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Question of the Day | 10/06/2009 2:00 am

Wig sales are down ... Do you think the stigma of male baldness has eroded? What do you think about bald (or balding) men?

Wig sales are down — according to the Wall Street Journal — and it’s gotten Liz Smith and Candice Bergen talking about the sex appeal of bald(ing) men. Join the conversation …
© Robin Platzer/Twin Images
Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen | 10/06/2009 12:00 am

Candice Bergen's Advice to Balding Men

Oy. The wig thing. I thought the buzz cut had replaced the dreaded comb-over. And wigs — wigs have come a LONG way. Trust me. They are almost invisible. Well, the insanely expensive ones are. But I always found bald men very attractive. Not ALL bald guys. But my husband, for example, is bald and I think he is the most elegant, handsome guy. What’s harder is the BALDING guys. With patches of not-good hair. Little wispy puffs on their heads. Not a good look. And to them, I suggest a buzz cut!
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 10/06/2009 12:00 am

Liz Smith: 5 Bald Men Who Are Sexy

I have been attracted to so many bald men that I don’t really know what you are talking about. Let me name a few – the food expert Lee Bailey, the Vogue writer Billy Norwich, the tycoon Barry Diller, the architect Charles Gwathmey, the actor Bruce Willis. Losing one’s hair must be mighty traumatic so whatever a guy decides to do about it is OK with me. There is a lot of evidence that balding is a sign of great virility, so I don’t know what you are talking about when you call it "the stigma of male baldness."
Julia Reed

Julia Reed | 10/06/2009 1:00 am

Julia Reed's First Love

Well, the first man I ever fell in love with was bald so I never thought about it as a stigma – in fact, afterward I always found it sexy. I was 16 (well, almost 17) and he was 31 (I know, I know – shades of Roman Polanski here), and the first time I laid eyes on him, I couldn’t get past his incredibly steady and slightly amused pale blue eyes. I know it sounds like a romance novel but I felt like those eyes were looking straight inside me and the top of his head could have been on fire for all I knew. Once I did notice the rest of him, I didn’t even think about his baldness – and I was a teenager, for God’s sake – but it just wasn’t an issue. I was too busy taking in those eyes, and his great ass, and his deep, deep voice when he played Hoyt Axton on the guitar.

38 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Linda Myers
Bald is okay, Bald on top with a ponytail is strange, buzz cut is fine. Wigs, ridiculous!
By Linda Myers on 10/06/2009 1:31 am
diana sheldrick

Oh yes bald is far sexier than most of the alternatives. Far sexier to have no hair than to have a bit here and there.

Ponytails on bald men or on hairy men is so creepy.

By diana sheldrick on 10/06/2009 1:39 am
Dona Howlett

I do think there are some men who look absolutely fabulous bald………If they have a good shaped head it doesn’t matter if there’s hair or not.

If they just have little bits here and there that’s not very attractive.

Of course in men as in women there is nothing to compare with a wonderful head of healthy hair.

I think the main thing is for the man to feel good about how he wears his hair…………Mainly keep it CLEAN.

Wigs are hot and uncomfortable.

My husband was a Tennis player and swimmer.  After he retired he started giving himself a buzz cut………He loved it.  As they say, Wash and wear.  So easy when you are doing sports a lot.

I like the way he looked with or without hair……….I just loved him.

By Dona Howlett on 10/06/2009 5:09 am
Effie Velardo
I prefer men with hair and i like it a little bit long, not to their shoulders but just below the ears especially if its curly. However if  man is losing his hair either let it go or get a transplant or something but not comb overs or things you think are hiding it. Lots of men look great bald. I think young men who shave their heads when they have hair are ridiculous I hate buzz cuts Effie Velardo
By Effie Velardo on 10/06/2009 4:55 pm
L. C.

I prefer to see a man bald than a ridiculous comb-over regardless of the shape of his head. Who is he fooling anyway?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By L. C. on 10/06/2009 5:48 am
Marjorie C.

Nothing is as youthful as a full head of hair, but if that can’t be, then let it be. 

No wigs, no comb overs, no hair plugs, no spray jobs, please.  A mature man is as handsome as a younger one.

By Marjorie C. on 10/06/2009 5:58 am
Marjorie C.
I forgot to mention the scenario that really wigs me out, the shaved head.  Yech !!
By Marjorie C. on 10/06/2009 6:01 am
caren gittleman
I have always LOVED bald men. It started for me with Yul Brenner, followed by Telly Savalas, Joe Gargiola, Montel Williams, Dr.Phil…..there are more but I can’t think of them right now, would ALWAYS rather see bald than a "rug"
By caren gittleman on 10/06/2009 6:45 am
Yvonne Faye

Bald men are fine.  My husband has a full head of beautiful gray hair.  However, both of my sons are balding.  They all are handsome.

By Yvonne Faye on 10/06/2009 7:42 am
A R

My husband has a full head of beautiful gray hair.

I think grey can be so handsome too!

My mom is 59 and showing grey for the first time. She’s got a nice shock of it right at the front of on side of her part line. It is so pretty, and I’ve begged her not to give in to the urge to dye it. Luckily my mom loves her grey and promises not to. 

My poor mother-in-law has been dying her’s for years. It has really taken a toll on the health of her hair. Due to the frequent dye jobs, her hair is thinning faster than it should. We’ve pleaded with her for years to enjoy the grey, but to no avail.

By A R on 10/06/2009 10:22 am
rocky rocky
I never liked the comb-over. Never liked the toupe. Those guys always struck me as a little weird, or at least pitiful. My brother started going bald in his 20s, and I always liked the way he looked when he stepped off his bike in his leathers, took off his helmet, and shook his balding head (plus long ponytail). I thought he was very masculine. Many years later, never having given baldness much thought at all, I was standing beside a guy I thought attractive (intelligent, funny, nice looking). He was sitting, and as he looked down at the papers in his lap, (heaven’s!) I reached over and lightly caressed his bald head. Lordy, was I startled — yes, at myself! It was as if my brain had disconnected from (well, you know what) and I did that without any forethought or fore anything at all. I jerked my hand back quickly. Blushing, a bit confused, I apologized and he said, to my further embarrassment, you know, rocky, I am living with someone … Ay-yi-yi. I figure now that long ago incident was a perimenopausal mishap, a weird disconnect of my id from my superego. Wrote to myself in bold permanent blunt-point black indelible Sharpie: NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. So far, so good. 
By rocky rocky on 10/06/2009 8:03 am
Susan Crawford

My favorite bald man? Patrick Stewart! What a marvelous face, what great confidence and presence. Bald is SO much sexier and confident than a comb-over or a bad toupee. (Are you listening, Donald Trump?)

By Susan Crawford on 10/06/2009 8:10 am
A R
Amen, Susan! That bald man is one fiiiiine fellow!
By A R on 10/06/2009 10:18 am
SURA B

Whenever  this subject came up, whether on the telephone, a first meeting, I’d tell the guy my father was bald, and I never knew him otherwise, because he began losing his hair in his early tweties before I was born. For me, it is not a negative matter.

Baldness does not diminish a man’s attractiveness or worth.

In my early twenties, I dated an  older man who revealed that that when he turned bald,  he left the US for 2 years and worked in Great Britain, and then returned home, somewhat less embarrassed, but always touchy about the subject.

Very sad, but I thnk of it as similar to the issue of being smallbreasted in the era of curvaceous movie stars, because people were critical and outspoken about gals’ appearance. Unlike today, having small breasts and slim hips was not the fashion, and those of us who had, were miserable, too, especially in adolescence, when everything imperfect is a tragedy.

I wish, though, that men accepted their appearance, did not do the "Donald Trump" hairdo, or use any of the wigs or toupeees. I focus more on eyes and lips, anyway! 

I also hope that so many men who wear their baldness au naturel or buzz their scalps remain terrific examples of attractiveness. Masculinity does not depend on having a full head of hair.

Again, I see a comparison with the issue of women’s hair and femininity. Those scraggly, long tresses of 30+ women who seem to think that sexiness prevails because of long hair are not as attractive as a well-shaped head with short, helmet style, or cut above the shoulders . Catherine Deneuve once said in an interview that Americn women (and I add, American men) "fight to look younger instead of staying in good shape. European women are more tricky in that they try to grow older better, but they don’t try to look younger." 

I quote verbatim because this statement is permanently attached to my bulletin board—to remind me how adolescence  is worshiped here. 

Guys, you look great with or without hair! 

By SURA B on 10/06/2009 8:45 am
A R

Again, I see a comparison with the issue of women’s hair and femininity. Those scraggly, long tresses of 30+ women who seem to think that sexiness prevails because of long hair are not as attractive as a well-shaped head with short, helmet style, or cut above the shoulders..

I know what you mean, Sura. I used to wear mine long and curly from my teens through my late twenties. Somehow my hair changed over the years and quit looking nice that way. I didn’t want to become one of those scraggly-haired mid-thirty-somethings trying to hang on to my youth! Ha!

Now I keep a funky bob with the back cut short and the front  swinging low and not a curl in sight. I get compliments on my hair daily and it is healthy and full. I think we women attach way too much meaning to having long hair. When I was younger, it seemed men went for the long hair. The older I grow, I see that it’s not the hair, but the attitude that reels people in!

By A R on 10/06/2009 10:17 am