meat: View

Hairy Mary

This week Our Man in Wales found out bald is not broken — it’s bold.

I've always had thin hair. When I was a twink - many, many moons ago - I tried to grow an emo fringe, in vogue as they were. It flopped. A thin little curtain of hair dangling over my face, ripped asunder by the slightest breeze. Last year I tried a mullet, which didn't look toooo bad but it would have looked a hell of a lot better if I had Disney prince levels of locks on the top of my head.

Now, thanks to some revealing photos taken whilst I was bending over (completely innocently I hasten to add) I have discovered that the next stage has commenced - thinning hair to the point of visible scalp. Another tick in the "eye spy" book of you're getting older. 

To begin with I was a bit perturbed, if only because I sort of realised it was a look change I wasn't coming back from. I know people have thinning hair and baldness issues from all sorts of ages and for all sorts of reasons, but I guess when you've had a full head of hair and then realise it's becoming a percentage head of hair instead, it can unsettle you a tad. 

I've been surprised though - after an initial 'eek' moment - at how quickly I've managed to accept it. I've realised I sort of don't really care. It just is what it is.

I think that's because it fed into something that I really dislike anyway, which is the idea that there's only a set number of ways for us gay boys to be sexy. You've got to be a muscle-bound hunk. You've got to have bouncy, 1998 Leo DiCaprio hair. You've got to have a fat 10 inch wang. The older I get though, the more I realise what absolute tommyrot that is. Sure, I'd love to have a thick, full head of hair - if only because I enjoy trying different hairstyles and it would be fun to really give that mullet a crack. But do I care that I don't? Actually, no. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still riddled with body confidence issues - I'm sure for a lot of us that's a daily battle and most days when I look in the mirror I'm genuinely not sure what I think. But I've decided that when it comes to my new pal Bertie the bald spot at least, that's not going to be the stick that I use to beat myself with. Hair today, gone tomorrow - and that's alright with me.

Sam

@talldaddysam