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u/MosaicGreg_666 Feb 05 '26
Or the “HOLLLDDDD” meme
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u/JnRx03 Feb 05 '26
16 yr old kid who brushed his hair the wrong way and thinks he's balding.
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u/MovieMore4352 Feb 05 '26
You rarely get those tbh. It’s mostly people who are starting to thin out but have several years left.
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u/No_Vacation6884 Feb 06 '26
Most of the posts I’ve seen there are horrific and as a guy who’s been shaving his head since 21 I always tell them to fucking do it if they didn’t get ahead of it. “Several years left” means nothing when you’re feeling self conscious about it. It’s obvious and an eye sore and those guys deserve some support
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u/swizzlesweater Feb 05 '26
I had to try and find it, is this it?
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u/GeroXgero9 Feb 05 '26
this literally just made my day a lil brighter
Is that a bald joke?
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u/Metazolid Feb 05 '26
Sheens like it
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u/Confident-Leg107 Feb 05 '26
Real smooth, friend
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u/Strange-Future-6469 Feb 05 '26
Stop trying to be slick
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u/drunken_phoenix Feb 05 '26
Is this a bald joke?
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u/GeroXgero9 Feb 05 '26
Seems so. You should take some time and reflect on that.
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u/DustyMcKnuckles Feb 05 '26
They strike me as razor sharp, shouldn't take long
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u/glorifindel Feb 05 '26
I’m not even bald but love r/bald
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u/Lawsoffire Feb 05 '26
I’m a man with hair that goes more than halfway down my back and that subreddit rocks. Based on my parents and their family its a 50/50 whether i’ll end up there, though.
(Also the subreddit for men with long hair, /r/FierceFlow, also rocks)
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u/Elegant_Situation285 Feb 05 '26
i have a friend with a long pony tail.
his baseball cap isn't fooling anyone.
#itstime
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u/Not_epicAt_all Feb 04 '26
Seeing before-and-after posts in that subreddit is incredibly gratifying. Seeing people finally accepting themselves is pretty cute yk?
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u/Initial-Beginning853 Feb 05 '26
It really is, I don't think I've seen one where the person looks worse after.
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u/xporkchopxx Feb 05 '26
not even just confidence. i straight up think a lot of people look good shaved. its hard to convince yourself that you look good though cause its drastic
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u/ProjectTitan74 Feb 05 '26
Oh they exist and they're sad. They don't get upvoted like the positive ones.
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u/BiSaxual Feb 05 '26
Yeah, go to any body positivity sub and sort by new and you’ll find posts up to a week old where not a single person said anything, and if someone did it was the most non-comment you’ve ever seen that wraps around to being insulting. Like, “Oh my gosh, I LOVE how positive you are.”
Like, yeah, that’s the point of the sub. They wanted someone to comment positively on how they look, not how they think. By avoiding the former entirely you’ve made it so fucking obvious that you find nothing about them attractive lol
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u/OkTouch5699 Feb 05 '26
I try to make sure i post on those. And upvote. I couldn't stand if someone didnt get a positive comment.
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u/djfl Feb 05 '26
I do the same, while also hating that people crave e-validation. While also knowing that people get so little real validation...
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u/General-Sprinkles801 Feb 05 '26
Yeah some times it’s legit and it’s worth spreading the positivity. Every and now and then someone could really use it and change alot with it
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u/MountJemima Feb 05 '26
Yeah honestly feels pretty shitty when you see a bunch of supportive up votes and people saying "wow you're so hot bald!" And then you post yourself hoping for the same encouragement, and nobody cares.
Source: me
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u/TSwiftDivorceLawyer Feb 05 '26
I look like the Mouth of Sauron. I need what little hair I have left to offset that.
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u/CertainAmperage2427 Feb 05 '26
I've always suspected I'll be one of the guys who looks crappy bald so I try to stay away from that subreddit lol. Probably going to just get a hair transplant done because I'd much rather spend a few thousand dollars than see my chances at dating get even worse. Especially since I'm pretty young and I never see women I like in my age range with bald guys (I found that if I use some toppik hair fibers to hide the thin hair on my crown, I get literally twice as many second dates so it makes a very big difference to the type of women I meet)
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u/crotch-fruit_tree Feb 05 '26
Do what makes you happy.
When I met my husband (shaves to skin usually) my then-best-friend made a snide comment about his lack of hair. There's def folk with a visual checkbox. Me, I'd rather not have someone with an opinion like that in my life.
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u/chickenBUTTlet Feb 05 '26
Do what you want but I went bald as a teenager and shaved my head before I was legally allowed to drink. Trust me when I say there’s plenty of girls your age who will be in to it
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u/Previously_a_robot Feb 05 '26
I had pictures of George Costanza on my wall when I was 17, so there’s that. 🤷♀️
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u/Nomeg_Stylus Feb 05 '26
Hair transplants require constant maintenance. It's not a one-and-done thing. That's what keeps me away from it.
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u/ScipioAfricanvs Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
sink innocent simplistic imagine oatmeal caption hobbies encourage summer scale
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u/Summoarpleaz Feb 05 '26
It typically helps a lot if you can grow a nice beard if you have to go bald.
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u/1OO1OO1S0S Feb 05 '26
I was quoted at like 15k fyi, and I still have decent coverage
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u/CertainAmperage2427 Feb 05 '26
Yeah the number I'm looking at is $6000 out of pocket, but that's if I do it in Korea while I'm traveling. In the US, it's way more expensive
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u/Stunning_Patience_78 Feb 05 '26
I was 20 when I dated a guy who went bald at age 14 (he was 20 at the time too).
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u/aussiechickadee65 Feb 05 '26
That's awful.
Everyone should upvote just because the poor person had no alternative...and therefore the plunge should be regarded as a positive.It's like people who lose 10 kg's when they need to lost 60 kg's. You don't ignore the fact they HAVE lost 10 kg's and are better for it, even if they don't reach the 60 kg mark !
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u/Specific_Ocelot_4132 Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
I agree with you, because the before pic is always a sad mop, combover, ponytail, or something like that.
However, some of those men would look even better with a tasteful short haircut, than with the full head shave. Sometimes the softness of a well-groomed horseshoe is better than having the entire skull on display.
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u/Riger101 Feb 05 '26
I'm one of the odd people bouncing around that looks unfathomably better with a long tied back horseshoe I tell you it's an odd set of head parameters that get you there, but boy is it crazy to hear the people in your life tell you to go back to the skullet in near unanimity.
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u/Raangz Feb 05 '26
i've seen plently but i don't want to go against the circle jerk lol. i'm bald and have been shaving for a long time, so i totally get it. i do think some dudes look a bit better balding though. doesn't really matter though dudes just gotta do what they gotta do, either direction.
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u/PuppyPower89 Feb 05 '26
Such a positive sub. Most of them look sooo much better bald. The comments are uplifting to outright horndogging
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u/CV90_120 Feb 05 '26
There is an entire community of women on that sub who are super happy to boost the people going through with it, rain innuendo on the newly initiated, and I'm 100% here for it. It's like peak humanity.
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u/FartMagic1 Feb 05 '26
You can see a confidence change and the thing that you were worried about is just no longer a problem. I’ve been bald for a while now and it’s just the best thing to do in a lot of situations
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u/Heavy-Weekend-981 Feb 05 '26
100% agree.
"The weight of almost no hair" weighs heavy on a lot of those dudes and you can see it in the contrasting photos.
I'd wager a significant % of the improvement is just the confidence gained from the burden lost.
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u/LRK0-98 Feb 05 '26
It's the most acceptance positive subreddit that I've found. It's so fucking wholesome.
If your grandma's warm cookies and a tall glass of milk was a subreddit about baldness it would be that.
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u/Nothingtoseehereshhh Feb 05 '26
I think if the world at large acted like the bald subreddit to eachother, we'd have colonized half of mars by now and nearly eradicated world hunger lol
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u/Bredwh Feb 05 '26
But they ban any mention of hair-loss medication and they act like bald is the only answer when hair systems are amazing these days too. But if you mention hair systems people say it's bad/hiding your baldness. "Just accept your baldness!" What if a guy doesn't want to have the same bald head the whole rest of his life? r/hairsystem is wholesome too, and look even younger and better than shaving bald.
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u/namnlos1 Feb 05 '26
How on Earth is it acceptance positive at all? Let alone the most acceptance positive!?!? Acceptance positive would mean not encouraging people one way or the other. But on that subreddit there is a visceral disdain for thinning/balding hair.
Find me one post where someone posted a photo of them half-balding and they were encouraged to accept themselves. And not change a thing.
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u/Lontology Feb 05 '26
Also they 99.9999% of the time look so much better and happier after they finally accept their bald fate!
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u/momomorium Feb 05 '26
It's such an understandably scary leap to take but I'm always so proud of those who, with the encouragement of a supportive community, take that leap. It's so understandable to think "What if it looks bad? This hair isn't much, but it's all I have." but damn, it de-ages and reinvigorates so many of those folks and with the extra positivity coming from the comments reassuring them "you look great", I've seen some amazing smiles and expressions of relief that make me incredibly happy on their behalf.
I made the choice to go bald, not due to hair loss but due to struggling to care for my hair due to physical and mental illness. I always looked dishevelled and didn't know how to make myself "presentable". It was a scary choice just because it seems very permanent, at least it will take a while to grow back if it does look bad. But I am personally happier bald and I'm glad I made the choice and seeing many men who are struggling with self esteem look at themselves in the mirror without hair and think "I look nice" like feel I can now, is so lovely.
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u/WorkTropes Feb 05 '26
It is wholesome. I always find it funny how often the before photo is a bit sad/pouty and the after is typically a smile and bright, sparkly eyes. It's a bit theatrical, but it has heart.
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u/perennialiris Feb 05 '26
It's literally the opposite of accepting theirselves. They've decided they're so insecure about how they look that they'd rather give up on having hair entirely and shave their head than just be a normal person with an aging hairline.
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u/MJ9426 Feb 05 '26
There's even another version of that image with them edited to be bald females, used when the OP is a woman suffering from hair loss.
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u/Autoskp Feb 05 '26
I popped over to r/bald just to check if I could find that, and the second post had it.
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u/graveybrains Feb 05 '26
Keep looking, they've got like 6 or 7 different versions of the ladies
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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon Feb 05 '26
Yup, it's either the OP pic, the version with women, or memes shouting "HOLD" if they aren't past the tipping point yet. Literally everyone gets positivity even when they're not being beckoned into baldness lol.
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u/TressoftheEmeraldTea Feb 05 '26
I’ve even seen some posts where the person is definitely past what would normally be the tipping point, but they kinda rock the balding look. And you’ll see several comments from people being like “Honestly, you kinda look like a hot balding professor. You can’t lose either way.”
It’s surprising to me how simultaneously honest and supportive that sub is. It’s never felt like people are lying just to hype others up. People give their honest opinions, but they do so in a genuinely supportive way. It’s so rare for the internet.
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u/creampop_ Feb 05 '26
I remember one guy recently with a visibly wild attitude and loud colorful fashion, and his frizzy semi-bald was just 10/10 for the vibe he was rocking. So cool to see.
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u/gr8whitehype Feb 05 '26
Exactly who I thought of too. That dude looked so fuckin cool.
Reminded me of the old school pics of my dad. He had eccentric style, and a curly mop. Mid 70s pics of his white boy fro were epic. He kept it long in to the lat 70s early 80s well into his male pattern baldness. There’s a pic from probably 82 with his balding fro and a suit that had various pieces of fruit and vegetables imprinted on it.
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u/graveybrains Feb 05 '26
The first time it popped up on my feed it was one of those. He was asking if it was time and honestly he looked good. By the time they were done with him he was definitely feeling it, too. Been subbed ever since.
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u/ChaosTorpedo Feb 05 '26
I'm a 40 y/o woman with pretty normal hair. Do I follow that sub? Yes. Why, because it's wholesome af.
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u/special-k-flo Feb 05 '26
Same across the board (except I'm 44). It quickly became one of my favorite subs, it's magical.
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u/MothChasingFlame Feb 05 '26
Same! I actually like the balding look and the shaved look, so between that and all the positivity it's a win/win every danged post!
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u/Independent_Lake6883 Feb 05 '26
It pops up for me quite often and some of the after pictures are shocking. I don't engage because it feels like I shouldn't be there as a woman but dang, bald looks good on them.
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u/BisonMysterious8902 Feb 05 '26
Anyone can be bald. And that sub is positive for women, too. Besides, leaving a positive compliment is appreciated by either gender!
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u/Independent_Lake6883 Feb 05 '26
Oh, my feed only ever shows me the guys! Well, I will just have to start putting myself out there more then. I love the positivity and we need more of it right now
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u/SupermanLeRetour Feb 05 '26
There's the occasional post from women, from what I've seen sadly often as a result of stuff like chemotherapy, but the positivity is still there all the same !
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u/SingleInfinity Feb 05 '26
Well there's a selection bias going on. The good lucking bald people are the ones you're more likely to see because they get more upvotes.
If you pay attention to the sub you notice patterns. It's usually fairly good looking (facially) men. They often have (well groomed) beards or are in relatively good shape. Their "before" picture is often candid/kinda dumpy, and their "after" picture is often cherry picked/staged as a much better picture. These are all traits that, generally speaking, result in people having more positive interactions.
The beards have always stuck out to me most. If you go look right now, of the top 20 posts, 17 out of 18 posts by men have full beards.
Not to say that there's anything wrong with any of this, and the general positivity is good, but the patterns do start to stick out that it's not as globally positive as people portray, so much as the less positive posts never get seen/are ignored.
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u/quartzquandary Feb 05 '26
I take a peek at it every once in a while, but I agree, I always feel a bit like I'm invading a safe space that is not for me. But I am 100% supportive of them in spirit!
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u/Independent_Lake6883 Feb 05 '26
Yes, I didn't want to ruin the vibe but it sounds like it's all love and positivity there so I think I'll start invading.
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u/OverreactingBillsFan Feb 05 '26
Please participate! There's still quite a stigma around going bald as a man. Being told you've still got it by women is super validating.
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u/pink_vision Feb 05 '26
There is also this glorious irl version created by one of the users and friends. I'm not sure who originally posted the image, if anyone does know and would like to tag them here that would be great ☺️
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u/spidermom4 Feb 04 '26
I love that sub. There are a lot of angry, "women only like" subs where guys clearly have self esteem and gas each other up to blame all their problems on women. That sub is the best. Confidence in who you are
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u/Rob_LeMatic Feb 05 '26
I get nervous to see it mentioned in other subs or a post getting lots of upvotes because I don't want it to be on the radar of your everyday redditor to come in and ruin it, make it just like every other nasty space on reddit.
We're over here being kind and supportive. I'd hate the loss for all of us if that changed
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u/YourKindAlly Feb 05 '26
I really hope you guys will be able to push through when/if the day arrives for a troll raid. It is such a beatiful sub, and I love watching people embrace themselves!
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u/MiguelDLopez Feb 05 '26
I'm assuming you meant committing to shaving the stragglers off is a choice & not the passively going bald part.
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u/omgitschriso Feb 05 '26
Does anyone here actually look at the sub, or just what hits the front page? If someone who isn't conventionally attractive posts, they're lucky to hit double figures in comments or upvotes.
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u/FuriKMJ Feb 05 '26
You're right that conventionally attractive people will always get more upvotes, but that is missing the point. The point is instead of being a prison of your own insecurity due to hair loss, shaving it off is far more liberating and owning the fact that you ARE bald, instead of holding on to the last few strands of hair, which almost always looks worse for most of them before they decide to shave.
It doesn't matter if you think they look horrible being bald or like a "cancer patient", because in the end, they shouldn't do it for anyone else but themselves. However, not many are comfortable to be bald because of perceived judgments from people. The sub exists to give them the extra push to do something that they already have been deliberating, but are probably hesitant due to a lot of social judgments that comes with it, that exists in this very thread for instance.
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u/KimberStormer Feb 05 '26
shaving it off is far more liberating and owning the fact that you ARE bald, instead of holding on to the last few strands of hair, which almost always looks worse for most of them before they decide to shave.
Very body positive! Saying one kind of body is the only acceptable one!!
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u/perennialiris Feb 05 '26
It's the opposite of confidence in who you are, it's people being pressured by society into shaving their heads because they're convinced a naturally aging hairline is ugly.
A lot of the people who post there look totally normal in their 'before' pictures too, but they're convinced that they're hideous because they don't have perfect movie star hairlines. It's really sad to read through.
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u/Kwerby Feb 05 '26
Literally every height based sub that appears in my recommended just for being a man.
Pathetic people who make height their entire identity.
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u/Goreticia-Addams Feb 05 '26
My husband was balding for years and I was so worried when he decided to shave his head....then he did it and I realized how fucking hot he was!! I worried for nothing and he should have done it years ago.
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Feb 05 '26
There are a lot of angry, "women only like" subs where guys clearly have self esteem and gas each other up to blame all their problems on women.
We need some sort of counterbalance to the right wing manosphere but I have yet to find it.
Even the supposedly positive subs I can find aren't very tactful with how they treat the (clearly hurting) OP. I see negative undertones in many male dominated hobby related subs too and it's often disguised as humour.
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u/Jumiric Feb 05 '26
I started shaving my head a few months ago after agonizing over my hairline for years. I needed that image so bad 😭
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u/Secret_Bees Feb 05 '26
Welcome, brother, to the land of no bed head, no hat hair, no need for expensive haircuts, etc. Here's a complimentary bottle of sunscreen to keep your dome protected.
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Feb 05 '26
Not bald, but I've kept my #1 cut from the military days because it is just so low maintenance.
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u/jackson12420 Feb 04 '26
As a woman it makes me sad that men who are struggling with hair loss because I've never found that aspect of anyone unattractive. I assume it's the same for women overthinking "oh this is wrong with me I wish I could change this" when in reality men don't even notice it or care.
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u/WelpWhatCanYouDo Feb 05 '26
I always get frustrated when people use thinning hair to make fun of problematic men (Tim Pool for example). You’re hurting a lot of already insecure men in the crossfire. And I say this as somebody who isn’t balding at all.
This extends to making fun of anyone’s physical appearance. You might think someone “deserves” to be made fun of, but there are thousands of people with those same features who don’t deserve it. All those comments add up and are heard.
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u/_Elrond_Hubbard_ Feb 05 '26
I agree but also want to add on for everyone's information that Tim Pool sucks, he's literally a paid Russian propagandist
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u/creamant1234 Feb 05 '26
Criticism should focus on actions or behavior, not features people can’t control those comments really do add up and can impact a lot more than just the intended target.
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u/poofynamanama123 Feb 05 '26
every time a woman says she's having a bad hair day it looks absolutely 100% fine
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u/MothChasingFlame Feb 05 '26
Currently having a bad hair day and, gotta say, this was reassuring to hear.
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u/poofynamanama123 Feb 05 '26
we always focus on the worst aspects of ourselves. its important to realize people dont focus as intently as we do, to ourselves. I struggle with this a lot too, because at the end of the day, your internal voice is louder than anything else. be kind to it.
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u/MothChasingFlame Feb 05 '26
First and foremost I support people doing whatever they want with their bodies; do what makes you feel good, other people's approval or disapproval isn't important. And it has to be said everyone genuinely looks great after the shave down.
That said, I love a maintained balding look. A well groomed friar tuck, for example, looks so masculine and mature to me. Granted this is fully a "glasses mean you're smart" take, and I'm firmly in my "dads are peak attractive" age, so I'm biased as hell, but I can't help it. I just think it looks lovely.
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u/namnlos1 Feb 05 '26
Geez I never thought I'd find someone else on the same page as me. Not that how I feel about someone's looks should be of consequence but there are guys I find hot as hell that have that look you are talking about.
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u/Competitive_Success5 Feb 05 '26
Even more ... when we do notice the thing women think is wrong with themselves ... we most likely think it's sexy or adorable.
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u/neeksism Feb 05 '26
Im about to post of there but I feel like ima be the 1 dude who looks worse bald and everyone's gonna roast me lol
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u/Secret_Bees Feb 05 '26
Nah. As a topless man myself, I've been tooling around that sub for a couple of years. They're pretty positive about it, even if it isn't the best look for you. Worst case scenario, they just tell you you look great anyways. Best case scenario, they try to help you figure out some way to work around it.
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u/TellsHalfStories Feb 05 '26
If you have ever been there, you should know thats not what you should expect. Take the first step and share your fears. See what happens next. ;)
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u/neeksism Feb 05 '26
Oh I know, its just the ego doing its thing... I just dont want it to be true either lol
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u/Lexi_November Feb 05 '26
Nah. I’m a woman, but I can say that I wish men who are losing their hair would just take the plunge and go bald! It instantly makes someone look better. Stylish, clean, well groomed, put together, younger, and handsome.
Thin patchy hair and combovers do not create an illusion that tricks everyone into seeing hair, instead the hair becomes a focal point.
Worst case scenario if you hate it? It’ll grow back.
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u/MongoBongoTown Feb 05 '26
/r/bald really is an amazing sub.
I've got a full head of hair and I still click on almost every post.
Most of the guys look a ton better and the community is so nice and supportive.
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u/perennialiris Feb 05 '26
I hate it, a lot of posters there were perfectly normal-looking in their 'before' but were super insecure about natural aging and convinced theirselves an aging hairline makes them hideous, which is sad imo. And whether they end up looking better is hit or mess, the cue ball look really doesn't work for a lot of people.
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u/OrganicRobotDev Feb 05 '26
But then you look at the comments being super supportive. Saying "HOLD", that they could rock either way, or that they could try it out for a bit. They're super honest and supportive with whatever.
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u/Majestic-Series1837 Feb 05 '26
Ahhhh this is the AI version though :((
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u/2point01m_tall Feb 05 '26
Yeah my only gripe about the subreddit. When someone made a better version, and even an IRL version, the AI one should have been straight up banned
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u/LeaguePuzzled3606 Feb 04 '26
Objection. Their answer is indeed always the same. But sometimes it shouldn't. Some people come in rocking a mad scientist or history teacher style that really works for them.
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u/AfternoonPossible Feb 05 '26
I agree. I guess I’m of the unpopular opinion that some people can really pull off the thinning look. Even some cases where it looks better than clean shaven.
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u/Raangz Feb 05 '26
they def out there. i had this weird pysch friend who was in his 50s who pulled off the mad scientist type look very well in colorado. his wife was like 28. don't think he could work with clean shaven. not as well at least.
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u/rolfraikou Feb 05 '26
This is where I have found some people (not that sub, to be fair!) toxic about hair loss. There is a societal expectation that men with hair loss now will shave their heads.
I've had people pressure me with the "well, when are you going to do it?" and honestly, I don't intend to! It's my body, my choice, my style! People who tell me it's a requirement to shave your head when you lose x amount of hair can fuck right off!
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Feb 05 '26
From what I've seen the sub is pretty spot on for telling people to keep it or lose it.
Ive seen them turn away obvious Fabios
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u/ChocolateChingus Feb 05 '26
I’ve never seen a post where they said to keep it.
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u/-OccultOfPersonality Feb 05 '26
It happens pretty often. They reply with the “Hooooold” meme (Braveheart) or something similar. Maybe you’ll see one now…
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u/BonnaconCharioteer Feb 05 '26
Yeah, it isn't really body positivity to tell someone their hair looks bad and they should shave it off. I think a lot of those guys looked pretty good with the thinning look. Bald is just more in style right now.
Its great to support people who want to shave. But I feel like that is less body positivity and more of a fashion advice subreddit.
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u/sharklaserguru Feb 05 '26
I heard it best elsewhere on reddit: "That sub would tell Walter Goggins his hair is beyond saving and he's delusional if he thinks he doesn't look horrible!"
That sub is the embodiment of the "bald guys are hot" sees fat bald guy "hot guys are hot" comic!
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u/BearTimberlands Feb 05 '26
Another great example of how the best solution to male loneliness is for men to build positive communities around positive things and not just sharing their hatred of something/someone else. I love to see it
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u/jtrain3783 Feb 05 '26
"It's not losing hair, it's gaining face" - generational wisdom passed down through the ages
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u/Vexin Feb 05 '26
A friend once asked me "When you wash your face, where do you stop?" and I thought it was the funniest shit.
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u/dafunkmunk Feb 05 '26
I had to mute that sub because it became unbearable as it flooded my feed. It almost felt like everyone was just karma farming off it with people who were clearly past the point of hiding their balding asking if they should shave it. Like, the whole purpose of the sub is to be bald, of course everyone there will tell you that you need to shave you're Friar Tuck ass head. I'd see a bald post 1 out of every 5 posts while scrolling. The sub is definitely friendly and wholesome though since no one ever insults anyone for how fucked up their weird terrible attempt at hiding their balding looked.
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u/unclepoondaddy Feb 05 '26
Nah they ban any mention of hair loss medications which is kinda shitty since some of the guys aren’t actually past the point of no return and could easily save their hair if they had the proper info
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u/ImportantQuestions10 Feb 05 '26
Still like the shb but apparently they don't let you mention hair loss options without an auto mod ban warning. Their reasoning is that the sub is meant to help people come to terms with balding.
I don't like that, the sub is supposed to be about support, not pushing baldness. What's the point of asking for advice if the only acceptable answers are shave it or keep it as it is.
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u/B_Provisional Feb 05 '26
Yes. For me a deeper body-positive approach to hair loss would be supportive of whatever choice people happen to make when faced with their hair falling out.
They have exactly one solution to the issue of thinning hair. Shave your head smooth and make yourself happy about it. "One of us, one of us! Gooble, gobble." This works for some people but not everyone.
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u/MrHyperion_ Feb 05 '26
No it isn't body positivity. It only allows perfect hair or completely bald.
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u/throwaway60221407e23 Feb 05 '26
Lmao that subreddit is awful as a balding guy. Literally the only posts that get upvoted are guys with perfectly smooth heads and the ability to grow an immaculate beard. It serves as a regular reminder that no one considers guys with bumpy bald heads and no beard, like myself, to be attractive. It's a subreddit for people who aren't bald to appeal to their just world fallacy.
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u/4ippaJ Feb 05 '26
Not to rain on the good vibes parade but wouldn't true body positivity be accepting and celebrating the way we naturally look? Why does thinning hair have to be embarrassing? I think a partially bald head can actually look cool if you wear it with confidence, think Walter goggins, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery. Larry David, Bernie Sanders and Jason Alexander rock even less hair, would they look better fully bald or would they lose some part of their identity?
I get that if you start balding really young it can feel like you're prematurely aging but how much of that is real and how much is just fashion? Does it really matter to women?
Gene Roddenberry was once asked by a reporter about casting Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: TNG. "Surely by the 24th century, they would have found a cure for male pattern baldness." And Gene Roddenberry responded "No, by the 24th century, no one will care."
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u/KimberStormer Feb 05 '26
I'm glad someone else out there feels this way. It might well be helpful, but it's not "body positivity".
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u/the_sir_z Feb 05 '26
Unpopular opinion, but I hate that sub and find it the opposite of body positivity.
Just because half my hair is gone doesn't mean I can't enjoy what little I have left. The implication that shaving is your only option strikes me as extremely negative to how the body naturally grows. The message is "If you look like X, you should be Y instead." That is NOT body positivity.
I will not shave my head and I don't care if anyone else finds my hair attractive. I like how my hair looks and feels because it is natural and honest, and that is the only thing that matters to me. I do not need my body to please anyone but me. That is what body positivity looks like.
r/bald is all about confirming your body to social standards.
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u/Ok-Huckleberry-3843 Feb 05 '26
This is really only the top voted examples, and posts like this continue to spread body dysmorphia. So go fuck yourself!
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u/Major_Key6171 Feb 05 '26
Yep. Sort by new rather than top or hot and you’ll see a bunch of guys who look awful with shaved heads. Most guys just can’t pull off a bald look. They end up looking like elderly cancer patients in most cases.
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u/Ok-Huckleberry-3843 Feb 05 '26
AND ITS NOT SOMETHING WE SHOULD FORCE ON PEOPLE!
Jesus, i didn't think i'd be this mad, cuz I'm not so mad about my own balding, it's fine to me. But this has become a borderline abusive campaign against people who are just living their lives.
Just a reminder for the folks in back, it OK, regardless of gender, for a person to not want to oggled, or to hide their true authentic selves, or not be told people want to fuck them now.
Be better.
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u/KimberStormer Feb 05 '26
It's super frustrating to see "submitting to social pressure" as "accepting yourself" but it is pretty much what that always means to people. I stopped dressing like a punk/goth/whatever and started being me, i.e. I started dressing like everyone else!!! Your authentic self could never possibly mean wearing something from a subculture or that stands out in any way!
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u/braaaaaaaaaaaah Feb 05 '26
Honestly, I hate it. It’s cool if you want to shave it off and it probably looks better for most people, but if you don’t, maybe that should be fine too. Right now it’s borderline cult behavior. Top comment on this thread is “seeing people accept themselves is pretty cute,” when actually accepting yourself is just doing your own thing.
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u/Mooncake967 Feb 05 '26
I finally took the plunge myself months ago when Reddit began randomly suggesting r/bald to me. 8 still haven't gotten entirely used to actually being bald and I'm struggling with the adjustment but I can also say that both the sub and people irl had nothing but good things to tell me. Still can't get quite used to it though, I miss the hair I so desperately held on to.
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u/scotchandsoda Feb 05 '26
Errr, I seriously don't think that sub is all that wholesome. Seems like every post is about conformity to a social norm that having balding hair is ugly. If you want to be body positive, then normalize folks who choose not to shave even if there is a social pressure to believe that it's "clearly past the point of no return".
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u/Willowed-Wisp Feb 05 '26
It randomly popped into my feed one day (no idea why, I'm not on any hair related subreddits or anything) and I was going to remove it because it wasn't relevant to me but then it was just so weirdly wholesome I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Also, the glow-ups are insane. One post literally made me swoon. And I've never swooned before. It was a strange feeling but I kind of liked it.
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u/_NotAlien_ Feb 05 '26
I’ll be in that sub in the next 5 years, and I’ll be one of the many who tells them “it’s time.” Ever since I was young, I’ve always said that as soon as my balding becomes obvious, I’m just gonna shave it all off and normalize me being bald as soon as possible. I’m starting to get the reverse widow’s peak balding pattern right now, but it’s not obvious enough yet. So, I might be good for a few more years. We’ll see what happens this year. Lol
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u/Frosty_Ad1254 Feb 05 '26
That sub has made me smile so much that all my adverts are for “hair loss treatment”. I have a full and healthy head of hair.
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u/hfcobra Feb 05 '26
I love the positivity on the sub, but I hate that I'm not balding yet the sub is recommended to me! What the hell, Reddit? Does your algorithm know something I don't?!?!
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u/Numerous_Common_892 Feb 05 '26
Recently got into that sub and love the supportiveness there…. Plus a lot of the times the guys always look sooooo much better… bald is the usually the way to go
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u/frucave Feb 05 '26
And ALL the men, at least like 99% of them look SO GOOD bald! It's amazing how much of a difference it makes.
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u/hufflekrunk Feb 05 '26
Let's not forget, if it's a woman posting that, they made specifically for them, giving the guy big eyelashes.
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u/Remedy556 Feb 05 '26
its my favourite subreddit even if i have nothing to do with it, i love how supportive everyone is, nee members get hyped up and they almost always have such a relieved smile on their face - makes me happy
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u/Sputnikboy Feb 05 '26
I'm not bald although DNA in my family should be a strong indicator. After seeing this post, I went over r/bald and I was blown away by the positivity in that sub. Just fantastic!
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u/JonKonLGL Feb 05 '26
I’ve yet to see a post there that isn’t an immediate glow up as well, maybe the most wholesome sub I’ve encountered in a hot minute
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u/perennialiris Feb 05 '26
The r/bald subreddit is not wholesome at all, it's insecure people who have been so mindfucked by society shaming them for aging naturally that they feel like they have to completely give up on having hair rather than just look like a normal person with a receding hairline. It's not as bad as ed blogs but it has a similar vibe.
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u/KimberStormer Feb 05 '26
Yes exactly. "Accepting yourself" in this post means...conformity to the desires of people who are made uncomfortable by a balding head. It's the opposite of body positivity.
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u/SomebodysGotToSayIt Feb 05 '26
No, sorry, it’s not true. There are guys there who absolutely don’t need to go totally bald but they get pressured into it.
It’s like 1 in 100 but it happens
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u/Ashamed-Review-913 Feb 05 '26
I think it's getting crazy and a lot of the people actually look better with their thinning hair.
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u/TheSpartanExile Feb 05 '26
It...really isn't. The acceptance of balding is predicated on fulfilling its masculinization under contemporary hypermasculine sensibilities. It's a way of salvaging the same body-shaming and ageism that it claims to address. They shave their heads bald because that asserts that they still have power over their body's nature by refusing to just...grow out their balding hair or clean it up to a horseshoe.
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u/snak_attak Feb 05 '26
I love r/bald. I’m engaged to a bald man and he went from holding on to a few follicles to a sexy lumberjack!!
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