Bald head

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The bald actor Patrick Stewart

The top of the human head when there is no hair on it or when it has been shaved off is called a bald head (also known as bald head , colloquially also plate or meat cap ) . The head shave has recently also found its way into the range of fashionable styles.

Age-related baldness, which occurs mainly in men and rarely in women (after their menopause ), is often viewed negatively in Western cultures: It is a sign of age and is sometimes unattractive. The hair loss in men (also androgenetic alopecia ) usually begins with a receding hairline and accepts progressive forms caused by the Hamilton-Norwood scale are described. In the case of non-gender- or age-specific hair loss ( alopecia areata ), complete baldness can arise in a few months, starting from small hairless spots. This also applies to children.

Some medications , such as cytostatics , ionizing radiation and various diseases such as Sezary's syndrome can also lead to baldness. In contrast to natural baldness, all other body hair usually falls out as well.

Cultural meaning

Long hair has long been considered a sign of fertility and vitality. The voluntary bald head, on the other hand, is often a conscious distinguishing feature, in a religious context as a sign of asceticism , in soldiers, in women to underline androgyny . A head shear is also a sign of explicit affiliation to a subculture , for example with skinheads (who traditionally wear short hair), in some homosexual circles or with religious groups, such as Buddhist monks , and earlier also as tonsure with Christian monks. In many armies, shaving a bald head served as an initiation rite . For some years now, it has also become fashionable for men to shave their hair completely, especially when there are already slightly bald spots and this is to be hidden with the complete baldness.

On the other hand, the (involuntary) head shear is known as a punishment to punish, publicly expose, denounce or humiliate people . For example, Resistance forces in France sheared women from around 1943 onwards, whom they accused of having too close a relationship with Wehrmacht soldiers (see also: Child of the occupation ).

According to a 2012 study by Albert Mannes from Wharton Business School , baldness is now viewed differently in society. He found that balding stands for greatness, respect and power. Hairless ones look more dominant and stronger. In the experiment, they were estimated to be 2.5 cm larger on average. Other qualities associated with baldness are aggressiveness, masculinity, competitive strength and success. On the other hand, toupees and combed hair gaps looked ridiculous.

treatment

People who want to hide their bald head have the option of wearing a wig or a toupee . The method of having hair transferred to bald areas by hair transplantation came from the USA in the mid-1990s .

Few drugs are approved for treating hair loss. Most of them, however, only have a relatively limited effectiveness and, moreover, only help some of those affected. In 1999 the drug Propecia for hereditary hair loss was launched. Finasteride can stop hair loss to a certain extent, but it can also cause side effects such as loss of libido and impotence . There is minoxidil for application to the scalp.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Keyword “bald head” . Duden website - online. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  2. The meat cap
  3. Andres Wysling: Liberation begins with a witch hunt - France's shorn women. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 16, 2017.
  4. Zeit Online: A bald head creates power and success. October 11, 2012, accessed February 23, 2013.
  5. Hair loss: stitches on the plate . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on July 3, 2018]).

Web links

Commons : Baldness  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: bald head  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations