As I have aged, I have lost or had significantly altered many of the physical features I vainly thought were my best. Like where the hell did my ass go? I guess maybe it just migrated up to my belly. Several physical changes I can definitely attribute to the side effects of my HIV meds that I have been taking for several decades now. Of course, if I had opted for not taking the meds my ashes would have been scattered many years ago and that reality makes it much easier to deal with a scrawny ass, facial and extremity wasting, and a big fat belly.
One physical attribute I have not lost is the hair on my head. I do routinely shave my head and have done so for the past 25 plus years. The shaving started in the 1990’s when I was thick into my Buddhist phase being an active participant in the local chapter of the Kwan Um School of Zen. Traditionally in some schools of Buddhism monks and nuns do shave their heads but why the practice originated is a bit foggy. Perhaps it was a practice to challenge one’s vanity or it has been speculated that it was just more practical especially in very hot weather.
For me personally I shave my head because I am lazy. Hours of my life have been saved and devoted more productively elsewhere not having to shampoo, condition and then perhaps even blow dry and apply product judiciously. Head shaving for me was also about the same time in my life that bike riding with a helmet became the rule. Really no one wants helmet hair.
Oh, and of course I may just get some little perverse pleasure in silently taunting some men in my life who struggle with comb-overs and other attempts to create the illusion of a thick head of hair. Wigs or more correct “hairpieces” have become much less common these days and a shaved head no longer attracts any attention at all. I must admit though that I struggle somewhat accepting the current trend of the shaved head and the thick beard. There does seem though to be a dip in the number of lush beards during the pandemic most likely related to the fact that a good mask fit is complicated with a beard.
I have always been attracted to men who are bald. Both of my long-term partners were bald as was the first man I ever had sex with. I am though definitely attracted to body hair it just seems that having it on your head doesn’t do much for me. Lest you think I have unresolved daddy issues here my father had a very luxurious head of hair all of his life and I loved him dearly.
And, of course, how can any discourse on hair in 2020 not at least touch briefly on the Orange One currently occupying the White House. There are literally countless reasons to not trust that nitwit but among them is his fucking hair. It should have been obvious from the beginning that someone who goes to such lengths to try and project a full head of hair, when there is obviously no one there, cannot be trusted. His multiple comb-overs and enough hair spray to single handily blow a hole in the ozone layer alone should have been disqualifying to be president. What can only be described as a severe case of “hair envy” explains so much in regard to his intense dislike of Barack Obama. I am sure Trump’s desperate desire for a second term is driven in no small part by wanting to stay out of prison where that hair-do will just not survive.