I question how honest someone is being to themselves when they say that they are going bald or are bald and yet state it has not affected them. I've been bald for since the 90's. Do I worry about being bald? No. Am I aware I am bald? Every day.
I have no guilt about money being spent on 'unbalding' research. We're not talking about cosmetic surgery or injections, but instead returning something that has been lost to me.
To all the people, bald or hairy, that think going bald is no big deal. If the world was a fair place then yes, having no hair would not matter, and neither would other superficial things, but we don't reside in some fairy-tale realm. Unfortunately we have to deal with the real world and deal with real people that judge you on you appearance which includes height, body weight, the clothes you wear, swagger, body decorations like tattoos an piercings, and of course YOUR HAIR!
Baldness adds years to your age. I'm not talking about shaved heads. I mean being bald and still letting your hair grow at the back and sides. 5-10 year easily gets added on.
Thankfully shaved-heads have been an acceptable style for the past 20 years. Unfortunately not everyone can shave their head and still look good. Many men have Charlie Brown heads.
As much as women say they find bald men sexy, those women are few and far between, and the bald men they are attracted to are usually 'larger than life' men like movie stars. In the real world the majority of women consider balding men unattractive.
Everyone knows that baldness is very emotionally debilitating, but it also affects you physically.
-You're colder in the winter because of the lack of hair thus less insulation. Sometimes I even have to wear a hat or toque indoors. I find hats uncomfortable. Debilitating no, but it is annoying.
-the sun quickly cooks your cranium in the summer because there's no hair to insulate you from the sun's rays. Wear a hat you say? Well hat's make it worse if you shave your head because the hat forms an air-tight seal with your shaven head, preventing any air circulation underneath your hat. It's either shade or a bandanna or put up with the sun beaming down on the cranium for us baldies.
-Hair acts as a cushion your head when you bang your head on something. Hair also has sensory functionality and warns you when something is about to touch it. When you have a chrome-dome, that sensory function is gone. Don't believe me? Hold your hand out and slowly move it towards your head and you hair will pick up and feel your hand while it is still inches away.
-Hair hides stuff on your head. I have numerous acne scars on the back of my head that make me feel uncomfortable if others see. A coworker recently had a tumor removed from her brain. They went in through the upper back of her skull. Her scar is not visible because she has thick long flowing hair which hides the scar. That scar would be visible from thirty feet away on my shaved head.
Those above items will seem trivial to many, but they are things I have to be conscious of and work around at times. You don't realize what a full head of hair does for you until it's gone.