Why are guys in their 30's + as worried about male pattern baldness?

[qball01]

I get that you're trying to compare the two....but I'm speaking in terms of impact...its not nearly the same. Being BALD isn't equivalent to being 10 inches below average height....very few men are just above 5 foot...VERY few. Whereas baldness is much more common. And in terms of how people would view a 5 foot man to a bald person...well obviously the individual person has a lot to do with how they're perceived, but it would be much harder for the 5 foot man to be perceived with equal respect to others than it would the bald person...but again, it all depends on the man. The difference between a person being a Norwood 2 or a Norwood 6 and a person being either 5'11 or 5'1 is NOT the same. And how is being bald a handicapp?...a disadvantage yes but thats not necessarily a handicap at all. The bottom line is being bald can only ever hurt how attractive you are...that shouldn't be a dealbreaker in life. ITs just that so many people (and I'll admit myself included in some aspects) place WAY too much importance on looks because they think thats all other people will ever care about....

That is all some other people do care about but f*ck them, metaphorically speaking!

I'll agree...if that is all they care about then f*** them, but who would mainly care about hair at the expense of everything else? I feel for your situation man, it sounds like you do have a crazy shaped head...but even despite that its not like you can't overcome that. My point is..people are very fickle...they notice your head but if you're a cool guy then they really don't care...they arent going to not like you just because you're bald and I don't think people here fully understand that. Nobody (at least nobody who isnt a complete and utter dick) is going to judge you negatively NO MATTER what based solely on your hair or lack thereof. They may not understand how painful it can be and will crack jokes but that doesn't mean they're dismissing your value as a human being and telling you that you're worthless.

 

[uncomfortable man]

That's the thing about being bald is that it is a blow to our pride and sense of vanity. For me it is particularly debilitating which is only exhastorbated by the popular "looksist" mentality many people have. It is tough being bald in a world where people still laugh and point and consider bald guys inferior. Yes, they are fairly common but considered inferior none the less. Why should I accept the fact that people are always going to write me off and underestimate me because I lack something that they all take for granted? It's not my fault and I can't help it but they don't care and will ridicule or silently dissrespect me in their heads anyway. You can almost say that they can't help it. It is these negative pressures that force people to take meds, get surgery or wear fake hair just to conform. Don't underestimate the need to conform. Sure, when you have the privilage of being young, attractive and rebellious it is easy to dismiss the need to be accepted. But deform him in some way that people turn against him and he will learn that lesson quick. It's not so much about wanting to look beautiful as it is just not wanting to look like a freak and be normal like everyone else.
And it isn't until you find yourself completely bald that you can properly gauge the shallow dicks from the substantially good people by how they react and treat you because of your baldness. You become a walking test and you will find that alot of people will fail.

 

[HatPrisoner91]

yes but the severity of losing a leg FAR outweighs that of going bald...therefore a Norwood 2 comparing himself to a Norwood 6 is not nearly the same as a man with a sore knee claiming to understand what amputees are going through....when you lose hair you lose something with no actual function...when you lose a leg your entire life changes....Losing hair to most people will at worst mean looking less attractive....the impact of losing a leg is faaar greater (to most people) and if you think otherwise you're deluded. Most sane, healthy people would rather be bald and able to walk than have hair and be disabled and I REALLY hope you would agree, cuz if not...then you have way more problems than just being bald. Learn how to look people in the eye properly before you claim that being bald is the reason for your woes.

Really? How would you know? Have you lost it all? If not, then you don't have a leg to stand on (pun intended). I can look anyone in the eye. Why does someone who can't comprehend an analogy always use this same tactic?

 

[HatPrisoner91]

I get that you're trying to compare the two....but I'm speaking in terms of impact...its not nearly the same. Being BALD isn't equivalent to being 10 inches below average height....very few men are just above 5 foot...VERY few. Whereas baldness is much more common. And in terms of how people would view a 5 foot man to a bald person...well obviously the individual person has a lot to do with how they're perceived, but it would be much harder for the 5 foot man to be perceived with equal respect to others than it would the bald person...but again, it all depends on the man. The difference between a person being a Norwood 2 or a Norwood 6 and a person being either 5'11 or 5'1 is NOT the same. And how is being bald a handicapp?...a disadvantage yes but thats not necessarily a handicap at all. The bottom line is being bald can only ever hurt how attractive you are...that shouldn't be a dealbreaker in life. ITs just that so many people (and I'll admit myself included in some aspects) place WAY too much importance on looks because they think thats all other people will ever care about....

I'd MUCH rather be 5 foot tall than completely bald. And until you lose all of your hair (i mean NW7 and not 50 years old) then you can't make those claims.

 

[qball01]

That's the thing about being bald is that it is a blow to our pride and sense of vanity. For me it is particularly debilitating which is only exhastorbated by the popular "looksist" mentality many people have. It is tough being bald in a world where people still laugh and point and consider bald guys inferior. Yes, they are fairly common but considered inferior none the less. Why should I accept the fact that people are always going to write me off and underestimate me because I lack something that they all take for granted? It's not my fault and I can't help it but they don't care and will ridicule or silently dissrespect me in their heads anyway. You can almost say that they can't help it. It is these negative pressures that force people to take meds, get surgery or wear fake hair just to conform. Don't underestimate the need to conform. Sure, when you have the privilage of being young, attractive and rebellious it is easy to dismiss the need to be accepted. But deform him in some way that people turn against him and he will learn that lesson quick. It's not so much about wanting to look beautiful as it is just not wanting to look like a freak and be normal like everyone else.
And it isn't until you find yourself completely bald that you can properly gauge the shallow dicks from the substantially good people by how they react and treat you because of your baldness. You become a walking test and you will find that alot of people will fail.

see...I can see that you're a smart guy and I get your POV...it does suck to be judged on things you can't control....and it goes way beyond just baldness...people who are ugly will get made fun of...but you've somehow just got to learn to get a thicker skin....but my point about baldness is that you're seeing it from a much too closed off point of view....you're acting as if people ARE solely judging you because you're bald and nothing you can do or say will change that. Thats the incorrect part. How do you know for a fact...and I mean for a FACT that all these people are actually ridiculing you silently for being bald...are they REALLY saying "because U-man is bald..nothing he does or says will ever make me respect or like him as a person"? The majority of people ARENT like that....only complete dumbasses are, and in that case they're getting the privilege of having way too much power over you. I'm serious in saying that anybody whose worth anything won't completely dismiss you because you're bald...sure, they may not wanna go bald themselves...the same way I'm glad I didn't turn out to be short...but that doesn't mean I'd automatically dismiss a short person no matter what. You really underestimate how concerned other people are with themselves and how insecure they are about issues that may seem trivial to YOU. I think baldness works in largely the same way....it consumes YOUR mind so you assume its all other people will judge you on.

and Hat Prisoner...what do I have to do to convince you we share similar plights...don't try to tell me that because I have some thin stubble on my head in the shape of a Norwood 2.5-3 that I have NO CLUE what its like...the fact is, its not like I can grow or style my hair...it has to stay shaved or else it looks really bad....so by comparison a 21 year old in my position who is probably among only 2-3 percent of people my age who have as much hairloss as me and shaves his head nearly completely bald is the same, and maybe even worse than a mid thirties person who is above a Norwood 5. A Norwood 2 who can still have receeded hair is vastly different than a Norwood 2-3 who has also thinned out to the point where he can't grow his hair out for more than a few days without the balding being very obvious...and thats me unfortunately. I have vastly more hairloss than most people my age...so yes, I can relate. When people see me, they see a "bald head." You act like other people with little hairloss belittle YOU by trying to identify with you, well don't belittle me by saying that a bit of f*****g stubble is going to make all the difference between how I'm treated and that because I'm not at your level (despite the fact you're like 12 or more years older than me) I have no clue what its like....I do have a f*****g clue and while I don't like it and struggle with it...I know that OTHER bald people aren't as affected by it and aren't considered to be inferior by others...I just need to sort out my own issues.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Q, I'm not trying to write off your hair loss, especially if you are a diffuse thinner like I was. And I agree that relatively speaking, you are in a similar boat maybe more with me than HP since you will most likely wind up as an nw5 in roughly the same timeframe. All I can say is stay on meds and if you can't do that then I'm not too worried for you because you seem like a strong enough guy to accept it.