Well, maybe not beautiful, but a study which indicates a clear preference by women for men with shaved heads comes as welcome, if not altogether surprising, news. We take a closer look.
Denial, Anger, Acceptance
It is not overstating the case to describe the discovery of hair loss as enough of a trauma to send someone into the cycle of grief. That terrible moment happens, you notice your comb has a lot more hair on it than usual as you drag it through your locks getting ready for work. Or you spot that the reason your bath or shower is draining slowly is that your hair has completely blocked the plug. That moment can be followed by all the typical stages of denial anger and acceptance – The precise length of these stages will vary from person to person… in some cases they will have gone through them all by the time they leave the bathroom.
Bald Can Be Beautiful
However long it takes you to arrive at the acceptance stage the end point brings a basic decision. Whether to accept that your fate is to be a bald man or balding woman, or to take arms against a sea of foes – buy a hair system, or investigate a transplant, or buy a hat. The increasingly popular decision, by those who decide to accept their lot, is to simply shave their head. As an option it has become socially acceptable for men of all ages and social groups to shave their heads. A choice that is affirmed by a host of Hollywood A -Listers with clean noggins, Bruce Willis was early to the party but Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Jason Statham immediately spring to mind as bald sex symbols.. in Bruce’s case a celebrity who actually survived hair loss in professional terms without denting his popularity, either with the public or, more importantly from his point of view, from the producers and directors who remain happy to hire him.
Obviously it is something we know extremely well here at HIS Hair Clinic, that the shaved head of hair is a great look. Motivated by his own hair loss the owner, Ian Watson along with co-owner Ranbir Rai-Watson, developed SMP instinctively knowing it would be a massive boost to his self confidence. So a study that investigated how women really feel about men with shaved or bald heads was always expected, by us at least, to paint a not altogether negative picture. At the same time our view of a bald head might have become biased over time given the thousands of meetings with hair loss sufferers… that is to say, bald men for whom hair loss is a miserable experience.
It Depends Which Way You See Things
How we view our own hair loss is extremely subjective and depends on many factors. The age of the sufferer is by far the most significant, followed by how attached to your hair you were before you started to lose it. No doubt about it, looking into the mirror and seeing your scalp shine through your hair, or a section of your temple that is different to the rest due to its sudden and recent exposure to the elements following a retreat by the hairline, is never a happy moment. Some will choose to shave their heads immediately, and be truly shocked by their own appearance after shaving for the first time, it can definitely take some getting used to.
It is important to differentiate here between how you see yourself and how the world see you. The reassuring results of this survey indicated that women found men with shaved heads to appear more masculine, strong and dominant. In broad terms, more confident. So a shaved head can be a clear advantage when attracting the opposite sex, it just needs to be carried off properly.
While the survey’s findings should make positive reading for all men, two thirds of them will experience hair loss by the age of 35, there are no clear indications on the reasons behind women finding bald men sexier. The two theories, both unsatisfying in their own way, currently on offer are that the woman’s eyes are drawn to your eyes in the absence of hair to fix on… which makes a positive immediate impact. Or that the bald head reminds them of a baby, subliminally of course, and this provokes the powerful maternal instinct.
Whatever the reason, we are delighted to share this rare positive piece of news for bald men everywhere.
