Is bald beautiful?

Every day I pass a billboard for a company that does hair transplants.

You’ve probably seen it or one like it. On one side, we have a balding man, grumpy and hairless, looking like a terrorist’s mug shot, and on the other side is the same man, with a full head of hair, smiling from a swimming pool with a hot babe in a bikini gazing at him adoringly.

The message? No hair, no action.

For many men going bald signals a loss of youth and sex appeal. They feel that they look older than they are and that young, attractive women won’t be interested.

As one guy, Tom, put it, “It’s like a big sign on top of your head that says, ‘I’m going to need Viagra.”

Dr. Robert Leonard, a top hair restoration surgeon says, “Society views hair loss as a liability, and given a choice, will pick the person with better hair. This occurs in the workplace, in dating and in politics.”

And a study in Psychology Today found what any guy who’s watched clumps of his virility collecting in the shower drain already knows: men are terrified of losing their hair.

“Men with full heads of hair were a narrow majority (53 per cent). Ironically, they were the most worried about hair loss: 38 per cent indicated they would be “very upset” if they discovered they were rapidly losing hair. But anticipation may be worse than reality, since only 23 per cent of men with thinning hair answered ‘very upset’ on the same item.”

But men seem to be worrying for nothing. According to Gersh Kuntzman, author of Hair! Mankind’s Historic Quest to End Baldness, 70 per cent of women found bald men attractive. Kuntzman says, “Only 30 per cent of women who responded to the poll thought of bald men as old or unattractive, while a whopping 69 per cent of male respondents described bald men with the same unflattering terms. Only 30 per cent of women thought that a man becomes less attractive as he loses his hair, while 60 per cent of men thought so. Two-thirds of women said that a bald man and a man with hair are equally attractive, while only 36 per cent of men felt the same way. Men are much more inclined to think of bald men — and therefore themselves — as less sexy.”

According to one woman, Becky, “It is not the lack of hair we find attractive, it is the attitude. Have you ever noticed the attitude of bald men? Most are confident and sure of themselves. That is what is sexy.”

Another woman, Kristy, says, “It’s not necessarily an automatic turnoff.”

According to the article in Psychology Today, “Apparently balding is easier to watch than experience, as women were relatively unconcerned about male hair loss. Of those whose partner had a full head of hair, only 13 per cent would be “very upset” and 24 per cent “somewhat upset” at the prospect of his hair thinning. A mere 18 per cent of women whose partners had already lost some hair acknowledged being very or somewhat upset.”

And many women do find bald men sexy. In fact, every week, dozens of women nominate their favorite Bald Guy of the Week at www.baldguyz.com

For those who are concerned, however, what causes baldness, and can anything be done about it?

Baldness is caused by testosterone. Kuntzman says, “Testosterone gets broken down and if you are genetically predisposed toward baldness, that byproduct of testosterone, DHT, chokes your follicles.”

And while products like Propecia and Rogaine can sometimes help, they must be used on an ongoing basis, or all the re-grown hair falls out. The only permanent cure for baldness? Castration.

Kuntzman says, “They figured that out by studying castrated men in prisons in the 1940s. That was the typical punishment if you were a sex criminal. This doctor, who was studying genetics, was in a prison cell studying this guy. His identical twin brother comes in and he’s bald. The guy in the cell who has no testicles is not bald. The doctor realizes they have the same genes, but the difference is that one guy is producing testosterone and the other wasn’t.”

Since castration is not an appealing option for most guys, what should a man do when baldness is encroaching?

Well, head shaving for one. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of bald hotties such as Michael Jordan and Bruce Willis, women are positively swooning over shorn scalps. Comb-overs and bad hairpieces are women’s least favorite options, primarily because it signals that the man is obviously uncomfortable with his looks. Hair transplants and hair restoration drugs are also popular but most women prefer guys who don’t fuss so much about their hair. Or lack of it.

Phenix says, “Can we say therapy? When I see a man with a comb-over I often wonder who is he fooling — the mirror or himself — because it can’t be me. It looks ridiculous and makes you realize that the man isn’t secure within himself. Yuck!”

One woman who asked to remain anonymous said, “It’s all about how a man feels about himself. I dated one man with very thinning hair, which he wears cropped close, and it looks great. I’m now dating a man who shaved it all off. Both these men are in their mid-40s, former jocks with lots of self-confidence and, yes, completely hot. That part comes from within.

“Like most women, I don’t normally think of balding as a great look. But I also know that my self-confidence (not arrogance) is my most magnetic quality. Comb-overs, hairpieces and Rogaine just don’t shriek of self-confidence, do they? Deal with who you are and get comfortable with it!”

And finally, Karen sums it up for lots of women, including yours truly: “I find bald men sooo incredibly hot! The past four men I’ve dated have all been bald… and I can’t get enough! To me, there’s nothing hotter than a bald man.”

Dating expert Lisa Daily is the author the bestselling dating book Stop Getting Dumped!

Article courtesy of Click by Lavalife.

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