Men prefer hair over gadgets

While all of us at Engadget are mostly dreaming of a digital Chrismahanukwanzakah, apparently a good number of our male readers are looking for something a little closer to home that will boost their self-esteem and sex appeal. (We know, we were surprised too.) Indeed, according to a study sponsored by Merck and conducted by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, over half of more than 2,000 balding men surveyed said that they would trade something from their collection of consumer electronics for more hair on their head. Of those surveyed, 26 percent said they'd trade a stereo system for a more beefy coiffure -- ok, that seems pretty fair. However, 17 percent said they'd trade their laptop (huh?), while another 17 percent said they'd give up an "expensive car" (wha?) for more follicles on the ol' chrome dome. But what we were most surprised about is that 13 percent of men surveyed said they'd trade their prized plasma TVs (have you guys seen the stuff on Engadget HD lately?), and a final six percent would trade a boat (are you guys nuts?) for some of the hairy stuff. Assuming these numbers are accurate, if we had Rumpelstiltskin-style machine -- that is, one that could turn silicon into hair -- we'd quit this whole blogging thing in a second.

[Mike @ Dec 18th 2006 3:38PM]

If it makes you feel any better, black men look much better bald then pasty white men like myself. Think about it...would you rather look like Michael Jordan or Captain Picard?

Oh, and even though I am balding, there is no way in hell I'd sacrifice my electronics for hair. I'm not that vain...yet.

[Jeff @ Dec 18th 2006 3:39PM]

You've gotta be freakin' kidding me making that comparison.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 18th 2006 3:41PM]

The bad part about your gripe is that people place some kind of relevance on skin color and or hair, and you follow that mentality. As long as you let it get to you, it will seem like something to be concerned with. The question is, since your discriminated against by (probably) a few people do you "return the favor" and treat other races like dirt in return? This is only based on what I've seen as a white male who treats all people with the same respect, though most minorities treat me like I'm trying to suppress them somehow. It's almost cliche in American Democratic society that the white male has the least heard voice. I have a few black friends who didn't accept me at first, but after time they did and somehow they manage to see the same thing I do. Has it become acceptable in most circles?

Damn, I totally went off topic...

Anyway, your hair means jack shit. You are letting marketing into your home and believing that all woman prefer a full head of hair.

[Chris @ Dec 18th 2006 6:14PM]

I don't view bald men as any less macho than other men. My father is balding, and has been for as long as I can remember.

Also, no one discriminates against balding men as much as they discriminate against blacks, hispanics, Asians, etc. I think the racial discrimination runs much deeper in people's subconscious than the bald-man-hate. But I suppose if you really feel that your hair makes that big of a deal, then that's your thing. A little vain, but we all have our insecurities.

For example, I have a scar on my lip that prevents me from ever growing a mustache. Granted, mustaches are for child molesters and/or police officers, but it's the principle!

[capn @ Dec 18th 2006 2:55PM]

i've only got a few more years before i'll be in this category... we need a cure!!!

[Bob @ Dec 18th 2006 3:08PM]

I'd trade my wife.

[Rick Lyon @ Dec 18th 2006 3:12PM]

Hmm, nope. I prefer a plasma. Maybe the title should read 'bald men' or 'men with thinning or no hair prefer...' or 'old men' prefer.....

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 18th 2006 3:14PM]

Hmm, that doesn't explain my #2 all over haircut and my absolute desire to obtain gadgets...

[Jeff @ Dec 18th 2006 3:21PM]

Re-read the article substituting "more sex" every time it says "hair". Then the results will become far more understandable.

Now, conduct another survey testing the validity of that substitution.

[Historian @ Dec 18th 2006 3:27PM]

Boat: hole in the water that you throw money in to.

[Mr.Ortiz @ Dec 18th 2006 3:30PM]

Considering the cost of hair restoration surgery, all of those things except for a car and a boat would be an absolute bargain. Err, not that I've looked into it. Ok fine, but it was for .. a friend.

[paul34 @ Dec 18th 2006 3:35PM]

Ok, uhh, am I the only one who noticed that this study was CONDUCTED by the "International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery"?

That's like the Nazis "conducting" a study that says that Jews such. ZOMG

[paul34 @ Dec 18th 2006 3:36PM]

I meant to say, "That's like the Nazis "conducting" a study that says that Jews SUCK."

[Smitty WerbenJaegermanjensen @ Dec 18th 2006 3:36PM]

I traded my thinning hair for a five blade Gillette Fusion razor. Shaved off what was left and never looked back. The women at my office like to rub my head for good luck.

[fondy44 @ Dec 19th 2006 7:43AM]

I took the same route that Smitty did, just give mother nature a helping hand and shave it all off. You can have your combs, brushes, clogged bathtub drains and barbershop visits, I'll keep my gadgets, thank you.

[Eddie @ Dec 18th 2006 3:39PM]

Come on, Engadget...

It's ChristmaChanaKwanzaRamadonaFestivistikuh...

"Festival Day" Is what hardcore athiests celebreate instead of Christmas, and who am I to leave out Islam, even though it doesn't even happen around the same time.

[enseigner @ Dec 18th 2006 4:08PM]

I shave my head and love it. I'll keep my toys... if someone wants to give me your plasma screen I'll give you my hair clippings. :-)

[Dave @ Dec 18th 2006 4:09PM]

Um, gadgets get out dated and are easy to replace with something better.

Natural hair on the other hand can be a real challenge to replace, and there is nothing better than the origonal.

[Mr. T @ Dec 18th 2006 4:39PM]

People: Research has shown that the general population prefers men with a full head of hair and, indeed discriminate against bald men.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Just because it's OK to hate balding men, and to set additional expectations on them that we don't on others ("suck it up and eat it"), doesn't make it right. Prejudice is prejudice, is prejudice. Hate, is hate, is hate.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 18th 2006 4:06PM]

Research has proven research wrong before, so which research do we follow? Research done by a hair growth association or research done by the balding men society? When they did this "general population" research, did they only survey young teen girls who would absolutely be turned off by some teenage kid with no hair or did they include middle aged women (who might like the look of a more mature balding man) as well. Saying that research dictates something is also falling into the whole marketing ploy to get you to buy something because your insecure about your looks.

There are way more variables to consider than blindly trusting a study. This only goes as far as you take it. If you feel that your being discriminated because your bald, then you are discriminating against yourself. Your looking for a reason that you failed and your hair loss is the first thing you target because it's the one thing you can. (Who wants to blame their poor interviewing skills or intelligence? It's much easier to blame something on your outer appearance because the media tells you so.)

If you think hair loss is a determining factor in your sex life, I urge you to seek psychological help.

[Mr. T @ Dec 18th 2006 4:51PM]

Andir3.0 said in response to my comment: "Research has proven research wrong before, so which research do we follow? Research done by a hair growth association or research done by the balding men society?... Your looking for a reason that you failed and your hair loss is the first thing you target because it's the one thing you can. (Who wants to blame their poor interviewing skills or intelligence? It's much easier to blame something on your outer appearance because the media tells you so.)

If you think hair loss is a determining factor in your sex life, I urge you to seek psychological help."

I see. So, because I make the comment in defense of balding men, that a) must mean that I'm bald, and b) I'm mentally ill.

That says it all right there folks. Andir3.0, nowhere in my comment did I say I was bald, you made that assumption, revealing your bias on the subject. I'm not bald, sorry to tell you, I just appear to live more in reality than you do. But, hey, it's so much easier to personally attack someone than face reality, so I totally get why you did it but, like I said, the research has shown people favor men with hair. Bald men ARE descriminated against.

Not all research is conducted by people with an agenda, and not all research that comes to a conclusion you don't like has an agenda. Most of it is done by objective third parties that have no interest than to get at the truth.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 18th 2006 5:39PM]

And nowhere in my post did I say "Mr. T is bald". (Besides, Mr. T has a mohawk last time I checked)

You (as in Mr. T) read between the lines thinking that I was referring to "You" explicitly. I in no way intended it to be directed at you personally, but you seemed to take it as such. Who's the one being offended by a completely anonymous post? Using your flawed logic, I can therefore conclude that you are one of those people that read meaning into a speaker's speach when he/she says "you people" when it could be a completely innocent grouping of individuals based on region and not ethnicity or appearance.

[Guse @ Dec 18th 2006 4:57PM]

you don't want to get a nasty case of GVH like Tobias

[Guse @ Dec 18th 2006 5:00PM]

woah! did that person just say that? What was the point of that? I bet they are very lonely and sad to say such things. or watching too much TV, read a book jerkface

[Gary T @ Dec 18th 2006 5:05PM]

Guse said: "woah! did that person just say that? What was the point of that? I bet they are very lonely and sad to say such things. or watching too much TV, read a book jerkface"

I agree. Let's sacrifice him to our gods.

[Elo @ Dec 18th 2006 5:21PM]

I, for one, welcome the new sexy Patrick Stewart generation of men overlords! We are the future and you monkey hairy boys can go back to the caves. :)

[Geoff @ Dec 18th 2006 6:08PM]

I also thought you were talking specifically to him Andir3.0 probably like most other people that read it...

For someone that's criticizing somebody for taking anonymous comments personally, you sure are going out of your way to make things personal.

Personally I think you *were* making that assumption and are now trying to cover your ass. Even if you weren't, it was a perfectly reasonable assumption based on what your said. The accusations in your reply, on the other hand, were totally unreasonable and disproportionate, and belies your assertion that you weren't attacking him personally. In fact, your reply was nothing more than a personal attack. Just like your last comment. You seem to like to make prejudiced assumptions if you ask me and you're full of shit...

[mojoman @ Dec 18th 2006 5:54PM]

Actually a lot of women find bald heads sexy. My woman does. We agreed that if I start thinning, it all comes off with the razor. I had it that way for about a year, and I loved it. SCREW HAIR, GIVE ME THE GADGETS!!

We have to realize that life IS decay. We can pass the time looking at our hair (which is leaving us no matter who we are), or have some fun playing with gadgets that get newer/better/faster every year.

If a woman doesn't want you because you don't have hair, I find it hard to understand why you would really want that woman.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 18th 2006 6:20PM]

My reply was in personal defense. He accused me of dicriminating and I have not, nor will ever discriminate if I can avoid it. When someone reads into a post as such, they are only asking to be offended. I was simply clearing the air. When he explicitly placed my name in the post, he was targetting me and me alone. Feel free to think of me in whatever way you will, but I personally think people "read into" things too much as it is and I could care less of your opinion of me. I can't even believe that this conversation reached the point that it did concerning hair of all things. It goes to show how much people care about their own appearance and how material our society really is.

[Geoff @ Dec 18th 2006 6:27PM]

Dude, your premise is flawed: you were addressing him *personally* when you responded, and used the word "you" several times when talking to him. Who *wouldn't* think you were talking about them, personally?

I don't believe you. *You* made it personal, not him. I'm about 90% sure at this point that you really were referring to him and weren't speaking in generalities like you claim. Maybe you weren't, but I highly doubt it.

[xVariable @ Dec 18th 2006 6:44PM]

I'm happy to say I have a full head of hair, and no history of male-pattern baldness in my family, so I'm not likely to every lose my hair.

I'm a happily mid-30s married guy now, but I just asked my wife and, whaddaya know, she expressed a preference for hair (I guess you learn something new every day). Thinking back, I was frequently complimented by old girlfriends on my hair.

So I guess I can see where balding guys are coming from. I've heard about the research indicating a preference for hair in the news. I'm usually pretty careful to consider the source and I don't recall it being sponsored by a special interest though I suppose it happened at least occasionally.

Hair or no, it makes no difference to me. Still, if I DID lose my hair in the future, say due to environmental factors (cancer, maybe), I'd certainly like to live in a world where I didn't think people thought less of me because I had none. For that reason, I have no problem supporting initiatives to end prejudice against bald guys. Hey, it could happen to me one day...

[Brian Sexton @ Dec 18th 2006 7:05PM]

> But what we were most surprised about is that 13 percent of men surveyed said they'd trade their prized plasma TVs . . .

I am not a particularly hairy person, but I would happily offer almost every hair on my body--excepting only those in my eyebrows and eyelashes (I could deal with having a bald head and no beard, but having neither eyebrows nor eyelashes might scare my nieces)--in exchange for a high-end, top-quality 60-inch or larger 1080p LCD HDTV with at least three HDMI ports and a good warranty. Any takers? Bring over a suitable HDTV and we can get started tonight; I already have tweezers and a plastic bag ready and waiting.

[xVariable @ Dec 18th 2006 7:09PM]

xVariable: It's funny you should mention cancer. I keep my hair cropped very close due to an emerging window's peak. It's lower maintenance and looks better IMO.

I actually had 2 separate people, more than a year apart, ask me if I was recovering from chemotherapy. Balding=cancer now? WTF is up with that?! Like, Holy Christ, people...

THAT'S how bad it can get for balding guys people. Oh, and the way some people here are equating baldness with not getting any sex are just proving how prejudiced they really are. There's more to it than sex, and a balding person complaining about discrimination doesn't mean they're not scoring. You realize that's a really ignorant and parochial point of view, don't you...

[blah @ Dec 18th 2006 7:11PM]

I accidentally put x's name in the name field. It was actually me that posted that, sorry...

[John Doe @ Dec 18th 2006 7:28PM]

I know I would. propecia is slowing the tide from coming in but it ain't turning it. I give it 10 more years before it gets bad. Oh and of course there is no generic version of propecia yet so its $70 a month....*sighs*

[yeah @ Dec 18th 2006 8:01PM]

yeah i don't care about the 'discrimination' or the 'lack of sex appeal'. I care about the 'i don't like the look' thing. i don't give a damn if women like bald heads. i don't. and as far as people saying they like to shave their heads even though they don't need to, as if that is some way of making me feel better, go to hell. the thing is that say you grow tired of having no hair. you can GROW it ALL back. so yeah, shaving is fine for you, because it's just another hair style. me on the other hand, i'm left with either bic, or looking like a guy who is balding but wont admit it yet so he cleverly combs his hair, not in combover fashion cause it aint there yet, but in a comb forward fashion. no one notices right? yeah freaking right. i'd trade any gadget i own for more hair. nothing is worth more than your own self esteem.

[mojoman @ Dec 19th 2006 11:28AM]

My friend, if your self esteem is tied to anything that is part of a decaying body, and that could be utterly removed in a heartbeat by any number of incidents or accidents, you have a lot of disappointment to face in this life. Your skin, your eyes, your limbs, your sight, etc, etc, ad infinitum, could all be gone in a split second. Then, where would you be? You are a hollow person, whose shell has been removed, so you become nothing...unless you value yourself for who you are. Then, you are no longer hollow, you are full, and your worth is found in your identity as a person, not your appearance.

We all think our appearance is so permanent. The fact is, it is fleeting.

I cannot believe how superficial we have become as a society. Value yourself for WHO you are, not what you look like.

Personally, I find my value in Christ. He is the one that has done anything good in my life. I am a wretched man capable of nothing good without the grace of God. If I lose everything, I can still say that I am a child of God, and nobody can snatch me from His hand, nobody can take that from me...nobody. Not because of anything I can do, but because God is God.

[neil @ Dec 19th 2006 4:39AM]

i love my gadgets and though my first signs of baldness are a little annoying, sod it, there's no way i'd swap anything for the way your hair looks after you have that treatment!

i'm going bald gracefully... if the ladies dont like it, they aint worth it!

[Seth @ Dec 19th 2006 1:40PM]

There is a cure for hair loss, and it costs less than a car or boat. It's called hair restoration. I had one and have documented the progress on BattleagainstBald.com.

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