I get it, ok? So... I'm bald, but this isn't really news to me. Surprisingly, I actually own a mirror and, believe it or not, I'm the one who shaves my own head. Ever since I gave up on my thinning hair and shaved my head, I've noticed one particularly peculiar trend. Other bald men come up to me and, with a sense of camaraderie, say "hey, nice haircut." Usually they say this with a stupid grin while pointing to their own bald head.
Look, I'm not particularly self-concsious about my bald head; I've had thin hair all my life. In fact, I take sort of a guilty pleasure seeing some of my friends and especially acquaintances start to lose their own hair. I've already gone through denial and stepped out into acceptance, but seeing others go through what I've already handled does feel a little good. I know I shouldn't be too hard on my fellow bald men, after all "nice haircut" is a lot better than the "I can see your scalp..." I used to get from some guy's (and girls) in high school. But there is something I really just can't seem to wrap my brain around.
Why would other bald men assume that we share anything in common? I mean, I get that we both have bald heads, and we've both probably experienced some levels of stigma attached with that, but aside from that point, what else can we assume. I can honestly say that in no way does the amount of hair on my head (or lack their of, as the case may be) have any relationship with my sense of conscious identity. Seeing as how my ideology more closely aligns with women, minorities and the counter culture it is likely that there is actually a negative covariance between the amount of hair on someones head and the likelihood that we will share similar convictions.
I suppose it isn't that farfetched. Lots of hairstyles are reflective of a particular identity. This issue is particularly salient among the female African American community that seems to struggle with a desire to promote an anglo hair style at great expense and personal sacrifice. But they aren't the only identity tied to a hairstyle. Dreadlocks present a bohemian, and now often Rastafarian lifestyle choice. Bald men, like myself, have historically been presented as skinheads and neo-nazis. I feel lucky that I live in a time where so many people are compelled to shave their heads as a fashionable alternative to thin hair, that it has become commonplace and mainstream. There really is very little in common among bald men other than a genetic predisposition to male pattern baldness, but certainly not ideological beliefs.
This whole experience did get me thinking? What other groups do we create based on purely physical attributes? Do all members of those groups share similar sentiments? Do they have a sense of shared struggle? What about people to appear to belong to a certain group but don't believe the same things as the consensus of other members? Do all groups that we identify even have a sense of group consciousness? If they don't, should they? Obviously I can't answer these questions, but I can ask them and that is the first step. For now, suffice it to say this: it makes no sense to say nice haircut to a stranger, you never saw what it looked like before... maybe its a terrible haircut.
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