When Men Should Embrace Their Baldness

As hormone levels change over the course of a man’s lifetime, one of the more noticeable effects is hair loss. They call this type of hair loss male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia, in medical terms.

It’s something that will affect almost all men at some point in their lives. In fact, it’s estimated that:

• Hair loss affects around 25% of all men by the time they turn 30.
• 66% of all men experience hair loss by the time they are 60 years old.
• Nearly 75% of all men experience male-pattern baldness by the time they reach the age of 80.

The speed at which someone loses his hair varies greatly from person to person. Some men will go completely bald on the tops of their heads as early as their 20s, while some will experience a gradual thinning of their hair throughout their lives.

However fast you’re losing your hair, if you find yourself looking in the mirror and noticing you’re going bald, you have two options. You can either embrace it, or try to slow down the process.

There are a range of treatments available if you want to try to slow the balding process. For the most part, however, they are not very effective and come with side effects.

One of the biggest concerns men have about shaving their heads and embracing baldness is what other people are going to say and think.

But, do you know what happens to most men when they embrace their baldness and shave their heads?

Not a lot. At least, not as much as they were expecting.

No one else is going to care more than you do about how you look. That’s the hard truth. You might get a few comments the first time you see friends and family after shaving your head, but that’s only normal; after all, you’ve changed your hairstyle and look different.

When Should Men Embrace Their Baldness?

There is no golden rule or one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Realistically, the point when you should embrace going bald is when you start putting in the effort to hide the fact that you’re losing your hair.

Male pattern baldness is not something to be ashamed of. Additionally, it’s normal to have some doubts and feel self-conscious about shaving your head. It’s a big change, but it’s a change for the better and you’ll feel liberated when you no longer have to hide the fact that you are balding.

Examples of Famous Men Who Embrace Their Baldness

If you want some inspiration, here are just three of the thousands of famous, inspirational, and powerful bald men who embraced being bald and never tried to hide it. In fact, it’s fair to say being bald has possibly enhanced their careers and made them more recognizable.

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis is a famous American actor with a distinctive bald head. He’s been starring in hit movies for more than 30 years, and has managed to remain relevant in an industry that’s fast to move on to the next star.

He’s been bald or balding for most of his career. He’s never tried to hide it, and it’s clearly never held him back in terms of his fame or personal success.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

The Rock is one of the most recognizable people in the world. Sure, part of this is due to his huge muscles and charismatic personality. But it’s also due to his completely shaved, bald head.

He embraced going bald around 10 years ago and his career and popularity have been on a meteoric rise ever since.

Jeff Bezos

Taking a step away from brawny Hollywood actors, it just so happens that the richest person in the world and founder of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, is bald.

Looking back at pictures and interviews with Jeff shortly after founding Amazon back in the late ‘90s, he was already mostly bald. He wasn’t shaving his head at the time, so one can claim he wasn’t embracing it, but we have to remember that hairstyles were very different in the ‘90s.

The point I’m making here is that if anyone thinks going bald in their 30s is going to hold them back professionally, look no further than Jeff Bezos for inspiration.

Examples of Famous Men Who Have Not Embraced Baldness

We thought it only fair to also share some examples of men who have not embraced their baldness to show you the other side of the coin. As you will notice from this list, these men have all generated a lot of negative press from their choice to hide the fact that they are going bald.

Although these are three of the most high-profile cases, I think it proves the point that not embracing baldness – and worse, trying to hide it – only increases the amount of negative attention you’ll garner.

Donald Trump

Despite being the leader of the most powerful country in the world, it feels like people are just as eager to ask Donald Trump about his hairstyle as they are his plans for the future of the United States.

There is some mystery surrounding exactly how bald Donald Trump is. Most believe that he is wearing a very expensive and realistic looking toupee. Whatever the truth is, it’s clear that he has put a lot of time and effort into maintaining a “full” head of hair.

Elton John

Elton John has been taking desperate measures to hide his baldness since the late ’70s. He underwent a surgical hair replacement procedure in the ’70s, starting wearing wigs in the ’80s, and has been vocal about changing his lifestyle in an attempt to try to slow his quickly-receding hairline.

But, as a lot of balding men have found out, you can’t reverse the genetic effect of male pattern baldness. John regularly wears a hair piece in public. He’s open about it and everyone knows he’s wearing them, but he’s not willing to embrace his baldness in public and be seen without hair.

John Travolta

It was only this year that John Travolta finally embraced his baldness, despite quite obviously losing his hair for decades now. He shaved his head, stopped wearing wigs in public, and finally “came out” as being bald.

It may have taken a long time for him to feel comfortable doing so, but it isn’t an issue today. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t wish he’d done it sooner.

Embracing your baldness is ultimately up to you. However, it’s possible no one is judging you for your hair loss more than you. It’s highly likely no one pays it any mind. Embracing your baldness can relieve you of stress and anxiety so you can enjoy your life and focus on the positive things.