Does society view baldness as a 'disease that requires a solution'?
Earlier this month, TV presenter Daithí Ó Sé described getting a hair transplant as “the best decision” he ever made.
The Kerry man said in recent years he had become noticeably “thin on top” and booked himself an appointment with a hair restoration clinic.
“Life’s too short and it was time for me to do something about it,” he said.
“My job is about having confidence in yourself, something that was being affected just like my hairline, but not anymore.
“When I look back at pictures from last year, I can really see the difference. It's mad really.”
Speaking to Lunchtime Live, Newstalk reporter Simon Tierney said society is putting more and more pressure on bald men to get hair transplants.
“I think the reason why so many more Irish men are choosing to go to these hair transplant clinics is because men are constantly told now, especially over the last 10 years, that hair loss is some sort of disease that requires a solution,” he said.
“Baldness isn’t something that can be loved or accepted and I think when celebrities endorse these procedures, while their intentions, I imagine, are very good and sound, they’re actually inadvertently perpetuating the stigmatisation of baldness and I don’t think that helps at all.”
“For just €1 a month, you can change a bald man’s life forever”...
This is the sort of insanity we're heading for if we don't resist the hair transplant industry. I'll on with @andreagilligan on @LunchtimeLiveNT at 1.20 to discuss my Irish Times piece: https://t.co/5tylTvaqSB— Simon Tierney (@tierneysimon) November 14, 2023
Simon feels the advertising campaigns by hair restoration clinics are deceptive and promise men with receding hairlines far too much.
“The slogans that these clinics use are delving into this. They’ll say things like, ‘Self-confidence is the most attractive quality a man can have’,” Simon said.
“When you put that message out there, you’re equating having hair with confidence and happiness.
“If you can afford to have these very expensive hair transplants, that’s fine but for the vast majority of men who can’t afford it, they’re left thinking, ‘There’s something wrong with me. I can’t afford to have a solution for this.’”
Acceptance
Simon described this trend as part of a “much broader” culture of body shaming with society when in fact being bald should be nothing to get upset about.
“We are almost making the bald community into victims,” he said.
“[As if] they need to be saved, bald men do not need to be saved.
“A much better approach to this is acceptance.”
According to the Belgravia Centre in London, 49% of Irish men under the age of 30 are experiencing some form of hair loss.
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Main image: Simon Tierney.
