Male friends reactions to seeing you bald...

[Stu]

If you can call someone guessing your age and being wrong by about 10 years a compliment, then I guess I've received a compliment.  The thing that I wish I had the guts to do when I see guys who have very advanced balding would be to tell them, 'dude you look too old; shave that head and you'll look much younger.'

[handlebar]

I agree!!!!   
Or the 60+year old man with a ponytail out the back and no hair anywhere else.  Yuk!

Jim

[shyslyguy]

But isn't it a cryin shame that a man has to be careful of what he says lest it be taken in a "gay" way?A guy should be able to give a compliment to another man without the "gay"stigma attached to it.
Many make fun of the words "male bonding".Thats just wrong.Maybe thats one of the many reasons our world is so screwed up.
And another thing,how did the word "gay" come to signify homosexual men?Used to be it meant happy.

Sorry about running off topic.

Anyway,a man should be able to speak openly about most things.

Jim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay

should answer your question Jim. I actually thought "gay" had been chosen by gay people to describe themselves relatively recently in preference to the other common & shall we say, less polite terms. However, it seems it has a much longer history. Actually, the wiki article also addresses Stew's point about the earlier usage too as in films like "The Gay Divorcee" & "The Gay Falcon". Apparently it started off as slang to describe any hedonistic lifestyle: 

"The use of gay to mean homosexual was in origin merely an extension of the word's sexualised connotation of "carefree and uninhibited", which implied a willingness to disregard conventional or respectable sexual mores. Such usage is documented as early as the 1920s. It was initially more commonly used to imply heterosexually unconstrained lifestyles, as for example in the once-common phrase "gay Lothario",[3] or in the title of the book and film The Gay Falcon (1941), which concerns a womanizing detective whose first name is "Gay".

Interestingly too - the battle for "gay" goes on as many youngsters today have adopted the word to mean anything "naff" or lousy as in ..."oh that's so gaaaay"

re; getting hit on by more men - doesn't surprise me at all Jim. Mustaches such as yours were once (in the seventies & eighties really) very very popular amongst certain gay men & even more so with a shaved head. It was all part of a deliberate effort by some gay men to reject the limp-wristed stereotypes that were then so current. Also, a lot of gay men simply like very masculine guys & the mustache is certainly a symbol of masculinity (since most women can't grow them) as is a bald or shaved head to a certain extent & many gay men are, of course, very masculine themselves & so like to adopt such a look. Besides all that, (if it's not too gay to say) you're a pretty decent looking guy anyway so ...

As for it being a cryin' shame that men have to watch what they say lest it be taken as too "gay" .... well, not surprisingly I suppose ... I couldn't agree more  It does get very tedious sometimes. 

[handlebar]

Thanks shyslyguy,for both the definition and the kind words.Makes complete sense as well.
And for what it's worth,i don't mind being hit on either.Comes with the territory i guess.
I really don't care if someone questions my preference either.Doesn't affect me a bit.Curiosity forced my question.

If my moustache and bald head do that,oh well.

Jim

[Stu]

Thanks for the great info/insight shyslyguy.  I knew someone would come through.

[shyslyguy]

No problem guys, glad I could help.

Good to hear that you don't worry too much about such things Jim. I've never understood really why some guys do get so uptight (not that I go around hitting on straight guys I hasten to add) but after all, a compliment is a compliment. If someone hits on me (rare these days I admit) then I take it as a compliment whoever it is - only ever becomes / became annoying if someone won't take no for an answer - otherwise - no problem. 

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Almost all the comments, when I get them which isn't that often, are complimentary with the exception of some "bald" guys wearing the hairy toilet seat.  I think their comments are a reflection of their state of mind vis a vis their scalp status and dealing with it.  Basically I suspect most of them have thought of shaving and don't have the balls to accept and move forward Sly!  Two guys made a comment that was a little disturbing to react to, "Cancer?"  I still haven't figured out what I should have said or will say if anyone else comes up with that one. 

[shyslyguy]

Almost all the comments, when I get them which isn't that often, are complimentary with the exception of some "bald" guys wearing the hairy toilet seat.  I think their comments are a reflection of their state of mind vis a vis their scalp status and dealing with it.  Basically I suspect most of them have thought of shaving and don't have the balls to accept and move forward Sly!  Two guys made a comment that was a little disturbing to react to, "Cancer?"  I still haven't figured out what I should have said or will say if anyone else comes up with that one. 

I'd probably have replied "No - Aquarius actually."

[Paul]

Almost all the comments, when I get them which isn't that often, are complimentary with the exception of some "bald" guys wearing the hairy toilet seat.  I think their comments are a reflection of their state of mind vis a vis their scalp status and dealing with it.  Basically I suspect most of them have thought of shaving and don't have the balls to accept and move forward Sly!  Two guys made a comment that was a little disturbing to react to, "Cancer?"  I still haven't figured out what I should have said or will say if anyone else comes up with that one. 

I'd probably have replied "No - Aquarius actually."

 
    Quick wit there, shy.

[JDog]

Almost all the comments, when I get them which isn't that often, are complimentary with the exception of some "bald" guys wearing the hairy toilet seat.  I think their comments are a reflection of their state of mind vis a vis their scalp status and dealing with it.  Basically I suspect most of them have thought of shaving and don't have the balls to accept and move forward Sly!  Two guys made a comment that was a little disturbing to react to, "Cancer?"  I still haven't figured out what I should have said or will say if anyone else comes up with that one. 

I'd probably have replied "No - Aquarius actually."

Indeed ShySly, cracking razor wit.

I will use this same line next time some ignoramus makes a snide remark in this vein.

[Stu]

some "bald" guys wearing the hairy toilet seat

Good one!

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Thanks ShySlyGuy--It's a balanced response from now on, Libra actually. 

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Well at a couple of parties last night received overwhelming approval of the new (3 weeks tomorrow) look, much to the dismay of my disapproving wife.  She  told one of our friends, I know in jest, that she'd kill her if she repeated to me that the friend really liked it.  It was my wife against all our friends, and I was getting the head rubs right in front of her from her lady friends------LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A couple of guys admitted they had or are thinking about it.  This gets better by the day. 
Thanks for the online support. 
For you fence sitters, come on Sly, it's a great way to live, laugh and be happy.

[METAPHOR]

Although I’m not clean shaven, my #0 buzz is a radical departure from how I have been appearing for the past several years.

A good number of my musical friends are sly by choice and they tell me it looks fierce as hell. I have a tendency to dress rather eccentrically on and off stage and have been accused of being a Neo-Nazi before. (yes, even with my fiance standing next to me) I was a little concerned about the change. I quickly realized that  the world is populated largely of stupid people who say and think stupid things. The individual has the power to be affected or not.

My fiancés take on it is “Yes, the spiked hair was a good look but it was time for a change. I had somehow outgrown it”. She claims to really like the buzz but is resistant to me going completely sly for now.

I get comments like “wow, you look so different” But I really haven’t gotten any rave reviews other than the most important one. I may grow it back out of vanity after the first of the year, but the longer I keep it short, the more I get used to recognizing myself.

I do know that full sly is in the future and I no longer fear that future. To me, that’s the issue.

[schro]

Funny stuff Saint & Shy. Good ammo. 

My reaction from my buds has been nothing but positive. They know why I went sly & the fact I've gotten total relief from the itchin'. Plus, they really don't view me any differently than before. I'm still a dork, just now I'm a bald dork.