzzed bald ok for the little one, just shave slick...hmmm...

oh, and to me it always looks a little weird when dad and kid(s) have the same exact haircuts ...that's what i saw a large hispanic dad with a slick bald head and 3 little sons slick bald...

that's just the opinion of this bald dude!

[Paul]

Being another guy who is totally slick by choice I can't figure out why other people have hair anyway but it would seem that on younger kids the choice is totally up to the parent.  If they don't have a problem it's should be no one elses.  There is always the possiblity though of the shaved dome being gang related and the parents need to be wise to the group their kids hang with. 

[frostillicus123]

Shaving Armpits- I shave mine because my arms don't sweat they leak, and hair and lack there of can help prevent it.

As for kids shaving their heads, I think if the child is capable enough to operate a razor on his face with little to no nicks and cuts than he can take the head slice.

AS for hair styles, he has to wear it, if (s)he wants long/short/spiked/purple/blue it's their head so have your style, makesure it is something you can live with it until your next hair cut, or it can be buzzed down to nothing by me.

[Razor X]

Ok, without having to say it...I'm a huge supporter of anyone going slick,if you haven't noticed..

with that said, i've seen when little dudes have a slick shaved head, for some reason it does look weird...especially on the ones under 12 or around that age...maybe the whole cancer thing...who knows, it looks a bit odd...but i support it of course...just not a huge fan...

buzzed bald ok for the little one, just shave slick...hmmm...

oh, and to me it always looks a little weird when dad and kid(s) have the same exact haircuts ...that's what i saw a large hispanic dad with a slick bald head and 3 little sons slick bald...

that's just the opinion of this bald dude!

I don't think slick bald always looks good on very young kids, either.  Maybe because we haven't seen enough of it to get used to it; I just don't have the same aversion to the whole concept of someone that young being sly, like some people seem to have (nobody here so far, though.   )

To me, the kid has to be old enough to want a bald head.  I'm not sure what the magic number is in terms of age, but I do think it's a bit off-putting  to see VERY young children (3 or 4 years old) who are shaved, because those kids in all likelihood didn't ask for it; their parents made the decision.  It's kind of an odd thing to do to a kid that young, IMO.  But if a kid is old enough to want the look, and understands that he'll have to live with it until the hair grows back (if he doesn't like the result), and there's no rule against it at school, I wouldn't have a problem with it.   If I had a 10-year-old son (which I don't) that wanted his head shaved but was too still too young to handle the razor on his own, I'd do it for him.  But it's probably not something I'd want to have to do every day on a regular basis.  Maybe a few times a week during the summer.

[Tyler]

Don't get me wrong.  I don't think you should slick a kids head if he's a baby or even younger than 4 or 5.  I'm not sure how I would react if a 6 or 7 year old ever asked me to shave their head.

[BALDANDRE]

Don't get me wrong.  I don't think you should slick a kids head if he's a baby or even younger than 4 or 5.  I'm not sure how I would react if a 6 or 7 year old ever asked me to shave their head.

Except though in the cases of the 'cultural thing"...i.e. a lot hispanic and asian parents will shave their babies heads early on for extra hair thickness and coverage...

we didn't have to... with our son....but i always remember my mom saying she should have shaved my sister's when she was a baby...the poor thing, she was bald until she was 2-3yrs old!

Probably a wife's tale, but a lot do it.

BTW , Tyler very SLY avatar dude!!

[Tyler]

Don't get me wrong.  I don't think you should slick a kids head if he's a baby or even younger than 4 or 5.  I'm not sure how I would react if a 6 or 7 year old ever asked me to shave their head.

Except though in the cases of the 'cultural thing"...i.e. a lot hispanic and asian parents will shave their babies heads early on for extra hair thickness and coverage...

we didn't have to... with our son....but i always remember my mom saying she should have shaved my sister's when she was a baby...the poor thing, she was bald until she was 2-3yrs old!

Probably a wife's tale, but a lot do it.

BTW , Tyler very SLY avatar dude!!

Yeah, the Filipino community does that.  Though, they use clippers, not a razor.

Thanks for the compliment on the avatar!  That's my bro-in-law and me last weekend at a wedding in Maui.

[BALDANDRE]

Thanks for the compliment on the avatar!  That's my bro-in-law and me last weekend at a wedding in Maui.

Dude.....ever try to convince your bro-in-law to go the way of SLY...he'd be one, mean lookin', m@#ther of SLY guy!...that was a compliment, BTW...

I could never look intimidating, even being sly! 

[Tyler]

Thanks for the compliment on the avatar!  That's my bro-in-law and me last weekend at a wedding in Maui.

Dude.....ever try to convince your bro-in-law to go the way of SLY...he'd be one, mean lookin', m@#ther of SLY guy!...that was a compliment, BTW...

I could never look intimidating, even being sly! 

Actually, he does once and a while.  He's the one that shaved my head for the first time with clippers right before I went hunting.  The dude changes his hair style every week, so you never know what to expect with him.  He does look great when he's Sly.  I think he shaves it in the summer.  I know his girl is cool with it also.  I'll try to get a pic of him the next time he does.