Dr. Rassman,
Why are many bald people bitter and mean spirited?
I haven’t been aware of that concept being part of the myths that are associated with bald men, but there are stereotypes that are unfortunately part of our culture. Some are realistic based on history, e.g. the man sick with tuberculosis would frequently become bald because of the wasting nature of the disease, so women looked for hairy men to avoid getting men who would not live long enough to support them and their children. Of course, women with TB also became bald, but as they were not looking to marry other women, the observation never took hold as part of the culture of the times.
Hollywood may be partly responsible for some typecasting. The romantic lover in films almost always has a full head of hair. The audience associates a full head of hair with virility and a high sexual drive. In old Hollywood films, the castrated priests (eunuchs) were often portrayed as totally bald men (this is not genetic unless they have a form of genetic alopecia that is relatively rare and takes the eyebrows, underarm and the pubic hair as well), linking the image of sexual impotency to their appearance, but that was a razor cut by the Hollywood make-up artist, not the impact of genetics.
Prejudice: In an issue of Men’s Health Magazine a few years ago, a study of the linkage between successful politicians and hairiness was made. Less than 10% of bald men got elected and made it to their political office. We see the same prejudice in job promotions, which seemingly ties trustworthiness to appearance. Could this have been the result of some defamatory movie, play, or novel that worked its way into our culture?
Bald men, unfortunately, take more than their share of hits. In the young man who is sensitive to balding changes, all of the issues involving health, sexuality, and styling come forward and feel ‘second class’. They feel excluded from the norm. When there is not enough maturity or a poor self-image, balding becomes a curse in the very young men. Imagine a lion without its mane (it would look like a lioness). For those targeted as victims of this typecasting, please realize that bigotry is bigotry and unfortunately it flies in the face of logic and common sense.
Tags: bitter, bald, men, hairloss, hair loss, mean
Yes, there are animals that do go bald. I know of some mice with alopecia that is similar to some human family lines (alopecia totalis). Also some mice lose their hair as they get older and some have complex polygenic diseases that produce hair loss such as alopecia areata. There has been much written about mice, because they have been the human experimental models, but I am certain that similar problems must exist in other mammals.