Questions that come up quite often and definitely something many people have wondered before; what do women (and men) think about bald or shaved-headed guys? Can bald men still be considered sexy? Is baldness unattractive? Is bald sexy? The skeptics among the general population might automatically look around themselves and their local world and say "no, people prefer a guy with a thick head of hair" and in some cases that may well be true. A well maintained hair style is a very attractive attribute on a man and a woman, there's no denying that - but that's the same for many other attributes in humans and not everyone is equipped with all of them and not everyone likes all of them. Some men and women actually prefer bald men to those with hair.
In this article we'll take a look at some of the reasons why bald men might be viewed negatively, why those negative views aren't based on much fact, and proof that actually in recent years, the bald look has become far more popular and even the preferred form of hair cut.
Hollywood hunks like Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson have done wonders for the tough, manly bald guy look over the last decade by instilling in the general public that bald guys are rugged and strong - and to some degree this is an image that has been around for a while. When many people think "bald guy" they might think of someone tough, someone mean, a fighter, so that adds to the collective stereotype that bald guys are on the tougher side - and who isn't attracted to someone manly and tough?
On the flip side, for many years the bald look has also been associated with two other stereotypes: either villains (think of every superhero nemesis you've seen stroking a cat) or geeks with thick glasses. But are these stereotypes founded on any type of truth? Not at all. There is nowhere in history or modern day where evidence points towards bald men either being more oddly evil or more "geeky". Recent studies have shown that there isn't a link between levels of testosterone in the body and hair loss, so the idea that bald men are more or less manly in terms of their hormone levels is based on very loose foundations. All of the thoughts and biases linked to bald men seem to boil down to two (albeit fairly rough) categories:
1. Losing your hair is a condition that can make you appear less manly
But:
2. Choosing to shave your head possibly makes you appear tougher
But why do people think these things? Why do people either assume that a man is less manly or on the other hand a scary tough guy because he has a shaved head?
The concept of hair loss has been associated with lower masculinity for centuries, with many historical figures trying very odd methods to keep their hair or to make it grow back - ancient Greek medic Hippocrates believed the cure for baldness was pigeon poo mixed with horseradish, cumin and nettles... but given that we now know that hair loss is not linked in any way to a lack of testosterone or other male hormones, this idea is unfounded.
Why are guys with shaved heads often considered to be tough? Well that's an easy one - think of the army, professional fighters, Eastern European hooligans. It's just that a select few groups of people decide to do it on purpose and this then develops into a stereotype within the media.
So we know where the thoughts are coming from, but does that answer the question of whether or not bald men are attractive? Let's take a look at the concept of beauty and what is deemed to be attractive, and let's start with a quick readers' survey:
What are the ideal attributes of the modern man in your opinion?
Thick hair on top but shaved/waxed everywhere else?
Set of abs to go with the big guns and barrel chest?
Long piece of pipe?
Bearded?
Doo you think the attractive qualities in a man are to be slender because muscles are vain and overkill?
Clean shaven because beards are dirty?
Average sized manhood because not all girls are "built equal"?
Hairy chest because that's a more primal attribute than hairless?
What about the ideal attributes of the modern woman?
Blonde? Red head?
Generous chest?
Hourglass?
Blue eyes?
Big lips?
Maybe you prefer slim, petite women with dark hair?
Maybe green eyes are more sexy?
It's highly likely that as readers, you have different opinions on which items from these lists would top your personal lists of quality, attractive attributes in men and women. So where does that leave the "are bald men attractive" debate?
The fact that a man is bald is merely ONE of many attributes that simply comes down to personal preference and actually not what society has in the past or does currently dictate. It's also worth bearing in mind that society is a vast array of cultures spread over multiple continents and there is not a one size fits all approach from around the world. For example, a lot of black men choose to shave their head and that's considered a very standard and attractive thing to do. In western culture some people have it hard wired into them that for some reason big boobs are the marker of an attractive woman, whereas in a lot of eastern cultures it's quite the opposite. Scandinavian cultures might prefer people who are tall, others may prefer shorter. And the list goes on. The point is, being bald is not a defining physical attribute that everyone across the board will either like or not like.
Some of it, it's been debated, is that it stems from our primal instincts as raw animals. Larger hips and breasts on a woman send signals to the male brain that she is fertile and high quality in terms of childbearing, and as male animals looking to procreate and reproduce, these are the most desirable things. Similarly, men who are tall or muscular and have a lot of hair are considered to have good, dominant genes and these are primal signals that women's animal brains are looking for because they want to give birth to strong offspring. In this sense, the bald male would come up short as apparently not having hair strikes one of these qualities off the list, but are we actually that hard wired in modern society?
Let's turn the camera on ourselves for a moment and give ourselves a little reminder; the stigma that sometimes unnecessarily goes with being a bald man often comes from the man's self-concern and not from those women who are looking at him. A whopping 50% of the male population suffer from some sort of hair loss, so it's not exactly a rare or weird condition. Multiple studies have shown that baldness isn't considered unattractive but is actually associated with maturity, dominance and confidence. Some even showed that baldness was associated with physical strength.
Have you ever read one of those articles that tells you in length what all women supposedly find sexy in a man? I guarantee that either one or all of those qualities (maturity, dominance, confidence) are mentioned in there. So that means by default that bald men are in fact associated with the vastly more desirable and sexier qualities of a man?
In fact, in these studies it basically comes down to one single thing, and this is something that at Bald World we try to help you realise: it doesn't matter if you're bald, as long as YOU'RE ok with being bald.
Many men and women will say that it's far more attractive to "own" being bald than it is to try and hide it or pay lots of money to get treatment for it.
It's better to be bald than balding.
By hiding it you're subtly indicating that you're self-conscious and maybe lack a little confidence because you're uncomfortable with who you are; and that's something that a lot of women don't find attractive - and not just women but everybody in general including friend groups and workplaces. People are drawn to those who are confident and sure of themselves and express themselves in an assured way (not to be confused with arrogance and being cocky). So if you start losing your hair and you shave it all off to the skin, what you're telling everyone is "this is me and I'm ok with it so get used to it".
So, are bald men attractive?
Basically what we're saying is that most people in general really don't care if you're bald as long as the rest of you is in check. Be a good guy, be a gentleman, be sure of yourself, be fun to be around, dress well, look after your health - and there's no reason you'll seem less attractive that the man next to you with the full head of hair.
Baldness is becoming a more common style in the post COVID world due to many men choosing the look having been stuck in lockdowns with no access to a barber for months on end. Shaving their heads as a last resort but actually realising it either looks good or it's just much easier to manage in general. A few recent articles even voted baldness to be the number 1 men's hairstyle of 2021, so don't worry, you're not alone!
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