Las Vegas-Heads Up-Be Brave And Shave!
Headlines · Me No Hair
Q Balls by Choice
Michael Jordan made the shaved head cutting edge. The rest of us stopped counting follicles and started counting the upside.
In the beginning, there was Michael. Jordan was the poster guy for the perfectly bald man. He made shaving cutting edge.
The Follicular Equation
From Social Outcast to Rock-Star Status
He took the shaved skull from social outcast to rock-star chick-magnet status. The follicly challenged started doing the numbers.
You could count on being noticed. Just ask: “Me no hair.”
Is bald beautiful? Perhaps. Is bald a high-end haircut? Maybe. One thing is certain: bald is a hair color.
Archive Gallery
The Perfectly Bald
If you want to make the statement that says, “I run my own life,” shave your head and join the union.
Archive 01
Blue Man Group
I resemble those guys.
Archive 02
Shiny, Smooth, Seen
The shaved head moved from the margins to the marquee.
Archive 03
Guy Laliberté
The Cirque du Soleil founder: a card-carrying member.
Archive 04
Getting Kojak-ed
Who loves ya, baby? We do—the perfectly bald.
Archive 05
Ed Reif and Terry O’Quinn
From Mr. Clean to “MiliTerry” O’Quinn.
Archive 06
Me No Hair
Celebrities, politicians, athletes, and folks just like us.
Archive 07
Then, of Course, Dr. Evil
The details of his life are quite inconsequential.
The Manifesto
Be Brave and Shave
Signal 01
I Run My Own Life
“Me No Hair” is a walking, breathing billboard and bullhorn that shouts, “I’ve got other plans” to the “Have a nice day” retail script and the Saturday Night Live flight-attendant “Ba-Bye.”
Signal 02
Life Is Too Short for Hair
The perfectly bald are not waiting for permission from a mirror, an infomercial, or the hair-restoration industry.
The Follicular Hall of Fame
“Getting Kojak-ed” was made popular by 1970s television star Telly Savalas. Who loves ya, baby? We do—the perfectly bald.
Yul Brynner was the quintessential Fuzzy Wuzzy when it was not very fuzzy: going all the way back when Mr. Clean was the only game in town. Now we have Terry O’Quinn.
Wigs, Weaves, and Cover-Ups
We have yet to see a celebrity call a press conference to deny wearing a wig. David “Weave” Roth did it on radio. Sir Elton John, William Shatner, and my all-time favorite, Burt Reynolds, would have what Ricky Ricardo called some “splainin’ to do.”
The original post also gave honorable mention to The Donald’s cover-up and linked to Rosie.
Shaving for a Cause
The original post cited a BBC report about daily shaving and stroke risk. It also asked a more useful question: would we shave our heads for cancer research or another cause?
Get people to sponsor you, and let the biggest donor earn the first cut.
The Counter-Industry
Plugs, Rugs, and Drugs
We, the “young and the ruthless,” who were growing too tall for our hair, started conforming to the idea that we could run our own show. We rebelled against the two-billion-dollar hair-restoration industry of plugs, rugs, and drugs.
The tragedy was not in something that was, but in something that was not. Drinking the Kool-Aid of late-night infomercials—that going hair-free cost too much—was bunk. The fear merchants put the con back in confidence with Wayne’s World-style public-access shows and 1-800 numbers.
They tried to make us afraid and take away the “pain”: once-parted hair now de-parting, cutting itself. As if it were happening to us and separating us from looking good. Hair “loss” is no loss at all. The upside of shaving it off is all gains—in street credibility, social capital, and spiritual capital.
The mirror stops negotiating when you make the decision first.
Companion References
Open the Archive
The Elixir
Be Brave and Shave.“Me No Hair” was never really about the absence of hair. It was about refusing to let an industry, an infomercial, or an inherited idea decide what confidence was supposed to look like.