Hey,
I've posted a few times around here, I've gone sly for the better part of a year and have been half-trying to grow my hair out into a long clipper cut (#8 on top, #4 on sides). For months I can never get close, because once I grow more than a #3 or so the hair just intrinsically irritates me. I live in Brazil, where summer is just beginning and in my city the heat index is often 100-110F (AC is also a 'luxury good' here). My main reason that initially drove me to shave my head was a diagnosis of sebborheic dermatitis, which still flairs but it seems to get worse as my hair gets relatively longer (context: 18 months hasn't been longer than a #4 blade). Even at the time I knew the science behind the shaved-head remedy for derm seb wasn't 100%, and my dermatologist was skepticaly, but I legitimate like having a shaved head - at no point I felt it a sacrifice (except seeing family for the first time). Any amount of hair, however, now bothers me, and I've been on/of buzz/shave for the last 6 mo or so.
So now, I was trying to settle on a non-head-shaved hairstyle that wouldn't aggrivate my derm sep, would look professional but still feel light. I admit that, aesthetically, a #4 on top and #1 to 2 fade on the sides looked great. I decided to try a shorter cut to see how that would work (#1 top, #0 sides, mentioned in other post) and my wife flipped. She was never a fan of the shaved head, but was warming up to a buzzcut. She told me no haircut for a month, so I shaved my head with a razor as a statement that she has no say over how I choose to present myself.
I totally assumed I would just let things grow back to at least something like a #1 to have token hair (derm sep yes, MPB no) but damn I like how a smoothly shaved head feels. And I'm completely aware that I am more conventionally attractive, less threatening, more professional with the #4 fade.... and I think that a #1 would be sufficient for any controling factors for derm sep.... and shaving my head every other day is a pain in the ass..... Shaved head may be less 'sketchy' than a short buzzcut, for example.
I'm unemployed and looking for a job as a teacher or on a political campaign in a horrible recession - the way I see it, I should try to stick out, etc.
But the negative stereotypes are similar to the US - uncommon, but some assume neonazi, others convict.
My wife clearly doesn't like it, and I know she's warmed up to my shaved head over the past few months, but she was riding on the hope that it was just a phase. People I know don't say to me directly that they think I look better with longer hair, but the implications are there. Better looking people get higher salaries, etc.
So I don't know what to do. I could go forward with the plan of a buzzcut or a crewcut, or take advantage of this opportunity to keep it sly for a while again. Thoughts? What to do with the Mrs.
