Bald By Choice
And Other Reasons For Head Shaving
Bald By Choice
As the name says, people who are bald by choice have made the decision to be bald. They tend to be in one of two categories: people who are already going bald; and people who aren't.
For those who are, essentially nature tells you that it now refuses to let hair grow on the top of your head and starts the process of balding. Many men in this situation (including me) defiantly declare that "it's either all or none buddy!" and whipping out a razor, take the lot of it off - becoming bald by choice.
This is becoming a popular way to go for many men who are going through this irreversible process.
For the non-baldies, they are essentially making the same declaration, but without the pre-requisite of alopecia. But why? Why would someone do that? Read on...
Swimming
Forgive the terrible pun, but have you ever seen a fish with a bowl-cut? Or a dolphin with dreadlocks? A sea-lion with a mane? No you never have. Why is that? Because they are creatures of the sea and evolution has realised that movement through water needs to be streamlined. Hair gets in the way of this, hence why you have never seen any of the above.
For professional swimmers, this streamlining in the water is absolutely important to plowing through the water. As a result, you may see many professional swimmers swimming around after a good head shaving - let alone their whole bodies! Not only reducing the need for a swimming cap, this enhances their ability to glide smoothely through the water.
Religion
There are several religions which involve some activity or other that include head shaving.
Christianity: We've all heard of Friar Tuck (I'm sure), and seen his strange hair style. This monk's do, shaved on the top, hair left on the sides and front is known as a Tonsure.
Islam: During Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), all Muslim men are required to have a head shave.
Military
In the military, it is mostly new recruits who get a head shave. This practice is still common in Russia and USA. This provides a strict, disciplined environment as well as having tactical advantage for close range combat where the opponents cannot grab or pull the soldier's hair.
Work
There are some jobs out there that would prefer that you do not have long hair. For safety reasons, such as working in a factory. There could be a situation where your hair gets caught in a lathe, possibly resulting in your scalp being torn off. Wanting to avoid this at all costs, it may be advisable that if you work in this sort of environment that you get a head shave.
Hygiene reasons can also be involved. Have you ever seen food factory workers wearing their hair nets? They wouldn't need to if they were bald by choice!
Charity
Every now and then you will see a charity event involving head shaving. Usually this is to do with cancer, perhaps raising money for a charity or a particular person. If you see this type of event, try to donate what you can. The idea is for people to experience what the person (who most likely has had chemotherapy) is going through in having no hair.
Style
In more recent times, bald by choice is becoming a more and more popular "hair" style. There are a number of celebrities who shave their heads, not just for a role but being bald by choice everyday. Plenty of women love it, including actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (I read this in an interview with her in FHM magazine many years ago).
Professional Fighting
As above in the military, having short hair is very handy when involved in close combat fighting. For professionals such as boxers, wrestlers and cage fighters, having long hair poses a disadvantage as the opponent is in a position to grab or pull it causing pain or to gain an advantage. Head shaving avoids all of this as the hair is too short to grab hold of.
Disease
The least fun of all the reasons, there are various diseases out there whose symptoms include hair loss. Some of them result in random tufts of hair falling out, while others, mainly cancer, the actual treatments cause hair loss (chemotherapy).
If this is something that is happening, then rather than leave the unsightly mess of hair that is left, it may look a lot better by going bald by choice and getting rid of all of it. Then when it grows back, it will be consistent in length.
Brain Surgery
Again, this isn't too nice. If for some reason or other you need to have a neuro-surgeon poke around inside your head, you will most likely be given a head shave. Or you might be asked to do it yourself.
The reason is that your hair is full of horrible bacteria that are going to interfere with the sterile environment of an operating theatre. Your long hair will also likely get in the way of what the surgeon is doing. So its for the best that they get rid of it.
Head Lice
Nobody likes head lice and nobody likes having head lice. If you are unfortunate enough to get head lice you will want to get rid of them as soon as you can. Among the many special shampoos and washes you can buy, head shaving can be a great way to get rid of them as well. They will have nowhere to live if you have no hair!
Gang Membership
Many decades ago in Britain, there started a rebellion of white factory workers who didn't take too kindly to the foreigners taking their jobs. Since they all had short hair (as mentioned above) these gangs soon became known as Skinheads.
Unfortunately, this has stuck around and nowadays there are many skinhead gangs that are around. Therefore, membership to these gangs requires a head shave.
I'm not condoning gangs, but this IS a page about the reasons for head shaving!
It's Cheap!
Heck, why go through the bore and expense of regular trips to the barber or hairdresser's if you don't want to? If you are happy head shaving, then luckily it is very cost effective. A small investment in a set of clippers or another razor will soon pale in comparison when you look at how much you've spent at the salon on your fancy hair-do!
Where To Next?
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