Sly Bald Guys Forum
Head Shaving, Grooming & Care => Head Shaving => Topic started by: K5mow on May 20, 2014, 01:20:03 PM
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Hi all
Just wanted to know if any of you heard of the workplace frowning on shaving your head. What I mean is having a policy that you can't shave your head. Now my job has no such policy obviously but a friend of mine was interested in shaving his head and was concerned that his job may not allow it. I can't imagine having such a policy but wanted to know if any of you heard of this.
Roger
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Years ago when I was working the street one of the guys I worked with shaved his head and got all kinds of flack from the COs. There was no specific policy against shaving heads but he was not well regarded due to some of his antics (I mean he was bat-$h!t crazy) but the policy was just vague enough that the powerful within the organization could twist the wording to suit just about anything.
Lately, though, I have heard of nothing of the sort. That doesn't mean it never happens. If a policy is written vaguely enough a sick administrative mind can use it to their advantage in just about any case.
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IF there was such a policy, does that mean they could let you go if you started loosing your hair naturally? :/O
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IF there was such a policy, does that mean they could let you go if you started loosing your hair naturally? :/O
They'd probably get sued for that. It'd be discrimination. Some companies, including the one I work for, have policies against "unnatural" hairstyles such as dying it green or something like that. But I can't see someone seriously considering baldness as unnatural even if it's by choice.
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Maybe in the 1970s or 80s a shaved head was taboo in the workplace....Nowadays, many businesses seem okay with having sly guys in their numbers, and some even welcome a sly guy......Oddly enough, our new plant manager was sporting a short buzz, but he went sly two weeks ago and everyone seems to like it!
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Back when I worked as an attorney, I once was asked about a policy that would have barred beards on the job. But I never once heard about any policies banning or that contemplated banning shaved heads.
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I don't know that a company could have a formal policy prohibiting shaved heads, but there can be informal pressure, especially if the company is very conservative. That being said, my company is conservative and there is no taboo. In fact several executives shave their heads.
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Well there is a "policy" against it in the United States Air Force. In fact, it can be punished under military criminal law, (Uniform Code of Military Justice). An Airman can only shave the scraps if he is MBP. Otherwise, it is strictly forbidden.
And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
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The only jobs I can think of that may have an issues is the entertainment and TV industry where that may have ceratin appearance standards or a contract for their on air employees.
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Well there is a "policy" against it in the United States Air Force. In fact, it can be punished under military criminal law, (Uniform Code of Military Justice). An Airman can only shave the scraps if he is MBP. Otherwise, it is strictly forbidden.
And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
It never was much of an issue in the Army...While not necessarily recommended, there wasn't any consequences for doing it AFAIK
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Thanks for all the great information and the replies.
Roger
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Right. The building I work in shared with the Army. Lot of the soldiers in my building shave their heads - although every one of them that I have seen is MBP and not just BBC.
would you believe it though, we have one soldier here who wears a toupee! (And it is a really noticeable toupee'). Now I would have thought that would be prohibited for safety/operational reasons!
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Right. The building I work in shared with the Army. Lot of the soldiers in my building shave their heads - although every one of them that I have seen is MBP and not just BBC.
would you believe it though, we have one soldier here who wears a toupee! (And it is a really noticeable toupee'). Now I would have thought that would be prohibited for safety/operational reasons!
I think a toupee is allowed if you have scarring and it doesn't interfere with the proper wearing of headgear. In combat most just shaved or went natural to ensure that their kevlars fit.
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The only jobs I can think of that may have an issues is the entertainment and TV industry where that may have ceratin appearance standards or a contract for their on air employees.
Somewhere I read that it is in Matt Lauer's contract that he cannot shave his head ... though nature is taking a pretty good toll! I guess NBC thinks Al Roker is enought sly for the Today Show
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SLy is so mainstream nowadays. I cant think of a typical job that would frown upon a shaved head for any reason.
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My employer has a fairly strict "standard of appearance" ... and a shaved head is totally acceptable (and extremely common).
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And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
The horseshoe should be prohibited everywhere!!! :*))
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And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
The horseshoe should be prohibited everywhere!!! :*))
O0
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I think he meant the Marine type Horseshoe flattop rather than a ring of lingering hair on the sides/back horseshoe. I t does seem odd though why the Marines would prohibit that traditional type of flattop that is popular today. Any Marines know the real story ?
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The Army is going to outlaw the horseshoe also:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/03/28/new-army-grooming-regulations-roll-back-wartime-leniency.html
"For men, grooming standards remain largely unchanged, save for the addition of three off-limits hairstyles: the Mohawk, the horseshoe and the tear drop"
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And here it is for the marines:
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51759.html
"Another new section of the regulations explicitly describes which hairstyles are and are not acceptable for men and women. Men are not allowed to have a "teardrop," "horse shoe" or "Mohawk" haircut - even though drill instructors and other Marines have typically sported those styles in the past.
"There's a fine line between a high and tight and a Mohawk," Boyt said. "A high and tight is graduated up to that longer hair on top. We had to make that distinction."
A tear drop style - with a small, tear drop-shaped patch of hair on the top-front part of the scalp, with the rest of the head shaved - and a horse shoe style - a U-shaped patch of hair with the curved portion in the front, top of the scalp with the rest of the head shaved, were deemed "eccentric," but are allowed if the hair loss is natural, Boyt said."
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I think he meant the Marine type Horseshoe flattop rather than a ring of lingering hair on the sides/back horseshoe.
Agreed. A horseshoe flattop is cut tighter on top making the center strip of scalp very visible. It's an awesome flattop style if you are a flattop fan.
I wouldn't work for a company that wouldn't let me shave!
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I Agree with you Razorhead I would never have a job where I couldn't shave my head either!
Had some great horseshoe flattops before getting smooth, kept asking my barber to go shorter and shorter with them, and finally knew it was time to go for the razor! Never could go back now, love being smooth way too much Now
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.....kept asking my barber to go shorter and shorter with them, and finally knew it was time to go for the razor! Never could go back now, love being smooth way too much Now
So true! That is my story too. Buzzcuts and flat tops got shorter and shorter. Once you get to a 0 blade the temptation to shave with a razor is born. My barber would just go shorter, I didn't even have to ask :). The barber even gave me a "teardrop" cut described in an earlier post. But I love being smooth now and can't see going back.
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I echo you gentlemen very much. I love being bald and wouldn't have it any other way now even if I had the choice of growing my full head of hair back. I definitely wouldn't be employed where I couldn't have a shaved head. That is just wrong IMO. Getting old and having a visible horseshoe was never an option for me when it comes to that subject.
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Well there is a "policy" against it in the United States Air Force. In fact, it can be punished under military criminal law, (Uniform Code of Military Justice). An Airman can only shave the scraps if he is MBP. Otherwise, it is strictly forbidden.
And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
Hmmmm....interesting. I just retired after 22 yrs active duty Air Force, the last 5 yrs BBC, and not one person questioned it.
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Well there is a "policy" against it in the United States Air Force. In fact, it can be punished under military criminal law, (Uniform Code of Military Justice). An Airman can only shave the scraps if he is MBP. Otherwise, it is strictly forbidden.
And now the Marine Corps forbids the traditional "horseshoe" haircut as well!
Hmmmm....interesting. I just retired after 22 yrs active duty Air Force, the last 5 yrs BBC, and not one person questioned it.
Very cool.
Roger
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Just to add my two cents' worth (since the question has long been answered), I work for a public university in the state of Maryland, where a new trans-gender anti-discrimination law was just passed. Yes, that's relevant ... if they can't fire me for showing up to work in a dress (something I would never do, BTW), they certainly couldn't fire me for having a shaved head. I could invoke the new law and say that I was "channeling " Sinead O'Connor (altho I understand that she grew her hair back)! Actually, quite a few men at work shave their heads, including the attorney who is in the division that accommodates disabled employees to the workplace. While clean and shiny domes are still somewhat unusual, they seem to have gone mainstream. I like that combination.