Your
Letters
Here
are just a few of the great letters we've received from Bald R Us
members recently.
I sewed a holster, made from an old wallet, put it around my waist and put my newly
purchased electric razor into it. In front of the mirror, I practiced (OK corral style)
whipping it out until I felt confident about the challenge before me. (At this point,
let me say that I have a very patient wife.) As the time was now here, I pushed the "play"
button on the CD player, and the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly came on.
My right hand was resting against the holster. At the moment the famous whistle that
opens the soundtrack came on, it was only me and the mirror. I reached for the holster,
pulled out the razor and the right side of my head was done. I put the razor back into
the holster and stepped back a bit. My wife came running and screamed, "stop it Jerry,
you'll shoot someone's eye out." I heard nothing. When the whistle came on again, I
reached for the holster and bam, the left side was done. I stared into the mirror and
the mirror stared back at me. But I wasn't done yet. I opened the drawer and pulled out
my brushes, my combs, the Propecia and the Rogaine. I found the videos from various
"hair replacement" companies that did nothing but torture me. There was only one thing
left to do. I pulled out the blender....
I like the wind again. My wife says that I'm beautiful. Life is good. Life is good.
Jerry Ventura
Congratulations Jerry and enjoy your new Bald & Proud T-shirt. To win a T-shirt,
tell us your hairless story. One story will be chosen and one Bald & Proud T-shirt
will be awarded monthly.
GREATENED WITH BALDNESS
I felt compelled to comment because when I logged on tonight, I was greated with "baldness"
as a key topic of today, and particularly because the question was raised as to whether
baldness was sexy. I marvel that the question even needs to be asked! Are male pectoral
muscles sexy? Is the unique scent of a man sexy? Is a man's vocal quality sexy? yes,
yes, yes, because they mark him as masculine! Male baldness is sexy because it too is a
sign of his masculinity. I groan and writhe at those foolish hair growth ads because
the "after" picture NEVER looks better than the "before" picture. The only thing that
does look better is that the hairy-headed pictures always show the poor misled guy with
a relaxed, open smile on his face, while the bald picture looks like he has a headache
and his shoes are too tight. Ridiculous.
Baldness is sexy and it brings out anything
and everything that is good about a man's face. If he has nice eyes, they are more
handsome if he has no hair to distract attention away from them. If he has a masculine
jaw and/or cheekbones, they are undeniably sexy with no hair to mar the view. If he
has a sexy mouth . . . but I belabor an obvious point now. Guys, don't waste your
money or your angst on whether your hair "loss" detracts from your appearance. It
doesn't. "Hair shame" detracts from your confidence, which eventually detracts
from your appearance. But absence of hair on the head merely indicates that you
have enough testosterone coursing through your body to bring that mysterious thing
to pass, and that is just one more thing that makes you masculine (and therefore
sexy in your individual way). Bald is masculine. And it's terrific.
Jean Elizabeth
I just read the comment
titled "The worst mistake of my life". How true his
statement is. I started going bald in my mid 20's and had a
"procedure" done. God if there is one thing I could go
back and not do would be a hair transplant. What I would give just
to have the luxury of shaving or buzzing my head. I hate the these
doctors and these companies that pray on a people's insecurities of
losing their hair. What it really comes down to is accepting oneself
for what one is. Yes, I have also thought of suicide as my counterpart
that wrote the article I mentioned due to my hair transplant. I feel
like a fool for letting someone cut into the back of my scalp and
then punch little holes into my head. It doesn't look the same.
Quite frankly I think it looks like crap. Confidence which this
procedure was to give me is out the window until I get it done again
and again and again.... Something should be done to stop this
procedure or to make people a! ! ware of the repercussions of it,
like never having a buzz cut again or being able to shave your head.
Rob
God meant for me to be bald
I have been visiting your site for a couple of years now, and
read all of the "bald" success stories, so finally I felt
like it was time for me to share my story. So here it is.
I started losing my hair way back in the 8th grade...Yes I did
say 8th grade! I was only 14 years old when my barber first noticed
that my hair was thinning, and at first I didn't believe it.
Eventually, it got to the point where I had to use an enormous
amount of hair gel and a hair dryer to make my thinning bald spot
(on the crown of my head, right smack in the front!) appear as
though I was not going bald. It was an absolute nightmare for me in
high school. Here I was, a freshman in high school having to worry
about my hair falling out. People would notice it and comment on it,
and I would be mortified. Eventually it got to the point where I
couldn't deal with it anymore. By now, I was 17 and ready to do
something about it. I had tried all of the medication (Rogain,
herbal shampoo, ect..) however, my hair continued to fall out. So I
finally went to a place called THR, Today's Hair Replacement, and
had one of those "hair systems" constructed for me. The
second that that wig was glued on my head, I knew that It was the
wrong approach to my problem. Kids at school automatically noticed
that I was wearing a rug, and I realized that the rug was hurting
me, rather than making me feel better about myself. So the next day,
I had the rug removed and I shaved my head.
At first, I hated having my head shaved. I still had a baby face,
and it looked funny. So I decided to grow back the hair that still
remained on my head and live with it. Flash forward four years, and
I am a junior in college. My hair loss became so bad that I would be
on dates with girls and I would constantly notice their eyes
drifting up to my bald spot as we were engaged in a conversation. It
drove me nuts! No longer did the gel and hair dryer make my hair
look thicker, because there was nothing left to work with. So, once
again I shaved my head, grew a nice trimmed goatee, and my life has
been heaven on earth ever since. No longer do I spend twenty minutes
in the morning, armed with a brush and a blow dryer, trying to make
my hair look thicker. For the first time since my childhood, I can
finally walk around in public without being insecure about my stupid
hair. I truly believe that God meant for me to be bald. I could
never imagine having a pile of hair follicles resting on top of my
beautiful scalp. Life is truly wonderful as a bald man.
Dan S.
Tarzana, CA
Great site. After 14 years
of wearing a hair piece, I decided to go the bald is beautiful route
and shave it all off. The reaction from people was mixed. Half liked
it while the other half (mostly family members) didn't. I wish I
would have done it years ago. I would have saved a lot of money
(enough to buy a decent car or maybe take a month long cruise). I
now spend about half the time I used to getting ready for work or
just to go out. For all those current "hair wearers" out
there, here's something to think about. We all know which
celebrities wear hair pieces (Charlton Heston, Tony Bennett, etc.)
and they can afford the very best (and still you can tell that they
are wearing one). What makes you think that yours is
"undetectable"?
Tito
I've been wearing a
hairpiece from HCM (Hair Club for Men) for the past 10 years and
cannot stand it any longer. I do (at very minimal times) like it but
because of my job. I have been wearing it ever since I started
working as a Bartender and did not want to take it off because I did
not want to have to deal with explaining why, etc. But now I've
finally realized that, by revealing my bald head, I will save over
$3,000 if I stop going to HCM. I was desperate 10 years ago at age
22, I was getting out of the Navy and was told by a couple of
shipmates at that I was thinning on top and I didn't want to believe
it. I said, "Hey, I need to do something about this!" HCM
was my only option at the time. As for plugs, forget it, I could not
afford them.
The HCM commercials are
VERY misleading, trust me. Their contract that I had to sign every
year is up this summer and I have had enough. Thanks to your site I
was able to figure out how am I going to shave my head with ease and
not nick or cut it. The Head Blade looks awesome!! I was concerned
at first because I knew that shaving with a standard razor was going
to be tricky. For any of you guys thinking about HCM or any of those
other wig companies, DON'T DO IT! It took me 10 years of not really
being satisfied with it and wasting A LOT OF MONEY (over $25,000 in
10 years) They will tell you at HCM that it takes 15 minutes and
then you are out the door. I heard that 10 years ago and when I
heard it again recently I thought, "What a scam!" Plus,
once you get one, it is easier to tell when others are wearing one
and then the guessing game begins. So, here's to being bald this
summer!!
Ed
Hello,
my name is Shane. I started going bald when I was 18 and everyone
could see I was going bald by age 21. I had a thin head of hair
and was depressed about it and decided to go to the Hair Club plan.
After I had the hairpiece put on I was even more depressed and felt
very bad because I knew I had a wig on and I felt like I was a fake
and not my self. So I took the $1800 loss, removed the wig and shaved
my head.
I'm
22 now and it was the best thing I ever did because now I feel much
better about myself and think my bald head is great!
Thanks
for the web site, it's great and will help a lot of people. Shane
Hi
Tony!
Well,
I have to say I can commiserate with all the 20-somethings posting
letters to your great site. I was washing my hair in the shower
at Boston University one day, I was 19, and I could feel my hair
was thinner. I tried to say it wasn't so, I tried to blame it on
the shampoo, but it never stopped getting thinner. And this, ironically,
happening to someone whose hair had been so thick it clogged clippers
at the barbers.
Did
I fret? Some. Did I worry? Some. But then it struck me - how sad
it is for some men to be so wrapped up in their hair. Are they so
unsure of themselves and their masculinity that hair loss is a devastating
event? I guess for some it is. I realized I had a strong personality,
hair or no hair. Another irony is I'm a hirsute male, my body busily
cranking out hair on nearly every surface of my body but my head.
Apparently this is typical of hirsute males - all that excess testosterone
coursing through the bloodstream somehow makes you bald. How much
more masculine can you get? No worries then.
What
hair I had became shorter and shorter as "keeping it neat"
became more and more challenging. I finally "graduated"
to clippers with no guide, just the bare blade. Then this past summer
(2000) I found out I had brain cancer and a big ol' tumor in my
head. I came out of that with a scar across my head and bizarre
patches of total hair loss in the "monk's ring" of hair
I had, due to radiation therapy. They told me my hair "may"
grow back. I thought "what luck - I got used to male-pattern
baldness and now they've gone and changed the pattern on me."
I still figured it's better than brain cancer.
So
what's the ultimate solution to that unattractive patchy look? Shave
it clean!! You know, as my hair got shorter, and now that it's shaved,
people do treat me differently. The shorter it got the more respectful
people became, almost as if they were intimidated. This has always
struck me as odd, as I'm actually very laid back and easy going.
But I find people are much more pliable than ever before. Blend
the bald head in with several years worth of weight work and apparently
I cut an imposing figure - and I'm only 5'9"!
Bald
is best, no doubt. One of the simple joys of life is scrubbing your
head in the shower - moving the washcloth from your torso straight
up to your head and massaging away. I've also realized that at 38
I'm fortunate enough to have my mate, and she is very tolerant of
my experimentation with my appearance. So I don't really care all
that much what I look like (so long as people aren't prompted to
physical illness at the sight of me). I'm having fun playing with
my "look." I have a thick, lush goatee and 'stache and
may morph that into a mega-walrus mustache sometime soon. What the
heck! I'm not looking to attract a girl anymore... I got one, and
only God knows why, but she loves me.
So
fear not guys! Young, middle or old. Get out the razor and take
it off. What's the worst that can happen? You hate it and let it
grow back. I promise you that whatever hair you have will not get
mad at you and refuse to return. But I'll bet you'll so love being
bald you'll wish what you have would go away - and save on the shaving.
Thanks
for the great site and take care all!!
Jon
As
a teenager I was oblivious of any "follicularly-challenged"
issues concerning myself. I had hair, damnit. Not only that, I was
working out regularly. I was looking good and feeling good. It wasn't
until I was about 20 did I realized that my forehead began to grow
larger. In retrospect I don't recall being overtly ballistic and
calling Sy Sperling (You know, he's not only the president.) every
day of the week. I wasn't really enjoying the scenario, but I accepted
it, mainly because my father was bald. It was a very gradual metamorphosis
from having to worry about "bad hair" days to my "Look
everybody! It's George Kastanza!" days. Sure, I even had my
"Gallagher" days when I grew my hair out longer in back
as a Last Hoorah, and wondered why I never possessed a Sledge-O-Matic.
Every
single man or woman has been gibed by friends with an exorbitant
amount of bald jokes. I particularly enjoy when they pretend to
fix their "hair" in the reflection of my expansive forehead.
Gee, that never gets old. We've pretty much heard them all. Heck,
we've even cut ourselves down. We have also retorted with "Yeah,
it's a solar panel for SEX MACHINE, BABY!" One of my favorites:
"My hair fell off after hitting the headboard too much."
Truth
be known, it can be downright painful. All of a sudden we're Lepers.
Or at least we FEEL that we are. Such as the symbolic "Cutting
of Samson's Hair" we feel our masculinity or femininity has
been torn from our very souls. Yeah, I wouldn't mind having hair
like Fabio. What really irks me is when people that actually do
have hair like Fabio shave their heads. It's like they're saying
"Ha-ha. Now watch it grow back full and thick!" Yeah,
thanks buddy. Here's your handbasket and One Way Ticket. Now get
lost.
I've
thought about using Rogaine, or getting a hair transplant, but I
didn't. What I did was venture forth to the Realm of the Extreme.
No, I'm still a guy. Not that extreme. Last year after an inebriating
night of clubbing my buddy and I decided that I should shave my
head. Naturally anything sounds reasonable to somebody that only
an hour ago placed a beer label on his forehead. *It's the patch,
I'm trying to quit...*
Wow!
After the task was completed, it was very weird feeling. I kept
rubbing my head, and thinking to myself "Did I really do this?"
Even that next morning I woke up and placed my hand on the top of
my head and thought "Oh, man. I really did this." It took
awhile for my family to accept it with open minds, but now it's
just who I am. My friends were very quick to accept it, stating
that "I have the perfect head to be bald." They also said
it looked very sexy (My "female" friends said that thank
you.); better than what my head used to look like. That is what
I needed. Another amazing thing happened: The bald jokes ceased
almost completely.
I came
up with the name "Shiny Happy Head" with the help of the
REM song "Shiny Happy People". I thought it was very apt
moniker for me. I also have a website entitled "The Shiny Happy
Head Home!" The website focuses not on my shiny, happy head,
but in making others smile and laugh. I no longer dwell on being
bald. I like a clean-shaven head (Gotta have a goatee.). And it's
a plus when women at clubs walk by and rub my head. What can I say,
I'm good luck.
To
the guys that are married; get over it! You have somebody! Do you
realize how fortunate you are to have someone to share the rest
of your life with that accepts you for who you are? Stop focusing
on what you don't have, and start appreciated what you DO have.
Bald
IS Beautiful, baby!
"Bald
R Us" is a great website! Kudos Tony!
The
following is my website URL:
http://hometown.aol.com//beachcat87/David2.html
Cordially
Cherry;
David
Muench
Hi
Tony!
I just
wanted to thank you for your sight. I had a few laughs, and also
felt with the men who have written to you with a sincere concern
about hair loss. I personally can relate to how they feel. I am
21 years old, and have experienced some major hair loss. It started
when I was about 16 years old. To tell you the truth, it has been
one of the hardest things in my life to come to grips with. I also
related with a lot of the advice you gave. For a long time it was
very hard for me to see my "shiny" reflection. Sometimes
it still does, but little by little I have begun to accept the fact
that someday I will be a cue-ball. I have found that much of my
insecurity has come from the thought that I am not attractive like
this. It's all in the mind. I like myself how I am, my paranoia
comes from thinking that others (particularly girls) won't like
me for my hair loss. I am coming to realize that this is not true.
I agree
100% with you. You have to just ACCEPT it. I was down in Mexico
for two years, and I noticed that many of the women down there have
hair loss. They are fine with it. I thought, "Hey, if they
can do it, I can do it." Better to not have hair than not have
a sense of humor. My mom always says, "It's better to not have
hair and be a great guy, than to have hair and be an insensitive
jerk." So, to all the fellow baldies out there, I say SHINE
ON!! Love your web sight. Thanks A billion, buddy.
Sincerely,
R.U.
Dear
Mr. Snesko,
I just
found your website through a search engine, and I like it a lot.
I'm going to cut to the chase, I'm 23 yrs. old, and have just been
losing my hair at the hairlines pretty rapidly lately. I also have
some thinning on the crown area. I'm not really scared of the idea
of shaving my head, I just don't know if I would actually look worse
or not. I still have enough hair not to worry about this today or
tomorrow, but I am planning for the future (it may be closer than
I think). I'm 6'2", 160 lbs., in good shape, athletic, etc.
but I do have a sort of triangular and long shaped face, to go along
with my thin body. What are your personal experiences with what
type of face/head structure looks good shaved? Who can I go to that
will give me a honest opinion? I won't lie, I am self-conscious
about the whole thing, but I just want to look in the mirror and
know that my face/head looks OK, that's all. Thank you for your
time and your help.
Sincerely,
Chris
TONY'S
REPLY
Hi Chris!
Welcome
to the club. I've met hundreds, maybe thousands of totally bald
men and have never thought that the shape of their face or head
made any difference. Every one of them was unique and attractive
in his own way. I can't say that I have ever met a totally bald
man that I thought was unattractive (by the way, I'm straight
and married). However, I have met thousands of totally ugly hairy
guys.
The
benefits of being totally bald is that you will be more attractive
and it will be nearly impossible to tell your age. When you eventually
hit your 50's and 60's, you'll still look much, much younger and
better looking than other hairy guys your age. When you do shave
it all off, you will think you look very strange - and you will
- compared to your previous condition. Don't yield to the desire
to grow it back. Wait for a week or two. You will end up loving
it and you will have all the ladies wanting to rub it. If after
two weeks, you still don't like the look, you always have the
option of growing it back.
Let
me know how it goes!
God Bless,
Tony
At
21 I was fed up with my thinning hair, so I saved up some money,
and had a hair transplant, the guy did the old method, and the result
looks like I was abducted by aliens who did some weird experiment
on my head. After finding a very sweet girl who told me that it
didn't matter, I shaved it all. I feel better, I still have the
scars, but I am happier than I was with hair.
I just
wish I knew then what I do now. The good news is that guys have
asked me about it, and tell them NOT to do it, just shave it !!
I even looked into hair club for me, they ripped me off for several
hundred, playing off my weakness. I was so worried, I regret that,
but at least now, I am happy, and open about it.
Jason
B.
Portland, Or
Hi
Tony
I just wanted to send a note form the UK to say how cool your Web
Site is.
I
have been down in the dumps for at least three years about my hair
- I'm 31 and now have a substantial bald patch on the top. I've
taken to feeling really nervous when someone stands over me, avoided
sitting down and even not visited relatives for fear of comments.
Tried the Rogaine (called Regaine here - ho ho) but realized it
was snake oil after 6 months.
And
yes - my wife tells me I'm sexy. Perhaps I should start listening
to her.
I
totally agree that the anti-baldness industry tries its hardest
to make hair loss out to be a life destroying illness. Out of all
the sites I visited about this, yours was the only one to have anything
positive to say.
So
screw it, life is too short. I'm gonna get it cut way short this
weekend.
The stuff we put ourselves through - you've done a cool thing with
this site Tony. I salute you.
Best Regards
Ian
UK
Tony:
I've
just been perusing your site. Way to Go!!!
I'm about to turn 40, and I can remember those days when I first
started losing my hair. I went to the "Toupee Place" -
they covered my head with saran wrap and drew all sorts of lines
showing me how they would blend everything in - to the tune of $3000
- oh and I had to come back every few weeks for an adjustment -
didn't happen.
Then I went to "Minoxodil Maniacs" - well your case is
advanced Sir, I feel you only have about a 10% chance of growing
usable hair. - Bye!
The Transplant Torturers didn't get a chance - I've seen 'Barbie
Doll' men. No thanks!!
So I dealt with my condition until 1994. In that year my Mom passed
away. I missed her so much that I went a little nuts - and shaved
my head.
Oops - I found that I actually looked better :-)
Women who never would give me the time of day actually started talking
to me!!!
It's been six years now, and I love it. I pity the poor fools that
succumb to the Mass Media Opinion without learning about their "Divine
Calling" - That God created a few perfect heads, the rest he
covered with hair
Bruce
Dear
Tony,
I
just shaved my head Friday 4-7-00 and I gotta tell ya it feels GREAT!!
On top of that I unloaded my conscience and told my wife about being
a hair club member (make that ex-member). She said she knew all
along because her cousin told her but she kept quite as not to embarrassed
me. Oh well I at least have a cleared conscience now and a cool
head. Thanks for the advice.
A fellow bald guy,
Matthew
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